The May 7, 2010 issue of Chemical and Engineering News has three-page article by Glenn Hess concerning the balance between the public's right to know about major chemical hazards to itself and how this information will also help terrorists.
As chemical companies reveal hazard information, there's no doubt that terrorist organizations will also profit from the release and use the information to formulate plans of destruction. However, that risk is small considering the fact that terrorist organizations are quite adept at unearthing profitable hazard information on their own, and the likelihood that a public release of information would be helpful to them is rather remote.
Conversely, chemical industry accidents occur periodically, and a public release of chemical industry hazards will foster corrections and will undoubtedly decrease the accident rate, particularly on the more serious risks. Let's all remember the Bhopal incident in India, where thousands of citizens were killed or permanently injured as a result of an accident having nothing to do with terrorism. A reconstruction of the facts at the time indicates that this accident could have been avoided and would likely have been avoided, if the public had prior knowledge of the risk.
The chemical industry has a right to control its property and its technology. But where the public can also be seriously affected by an accident, a chemical company has a responsibility to inform the public of any substantial risk, and also inform the public of what action ii is taking to minimize the risks.
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