"I scratch my head, as a public citizen, and question whether this sort of information should be accessible," said Bill Tyler, human resource manager of Crown Petroleum in Pasadena. "Having the authorities knowledgeable -- I'm for that 100 percent -- and channeling the information to authorities can be done without broadcasting it to the whole world."

Well, at least one of them is thinking proactively.

But Baumann said it's a "completely one-sided policy to promote secrecy and then do nothing to reduce the hazards." He said the reports help illustrate why companies should take more preventive action -- such as redesigning production systems, substituting hazardous materials for alternatives and reducing hazardous materials at facilities.

And this one isn't thinking...the remedy? Reduce the hazards...what good does it do to broadcast the information and then not reduce the hazards? Duh...none.
Only makes a bad situation worse.

Paula Welch, 46, said the Sept. 11 attacks have raised fears about the security at the ship channel. She lives just 13 miles away..."We're just a stone's throw away, and it concerns me. I'd hate to wake up and look out the back door and see everything gone."

Scaredy cat. I grew up less than two miles away from what at the time was the larrrrrrgest LPG plant in the world. Every know and then parts of it would blow up. Shake the house a little, Dad would get out of bed and haul it out the door, I'd go back to sleep.

Anyone ever figure out why a fertilizer plant in Toulouse blew up? I heard they found a pissed-off Algerian dressed up to die in the wreckage. 25 dead, 600 injured. Happened Sept 21. Heck of a crater.

Naw, they're too busy attacking Post Office/Barbershops and 94-year-old women in Oxford, CT, to pay attention to such a low value target like that...

Yes,and very little in the news.

Every thing and every institution and every person is a potential target. Houston might feel special in that regard, but every one of the 1000 largest communities is just at risk. We're at war and will be until further notice.

People have to see the Houston Ship Channel to appreciate this article. There is nothing like it in the world.

At night, it's overwhelming with the lights and flares. To the layman's eye, it's one giant refinery stretching for miles in nearly every direction.

To me, it is the # 1 terrorist target in the country. Short of shutting it down, it's also indefensible. A major freeway runs right through the complex.

An successful attack there could cripple the country far worse than hitting the WTC.

This is not the only problem Houston has but I am not talking.

Well if the friggin terrorists havent thought of hitting it by now, you have certainly given them enough info for a future potential target! Way to go!! Why don't you just email them a list of potential targets across the entire country so they can really hit us. sheeesh....

This article is needlessly apocalyptic.

I have lived most of my life in the Houston/Baytown area and have worked in many of the petroleum/chemical facilities. All of the operators are well aware of all of the hazards associated with each of the chemicals they handle. Each of the facilities has been designed to limit the effects of a catastrophe. Spacing standards and material requirements for containment vessels are such that a fire or explosion is limited to the immediate area involved. For instance, there was a series of explosions and a fire this weekend at an LPG facility in the Crown Petroleum Refinery. While spectacular, the damage was limited to the LPG facility, which was located in the heart of the refinery. No one was killed and only about four people suffered relatively minor injuries.

Certainly explosions and releases of chemicals like hydrofloric acid (which is only used in a couple of the facilities) are possible. However, it is very unlikely, bordering on the impossible, for a "chain reaction" to occur spreading the catastrophe from one refinery to the next like a row of falling dominoes. Even the explosion of the freighter carrying fertilizer, to which the article refers, did not propigate distruction amongst all of the refineries, and the operators have learned a lot since that time. (Yes, I was here as a child when it occured. My father, an engineer in one of the refineries, was a witness to the explosion.)

Lee. P. Brown is Houston's worst problem. That and slime in the ice machine.

If we attack Iraq, I would expect Houston to be at the top of the list of targets, along with NYC & DC. Nonetheless, this article is typical scare the soccer mom hystrionics from the Ft. Worth Startlegram. The allegations don't add up when you inspect them closer. It is impossible for a worst case scenario to happen that would endanger anywhere close to the number of people the article insinuates. The article assumes that as a massive toxic cloud is blown through Houston, every person would run outdoors and inhale. Most of the damage can be limited by simply staying indoors.

This is just more scare tactics from the environmental activists. Though sabotage and terrorism are certainly possible, there are ways to limit the impact. The industries are strung out along 20+ miles(turning basin to Bayport).

I agree that there is very little danger to Houston residents. And anything short of small nuke will only damage a small fraction of the facilities.

They are, however, not protected and any one of them could be severely damaged by a relatively low-tech sabotage attempt.

I don't have any suggestions to improve security that couldn't be easily thwarted.

On the other hand, it's not as easy as shooting a rocket over a chain-link fence, either, and I doubt the terrorists are experts on the vulnerable spots in these plants.

I was worried about this, but not any more. But about 2 weeks ago some friends and I were walking on the Kema Board Walk after 9:00 pm. I thought I heard a US Coast Guard Air Rescue coming back form the Gulf of Mexico common enough site. I couldn't make it out because the sky was hazy and dark over the water but I could hear it. Well this fellow does a Kema Board Walk fly bye at about 1/2 mile or so and got silhouetted by the night lights. I was wrong, it was an AH-64 Apache armed to the teeth just checking things out.

Warmed my Heart!!!

The Houston ship channel is well protected, thank you. Just because "something" could happen if we weren't alerted is not really news, just idle speculation. Trust me on this one, nothing's going to happen here in Houston.

In the novel "The Ayes of Texas", an attack on the Houston ship channel killed thousands and turned the area into a wasteland.

Shake the house a little, ... I'd go back to sleep.

You might want to think again