Wylie home to one of the nation’s most dangerous chemical facilities

by Bill Baumbach of The Collin County Observer

The Center for American Progress has issued a report (PDF) listing the nation's 101 most dangerous chemical facilities.

The report titled, Chemical Security 101: What You Don’t Have Can’t Leak, or Be Blown Up by Terrorists, placed The North Texas Municipal Water District's Wylie plant on the list because it uses and stores large amounts of chlorine gas.

According to the CAP report, the Wylie plant puts over 2 million people at risk in case of a major accident, sabotage or terrorist attack.

Chlorine is a greenish-yellow gas with a strong, irritating odor. It is heavier than air, meaning a release plume would travel across the ground, putting a large area at risk.

The federal Center for Disease Control (CDC) notes that when "liquid chlorine is released, it quickly turns into a gas that stays close to the ground and spreads rapidly."

Chlorine is used in making other chemicals, as a disinfectant, in bleaching, and for purifying water and sewage. Acute exposure can severely burn the eyes and skin, causing permanent damage, and may cause throat irritation, tearing, coughing, nose bleeds, chest pain, fluid buildup in the lungs (pulmonary edema), and death. Chronic exposure can damage the teeth and irritate the lungs, causing bronchitis, coughing, and shortness of breath. A single high exposure can permanently damage the lungs.

The NTMWD uses large amounts of chlorine to purify drinking water. The chlorine generally is delivered to Wylie by rail tanker cars on lines that run through residential communities.

The CAP notes that, "Homeland Security and numerous security experts have repeatedly warned that terrorists could use industrial chemicals as improvised weapons of mass destruction. Current chemical security efforts, however, are inadequate to protect workplaces and communities.

"Indeed, temporary standards enacted two years ago (and set to expire in 2009) focus almost entirely on physical security measures, such as adding gates and guards. These measures, however worthy, cannot assure protection against a concerted attack, insider sabotage, or catastrophic release. Nor do they protect communities along chemical delivery routes. More than 90 percent of the 101 most dangerous facilities ship or receive their highest-hazard chemical by railcar or truck."

In 2005, nine men were killed and over 500 injured by a poisonous cloud of chlorine gas was released after a train wreck in South Carolina.

According to the CAP report, the NTMWD could lower the danger level by replacing chlorine gas with liquid bleach or by generating bleach on-site, with ozone or ultraviolet light as appropriate.

According to information on its website (dated 2005), the NTMWD is engaged in, "A preliminary engineering study for the utilization of ozonation as a primary disinfectant at the NTMWD Water Treatment Plants has been authorized by the NTMWD Board of Directors to meet the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality Stage 2 Disinfection Byproducts rules effective 2012."

I understand that since that website was posted, the NTMWD has committed to using ozone to replace much of its chlorine.

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