Environmentalists have stepped in where the feds feared to tread, publishing on the Internet information about the risks of chemical accidents in the U.S., including state-by-state summaries of potential “worst-case scenarios.” The information was provided to the EPA by thousands of companies, but a new federal law prevents the agency from posting the info on the Internet for one year on the grounds that it could promote terrorism. OMB Watch and other groups posted executive summaries of the info on a website of their own, saying it was more likely to embarrass chemical companies than aid terrorists. Paul Orum of the Working Group on Community Right-to-Know: “To actually combat terrorists, companies need to improve site security, harden facilities, add fail-safe equipment and, most fundamentally, reduce the hazard they knowingly bring to a community.”
