March 13, 2003
The Honorable Christine Todd Whitman Dear Governor Ridge and Governor
Whitman:
We are writing to request a meeting to discuss a pressing homeland security issue: the vulnerability of our nation’s chemical
plants to terrorist attack.
As you know, there are more than 100 U.S. chemical facilities where a terrorist
attack could expose more than one million people to toxic chemical gases. And there are more than 500 facilities where such
an attack would threaten more than 100,000 people. The
attractiveness of these facilities as terrorist targets has long been recognized, and was
affirmed just weeks ago in a February 12, 2003 bulletin from the Department of Homeland
Security’s National Infrastructure Protection Center (NIPC). NIPC’s Information Bulletin 03-003 stated
that: “Al Qa'ida operatives also may
attempt to launch conventional attacks against the U.S. nuclear/chemical-industrial
infrastructure to cause contamination, disruption, and terror. Based on information,
nuclear power plants and industrial chemical plants remain viable targets.” Despite widespread acknowledgement of
the threat, there are no federal standards in place to ensure that chemical facilities
take appropriate steps to reduce these risks to their surrounding communities. Last October, you wrote to the Washington Post,
stating that: “The Bush administration
is committed to reducing the vulnerability of America's chemical facilities to terrorist
attack and is working to enact bipartisan legislation that would require such facilities
to address their vulnerabilities.” We agree that legislation is needed,
and believe that a bipartisan meeting to discuss the issue would be a constructive way to
move forward in the 108th Congress. In particular, we would like to talk about
key provisions that should be included in a bipartisan chemical security bill. These provisions include: development of
regulations to require that covered facilities conduct vulnerability assessments and
response plans; provisions to ensure that response plans include implementation of both
security measures and hazard reduction measures; a requirement that the vulnerability
assessments and response plans be submitted to the federal government; a requirement that
vulnerability assessments and plans be reviewed for adequacy by the federal government;
and enforcement mechanisms to enable the federal government to require that deficiencies
in the assessment and plans be remedied. We look forward to working with you
to develop a bipartisan approach to this pressing homeland security problem. Sincerely,
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