This week, 60 Minutes had a report on chemical plants:
There are more than 100 chemical plants - in backyards all across the United States - where a catastrophic accident or an act of sabotage by terrorists could endanger more than a million people. One plant in Chicago could affect almost three million people. And in California, the chemicals at one site have the potential to kill, injure or displace more than eight million people.When 60 Minutes confronted the head of security in one of these unprotected plants, the security guard called the cops on the journalists.If you're wondering who came up with these jaw-dropping statistics, they came from the chemical companies themselves. Federal law requires them to file a "risk management plan" with the Environmental Protection Agency, describing the "worst" case scenario that could happen at their plant.
“I'm telling you that a ‘worst case scenario’ is a hypothetical example,” says Lebedev. “It is merely used to illustrate the fact that we should secure chemical facilities. And the good news is we do.”
But that's not what 60 Minutes found in visiting dozens of plants in major metropolitan areas that could put more than a million people at risk in the event of a terrorist attack. We found gates unlocked or wide open, dilapidated fences, and unprotected tanks filled with deadly chemicals that are used to manufacture everything from plastics to fertilizer.
Punish the whistle-blower.