Study cites terror risk to Denver from chlorine gas
Tillie Fong, Rocky Mountain News
Published April 4, 2007 at midnight
Denver is a potential terrorist target because the Metro Wastewater Reclamation District still uses chlorine gas as a disinfectant and receives the chemical by rail, according to a study released this week.
"The only way to truly protect communities is to get the unnecessary toxic cargoes off the tracks," wrote Paul Orum, lead researcher of the study, titled "Toxic Trains and the Terrorist Threat."
The good news is that Metro Wastewater plans to start using a less toxic disinfectant - liquid bleach - by the end of this year.
"(Metro) deserves credit for switching off to a safer alternative that will take many people in Denver out of harm's way," Orum said.
The study was conducted by the Center for American Progress, a research institute described as a liberal think tank by the Center for Media and Democracy.
Steve Frank, Metro Wastewater spokesman, declined to comment on the study.
"It is a highly sensitive area," he said.
Lance Clem, spokesman for the Colorado Department of Public Safety, said that the transport of hazardous materials in Colorado, whether by rail or other means, is covered by the state's critical infrastructure protection plan.
"There are plans and protections in place," he said.
Orum said that terrorists could use industrial chemicals, such as chlorine gas, as improvised weapons of mass destruction. Exposure to chlorine gas causes severe burns to the eyes, skin and lungs, and can be fatal.
Metro Wastewater is one of 37 water utilities in the country still using and receiving chlorine gas by rail, and each year, 45,000 shipments of chlorine gas travel by rail in the U.S., the study found.
In a worst-case scenario, the release of chlorine from a 90-ton rail car parked at Metro Wastewater could expose 925,000 people, the study found.
"This risk is especially worrisome given the vulnerability of rail cars," wrote Orum, who said there is often lax security at rail yards.
The study notes that a single ruptured rail car of chlorine gas can release a lethal plume that can travel 14 to 25 miles downwind.
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