4.6.07

Chlorine tanker report cites terror concern, but M.U.D. confident
by Nancy Gaarder, Omaha World-Herald

The M.U.D. drinking water plant in north Omaha is one of 24 nationwide that continues to receive rail shipments of chlorine gas even though safer alternatives are available, according to a report released this week.

In the post-9/11 world, water utilities and the 13 sewer treatment plants that still receive the gas by rail should change to something safer, said Paul Orum, a chemical safety consultant who wrote the report for the Center for American Progress.

The center, a think tank headed by John Podesta, former chief of staff in the Clinton administration, isn't arguing against the use of chlorine as a disinfectant.

Rather, the center is concerned about the transport of bulk quantities of chlorine gas, which is such concentrated and deadly. The Department of Homeland Security considers the shipments potential terrorist targets.

Some utilities instead use liquid bleach or make chlorine on-site, the report said.

Tom Wurtz, president of the Metropolitan Utilities District, said the utility has no plans to stop using chlorine gas or to stop receiving it by rail.

"We've had good luck with safety at the Florence plant," he said. "We just really haven't had any problem with it since we've been using it, since about 1915."

Wurtz said a change would be costly and the utility would have to raise rates substantially.

Water utilities have spent $2 billion making their facilities safer since the 2001 terrorist attacks, said Jack Hoffbuhr, executive director of the American Water Works Association. That some utilities continue to receive chlorine gas by rail simply reflects their local circumstances, he said.

Orum said analyses by the federal government and industry indicate that a catastrophic incident involving a chlorine rail tanker like the ones arriving in north Omaha could sicken or kill people within 10 miles.

Chlorine gas hugs the ground like fog and flows in whatever direction the wind takes it.

Wurtz said water treatment requires a balancing act.

"Is there some security risk?" he said. "There may be. I'll leave that up to the federal government in terms of the regulations that are needed for transportation. In terms of treatment, I would be hesitant to change. This isn't simply a matter of replacing chemicals."

Accidental ruptures of chlorine rail tankers have proved deadly. Nine people were killed in Graniteville, S.C., in 2005, and three people were killed in 2004 near San Antonio.

The EPA permits the use of chlorine gas, Wurtz said, and the utility follows all safety protocols. In 2003, M.U.D. rebuilt its chlorine facilities at the Florence plant, making them safer.

About 60 percent of the chlorine gas used at the north Omaha plant arrives via rail tanker, and it is shipped during only a few months of the year. The rest arrives by truck.

All of the chlorine gas used at M.U.D.'s existing Platte River treatment plant arrives via truck as will the chlorine gas at its new facility in western Douglas County.

Orum said trucking in the gas would be better until other changes can be made, because the trucks carry only a ton of gas as opposed to at least 55 tons on railcars. As a result, an accident would affect a smaller area, with the vapor cloud traveling an estimated one to three miles.

Louisville, Ky., Indianapolis, and Cleveland either have or are switching from chlorine gas for water treatment. Doing so can be costly. Louisville, for example, is spending $10 million on a system to manufacture chlorine on-site.

In its reports to federal officials on chlorine gas, M.U.D. has estimated that about 390,000 people live in an area vulnerable to a release, Orum said. In the event of a disaster, a smaller portion of the population would be at risk because the gas would follow wind direction, he said.

A rupture of a chlorine tanker is one of the worst-case scenarios that emergency workers in Omaha prepare for, said Jim Palensky, hazardous materials coordinator for the Omaha Fire Department.

Palensky said he couldn't comment specifically on M.U.D.'s practices.

"We always support people in the community looking at good, competent changes in safety if it betters the community and is effective for all."

Union Pacific and other rail companies advocate an aggressive move away from chemicals such as chlorine gas because vapor from spills can be so easily spread by wind. Railroads are legally required to transport the hazardous gas but are provided no liability protection.

Earlier this year, the Association of American Railroads called on the government to encourage a rapid transition from chlorine gas and other highly hazardous materials to safer alternatives.

Chemicals such as chlorine gas expose the industry to "multibillion dollar" judgments, the association said.

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