Group says spill at Kearny chemical plant could put 1 million people in danger

By Marli Horwitz/The Jersey Journal
August 06, 2013 at 9:06 PM

KEARNY -- Some 5 million people in New Jersey live near high-risk chemical plants and could be in danger if any of these facilities ever have a spill, according to members of New Jersey Public Interest Research Group (NJPIRG),

Members of the group made their away to Kearny this morning to release the organization's new report, "Danger in Our Backyards: The Threat of Chemical Facilities to Millions," which highlights chemical plants in the United States that pose a threat to the public.

In the background, loomed the Kuehne Chemical Company, which members of NJPIRG said would endanger 1 million people in the event of a chemical spill that would cause toxic, potentially deadly fumes, the group said.

"Whether you live near one of these chemical plants or you live near a road or a railway that transports these chemicals, you should be concerned about the safety and the effects of these chemicals on your family and in your communities," said Jen Kim, NJPIRG state director.

The Kuehne Chemical Company manufactures sodium hypochlorite (bleach), sodium hydroxide (caustic soda), and chlorine. In June 2010, the environmental group Greenpeace released a statement saying the Kuehne chemical plant is the "highest-risk facility in the nation."

Representatives of Kuehne were unavailable to comment.

The group called for Gina McCarthy, the newly confirmed Environmental Protection Agency administrator, to "make chemical disaster prevention one of the priority initiatives."

"The EPA has the authority under the Clean Air Act to require that high risk chemical facilities use safer processes, and for the sake of the over 12 million people that live near these plants, we urge them to use that authority now," Kim said.

High school and college students working with the Citizen Advocacy Branch of NJPIRG this summer supported the push to protect New Jersey residents.

"I have rung 2,250 doorbells and talked to more than 1,000 people about the high-risk chemical plants threatening millions of New Jerseyans," said Hannah Farrell, a student at Ridgewood High School, the NJPIRG campaign coordinator. "If New Jerseyans can communicate to decision-makers what the expressed at their front doors, we can get the EPA to protect our families from the threat of toxic accidents."

NJPIRG is a member of the Coalition to Prevent Chemical Disasters

http://www.nj.com/hudson/index.ssf/20 ... _safety.html#incart_river

Greenpeace says Kuehne chemical plant in Kearny is "highest-risk" facility in nation and terrorism or accident there could imperil 12 million people
============================
No spills when five tank cars delivering chlorine go off tracks at Kuehne plant in Kearny, and no evacuations necessary



Tuesday, April 05, 2011

KEARNY - A CSX train delivering chlorine to the Kuehne Chemical complex on North Hackensack Avenue derailed yesterday because of a bent rail track, police said.

The five tank cars that derailed never overturned and none of the chemical was spilled, although hazmat teams responded to the scene shortly after the derailment at 12:42 p.m., police said.

The derailment occurred because one of the tracks near the factory was bent, officials said, adding it is not clear how long the track had been bent.

There were no evacuations in the area nor were any traffic detours necessary, police said.

A Conrail crew placed the tank cars back on the track, according to Conrail spokesman John Enright.

ASHLEY STRAIN

I remember hearing a radio interview with one of the survivors of a chlorine leak accident in South Carolina in 2005. It was chilling - not a thing they could do as the cloud rolled through.

Graniteville Accident

Greenpeace says Kuehne chemical plant in Kearny is "highest-risk" facility in nation and terrorism or accident there could imperil 12 million people

Wednesday, June 23, 2010
By PATRICK VILLANOVA
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

KEARNY - The environmental group Greenpeace released a report yesterday detailing risks and dangers the group says a Kearny chemical plant poses to millions of people in the New York/New Jersey area.

On May 13, Greenpeace members visited the Kuehne Chemical Co. plant, which sits on the Hackensack River near the Pulaski Skyway.

According to the report, an accident or terrorist attack on the plant could put some 12 million people at risk, making the plant the highest-risk facility in the nation.

Kuehne manufactures products for the purification of water and waste water. Large amounts of chlorine gas are stored at the plant for the production of bleach.

During the May visit, members of Greenpeace photographed the facility and several rail cars containing chlorine gas from a pedestrian walkway on the Pulaski Skyway, the Hackensack River and the plant's front gate.

According to the Greenpeace report, the facility can have up to 11 rail cars on site at a time, each with the capacity to store 180,000 pounds of chlorine gas.

Inhalation of low levels of the gas can cause coughing and irritation of the skin and airways, while exposure to large amounts can be fatal, according to Greenpeace.

"The thing that we're trying to highlight, what we have here and across the country is an unnecessary risk," said John Deans, a Greenpeace official. "This facility, if targeted, would put 12 million people at risk. The technology exists to completely remove that risk."

The storage of these chemicals on site breaks no state or federal environmental laws, but that is part of the problem, according to Greenpeace.

