EPA Issues Pesticide Security Advisory

The Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security and the Attorney General announced Feb. 10 that the Homeland Security Advisory System level for terrorist attack has been elevated to "orange" or  "high risk of terrorist attacks."  In light of this announcement, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency suggests that those who manufacture, distribute, transport or store pesticides should be especially vigilant regarding physical security of those chemicals.

The EPA recommends pesticide handlers review the agency’s Pesticide Consumer Alert titled Pesticide Alert:  Pesticide Security and Site Security published by EPA in September 2001 and available on the EPA Web site.

The FBI requests that pesticide distributors expeditiously report any threats or suspicious behavior to their local FBI field offices.

And additional information about chemical security is available:

The U.S. Department of Justice, through Sandia National Laboratories, has developed a chemical facility vulnerability assessment methodology.  The VAM is a tool that chemical facilities may apply to assess their security vulnerabilities and to assist with decisions regarding how to appropriately address those vulnerabilities. A report detailing the AM can be accessed on the National Institute of Justice's Web site.

The American Chemistry Council, the Synthetic Organic Chemical Manufacturers Association and the Chlorine Institute have produced a chemical site security guideline document and a chemical transportation security guideline document. Both documents are available on the ACC Web site.

The Center for Chemical Process Safety has released a publication titled "Guidelines for Analyzing and Managing the Security Vulnerabilities of Fixed Chemical Sites." This book is intended for chemical site managers, process safety managers, security managers and others responsible for conducting security vulnerability analyses and managing security at fixed chemical sites.