The organization is pushing for legislation to require chemical plants across the country to adhere to stricter regulations and use safer manufacturing processes, Deans said.

Don Nicolai, Kuehne's president and CEO, said yesterday his company has been at the forefront of safe practices in its field, noting that Kuehne is in the preliminary stages of constructing a chlorine brine facility "intended to reduce the amount of chlorine that's brought in on rail cars."

Since 2003, Kuehne has cut back 70 percent of the chlorine gas it stores on site, he added.

About the Greenpeace report he said: "It's sensationalism to promote their agenda."

You can't blame these companies for cutting costs. Why, there are only five-figure fines for cutting out millions of dollars of safety precautions.

There were no penalties and everybody forgot about a massive methyl mercaptan leak last year.

Anyone remember this?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/6241927.stm

probably 15 million people exposed.

heinous!!! such carelessness with dangerous chemicals in such close proximity to metropolitan areas. it just blows my mind.

Chlorine plant tries to head off fines

Jersey Journal
December 04

Kuehne Chemical in Kearny has been cited and fined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration for 33 worker safety and health violations, including lapses that could lead to a toxic chlorine release, an advocate group and OSHA officials confirmed yesterday.

On Nov. 10 and 14, OSHA issued citations to Kuehne for violating federal standards and assessed total penalties of $48,650, said officials with the NJ Work Environment Council (WEC), an alliance of 70 labor and community organizations.

WEC has characterized Kuehne, which sits across the Hackensack River from Jersey City, as "the nation's most potentially hazardous chemical plant."

The OSHA violations include Kuehne's failure to: secure one-ton containers of liquid chlorine on forklift trucks to prevent them from falling off; accurately map potentially hazardous processes involving chlorine; assess the potential of pipe erosion/corrosion, which could cause a chlorine leak; and evaluate potential health effects on employees due to control failure.

Kuehne spokesman Don Nicolai characterized the citations as mostly "paperwork violations" that have been rectified. Kuehne and OSHA officials plan to meet today, he said.

OSHA spokeswoman Leni Fortson said the penalties are on hold pending the outcome of the meeting.

The most recent data submitted by Kuehne to U.S. EPA indicates that a worst-case release of chlorine gas from the plant could potentially endanger any of 12 million residents within a 14-mile area, WEC officials said.

JOURNAL STAFF

$48,650 fine that could endanger 12 million residents !

WTF, if I was the CEO of the plant, I'd instruct that we pollute as a cost effective approach - It must cost a siht load more to do the right thing.

Damn its only going to affect JC and other parts - I'd be 'stinking it up' as policy.

Kearny chemical firm fined for safety violations
by Jersey Journal
Wednesday December 03, 2008, 7:13 PM


The Kuehne Chemical plant in Kearny.

Kuehne Chemical in Kearny has been cited and fined by the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) for 33 worker safety and health violations, including lapses that could lead to a toxic chlorine release, an advocate group and OSHA officials confirmed yesterday.

On Nov. 10 and 14, OSHA issued citations to Kuehne for violating federal standards and assessed total penalties of $48,650, said officials with the NJ Work Environment Council (WEC), an alliance of 70 labor and community organizations.

WEC has characterized Kuehne, which sits across the Hackensack River from Jersey City, as "the nation's most potentially hazardous chemical plant."

The OSHA violations include Kuehne's failure to: secure one-ton containers of liquid chlorine on forklift trucks to prevent them from falling off; accurately map potentially hazardous processes involving chlorine; assess the potential of pipe erosion/corrosion, which could cause a chlorine leak; and evaluate potential health effects on employees due to control failure.

Kuehne spokesman Don Nicolai characterized the citations as mostly "paperwork violations" that have been rectified.

Forklifts in the plant are safe, but the company is willing to design a more secure device, he said.

Kuehne and OSHA officials plan to meet today, he said.
OSHA spokeswoman Leni Fortson said the penalties are on hold pending the outcome of today's "informal conference."

The most recent data submitted by Kuehne to U.S. EPA indicates that a worst-case release of chlorine gas from the plant could potentially endanger any of 12 million residents within a 14-mile area, WEC officials said.
JOURNAL STAFF

America is a joke. The War on Terror is a joke. The Goverment is a joke. Bush is a joke. But who the f8ck is laughing? OBL?

CHEM WARFARE
Laut wins Bush can't loosen rules

Friday, January 11, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Flanked by Hudson County sheriff's officers and local officials, New Jersey Sen. Frank Lautenberg stood on the banks of the Hackensack River in Jersey City yesterday and declared victory over the Bush administration's attempts to water down New Jersey's chemical security laws.

"President Bush has learned something: That New Jersey fights for New Jersey's rights," said Lautenberg, who turns 83 in a couple of weeks and plans to run for another six-year term in November.

"The president chose to support the lobbyists in Washington over the safety of our communities. It was infuriating to me and I pledged to stop it."

Last June, the Department of Homeland Security finalized regulations that allowed the administration to pre-empt state chemical security protections stronger than those adopted at the federal level, Lautenberg said. But in part due to his persistence, DHS last month adopted a provision that removes the federal government's power to pre-empt chemical security laws of the state.

The setting of yesterday's press conference was no coincidence.

Across the Hackensack River in Kearny sits the Kuehne Chemical Company, which contains huge volumes of chlorine, officials said.

A chemical release from the plant could form a cloud that could cause tens of thousands of deaths, said Rick Engler, director of the union-backed NJ Work Environment Council.

With the Lautenberg provision in place, the state can now press the company to use safer chemicals, lower its volume of dangerous chemicals, and speak to employees when on-site inspections are conducted, said state Department of Environmental Protection Commissioner Lisa Jackson.

Officials from Kuehne did not return phone calls yesterday for comment.

Laura Keehner, a spokeswoman for the Department of Homeland Security, said the department has been "moving forward very aggressively with ways to strengthen our critical infrastructure and that would include chemical facilities."

Keehner said the law was the most powerful chemical security regulation in the country.

"If facilities choose not to abide, they may face fines or shut down. We know of no other legislation with that kind of strict penalty," she said.

Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah Healy, who attended the press conference, praised Lautenberg's efforts.

"The safety laws were being weakened by the federal government and Sen. Lautenberg stood tall and carried this fight," said Healy.

On PBS tonight Channel 13 at 10pm

Think Like a Terrorist (Pt. 2)

In 2006, Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Carl Prine resumed his investigations of chemical safety in the United States, this time focusing on the nation's railroad transportation system. Prine discovered that trains loaded with toxic and explosive chemicals pass through major metropolitan areas with inadequate or no security, and in some areas present a target extremely vulnerable to terrorist attack.

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/expose/episode202/index.html

From his original article:

http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pitts ... cialreports/s_487117.html

Terror on the Tracks:

A Jersey state mind

In the crowded New Jersey suburbs rimming New York City, the Trib found tougher chemical plant security than any other place. But track protection was no better than other states, and of 48 facilities and railroads found to have security defects by FRA, the Trib entered 12 of them in July.

At the Black Prince Distillery in Clifton, N.J., explosive tankers share space with passenger trains on New Jersey Transit's bustling Mainline from Manhattan. A Trib reporter eased past video cameras and a patrolling police cruiser three times during trips in and out of the plant and along the tracks, even while commuter cars zipped by.

That concerned Richard Ca?as, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness.

"The storage of hazardous material on commuter rail lines is something to be considered and that scenario goes to my biggest fear -- mass transit," he said. "In our state, you've got a high population density. You have rail out the kazoo that moves at a lightning pace. There are things we do, like ramping up vigilance, conducting searches, doing shows of force. But this is expensive and must be sustained for it to be effective."

A Trib reporter followed bums under a bridge and through the woods to a large depot run by Conrail to service refineries stretching from Sewaren to Perth Amboy along "The Chemical Coast" line. On tracks stacked almost a mile deep with highly explosive chemicals, the reporter climbed tankers and waved at nearby trucks.

Activists fight chemical lobby on security

By: Samuel Loewenberg
www.politico.com
Oct 31, 2007 07:12 PM EST

Donald Nicolai, president and CEO of The Kuehne Co. Chlorine plant
Both sides agree that the biggest dangers to the Kuehne plant are the 90-ton railway cars carrying liquid chlorine. (Photo by Sam Loewenberg)

SOUTH KEARNY, N.J. ? The Kuehne Chemical Co. chlorine factory sits under the Pulaski Skyway bridge, just outside Newark, across the river from Jersey City and a short drive from Manhattan.

With its hulking white storage tanks and double rows of fences, the factory still manages to cut a low profile.

But the plant, and particularly the 90-ton railway cars that provide it with chlorine gas, is considered to be one of the most dangerous terrorist targets in America.

A catastrophic attack on it could result in as many as 12 million casualties, according to the company?s own estimates.

The factory has become a rallying point among the Garden State?s politicians and environmental groups on the difficulty of passing strong legislation over the objections of a powerful, politically connected industry.

New Jersey has some of the toughest plant security regulations in the nation, more stringent than a temporary federal plant security law due to sunset in 2009.

State officials want to maintain that edge while the House Homeland Security Committee writes permanent comprehensive legislation, which could be ready by Thanksgiving of 2008.

So New Jersey lawmakers and environmentalists are advocating a provision, attached to the Homeland Security appropriations bill, that would prevent the Bush administration from pre-empting New Jersey?s chemical security laws or those of any other state that has adopted tougher standards than current national law.

?States have the authority to protect their residents from threats of a terrorist attack on these chemical facilities,? Sen. Frank R. Lautenberg (D-N.J.) said in a written statement to Politico.

?The Bush administration should not undermine these state laws and leave our country at risk of a chemical attack.?

Chemical industry lobbyists oppose the provision because it could lay the groundwork for a patchwork of state regulations rather than a single set of nationwide rules.

They also are closely monitoring the Homeland Security Committee?s work in the House to catch and object to any provisions it deems too costly or cumbersome.

?We are playing that ?whack-a-mole? game, where you see something pop up and try to whack it back down,? said Thomas Pyle, a lobbyist at the Rhoads Group who works on chemical safety for the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association.

One point that is generally agreed upon is the scope of the problem.

Depending on who is counting (nobody ever really agrees on these things), there are more than 3,400 facilities that use high-risk chemicals which could be the target of terrorist attacks.

For plants located near urban centers, the resulting casualties could dwarf those of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

There are 105 facilities across the country that, if attacked, could lead to more than 1 million casualties, according to a Congressional Research Service assessment of worst-case scenarios.

Advocates of tougher regulation, a group that includes environmental groups, some unions and members of Congress from high-population areas, say that the existing rules are too lax, a byproduct of an industry lobbying blitz that circumvented normal legislative procedures.

Last year, under the Republican?controlled Congress, the House and Senate Homeland Security committees passed legislation that even environmental advocates said was ?surprisingly strong.?

But industry lobbyists waged a powerful campaign to circumvent the legislation.

The chemical producers and other businesses paid 215 lobbyists between $16.4 million and $74.5 million to lobby on chemical plant security in 2006, according to a recent report from Greenpeace, an industry rival that tracked lobbyists who registered publicly to advocate on the legislation.

The campaign included trade associations such as the American Chemistry Council, the American Petroleum Institute and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, as well as large chemical producers such as Dow Chemical and ExxonMobil.

The industry also gave $8.7 million in political action committee contributions to candidates in the 2005-2006 election cycle.

The report noted that, combined, these expenditures dwarfed the $10 million budgeted by the Department of Homeland Security in 2007 for chemical plant security.

The result was legislation that New Jersey Democratic Gov. Jon Corzine complained in a 2006 letter to lawmakers ?bears no resemblance to either bill reported by the authorizing committees and has never been the subject of congressional hearings, markups or circulation for public comment.?

Chemical company lobbyists dispute claims that the current law is too weak and the Department of Homeland Security is without strong enforcement authority.

?There is a perception that DHS is out there saying to the industry, ?Just go do what you want, and we?ll rubber-stamp it,? but that?s not what?s happening,? said Marty Durbin, managing director of federal affairs for the American Chemistry Council, the trade group for chemical manufacturers.

He said the industry has already come up with voluntary safety standards: ?We didn?t wait around for the government to tell us what to do.?

The most contentious issue for the industry in the previous bills, which is very likely to surface in the new version, is the mandate for ?Inherently Safer Technology,? which could require chemical companies and users to replace highly toxic substances with safer materials or find safer practices for processing the chemicals.

?You can?t mandate innovation,? said Durbin. Switching substances or practices will always have some unintended consequences, he argues. ?Those are decisions that need to be made at the company level.?

But advocates for the mandate say studies show the industry can actually save money by switching to less hazardous chemicals and methods.

A survey by the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, found that 284 facilities had begun using safer products and processes since 1999, and that in the vast majority of cases the cost was less than $1 million.

About one-third of the facilities expected to save money as a result of the switch, since they could spend less money on security.

Even if New Jersey doesn?t win the provision in the Iraq funding bill, the state could come out on top. The House Homeland Security Committee is expected to review the tough New Jersey law and how it has worked in practice, according to staffers.

Rick Engler, director of the New Jersey Work Environment Council, an environmental advocacy group, said that while the state?s law is not as strong it could be, ?the prospect of stronger regulation has been important? in getting plants to change their practices.

?Historically, we have huge fights? with regulators, acknowledged Hal Bozarth of the Chemistry Council of New Jersey. But in the wake of Sept. 11, ?there were magnitudes of difference,? and an accord was quickly reached.

In the case of the Kuehne factory, there could be a compromise in the making. Both sides agree that the biggest dangers to the plant are the 90-ton railway cars carrying liquid chlorine.

The plant could build its own chlorine facility onsite, but the cost would top $100 million.

Engler said that while in most cases he does not support government subsidies for the industry to clean up its act, in this case he might make an exception.

As it turns out, Kuehne is already in talks with federal officials.

?Let?s face reality: Sitting where we are sitting, it?s a legitimate concern,? said Donald F. Nicolai, president and CEO of Kuehne. ?So is there a benefit to reducing or eliminating that? Absolutely.?

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6663.html