NEWS OF THE WEEK
CHEMICAL SAFETY: Industry dealing with tighter rules About 450 experts in chemical hazard prevention gathered in Washington, D.C., last week for a conference and update on how the chemical industry is responding to safety requirements following the chemical plant disaster in Bhopal, India. Sponsors were a unique blend of organizations: the World Bank, which now mandates strict safety design and emergency planning in all chemical projects it funds in developing countries; the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which administers a new law regulating chemical plant safety in communities; and the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, which has taken an active role in safety issues through its new Center for Chemical Process Safety. Dozens of papers were presented in six technical areas: hazard identification; storage and transfer, reactive chemical hazards, process considerations, postrelease mitigation, and human factors involved in safety. But the underlying reason for the conference was the regulatory revolution occurring around the world in chemical safety. The Bhopal disaster and other less catastrophic chemical releases unleashed a wave of citizen outcry, state and government regulations, and safety programs by companies fearful both of their reputations and overregulation. The changing nature of chemical process technology, with its trend toward specialty products and frequent redesign of equipment, is also complicating the matter. New Jersey, with its Toxic Catastrophe Prevention Act, has issued the toughest set of regulations in the country, requiring hazard inventories for all that state's chemical plants. On the federal level, key legislation has been Title III of the 4
February 9, 1987 C&EN
new Superfund law, which mandates community right-to-know and emergency preparedness. EPA Administrator Lee M. Thomas outlined some of the ways his agency would administer what he called a very complex act. "I don't see us getting involved under the act with trying to regulate plant design/' he said. "We will deal with the production of new chemical products, determining whether they should be produced or not, based on a review of the environmental and public health consequences. "We will be very active," he continued, " i n providing technical, planning, and financial support to state and local governments in preparing themselves to work with industry to understand what the risk is and be prepared to deal with it." He also said EPA would work with communities so that people could understand the chemical information provided to them by the plants in their areas. But he did say that
EPA's Thomas (above) and CMA's Cox addressed hazard prevention issues
the government could get involved in developing design and location criteria for chemical plants. Géraldine V. Cox, a Chemical Manufacturers Association vice president who manages its National Chemical Response & Information Center and the Community Awareness & Emergency Response program, reviewed some of the chemical industry's responses in recent months. She said 1500 plants were now participating in the CAER program of hazard information sharing with communities. About 800 by now have plans completed and 200 are working directly with their communities. But she said much of the information on the so-called material safety data sheets that go to community safety services such as fire departments is too bulky and complicated. "There are 100,000 data sheets in existence now and 3000 new ones come in every week," she said. "It's a monstrous filing problem. We need cost-effective ways to provide information quickly and ac-
and neighborhoods that were at es pecially high risk. But he also said chemical firms were being penalized for being good guys, too. In one episode, a builder was constructing new housing next to a chemical plant in a northeast ern state. The plant manager, con cerned about some dangerous pro cess chemicals, told the builder his project wasn't a good idea. The builder threatened to sue the firm for interfering with his business. D
Composites, reinforced plastics use hits record Millar: still a long way to go curately to industry and federal and local governments/' On the international level, G. Thyagarajan reported on some of the latest thinking on chemical safe ty in India. Thyagarajan is a research director for India's Council of Sci entific & Industrial Research and headed the team that investigated the chemical phenomena that led to the release of the methyl isocyanate gas in Bhopal. Thyagarajan said that with 40% of all chemical accidents in India due to faulty plant design, new laws in India are requiring safety in the design of chemical plants. Also being legislated are "chemical town ship zones" miles from populated areas. Green belts, for example, would separate the plants from towns and villages in the region. And tax breaks and subsidies would be given as incentives for existing plants to relocate to these zones. The main environmentalist on the program was Fred Millar of the En v i r o n m e n t a l Policy Institute of Washington, D.C. Millar said visits he made to several chemical locales around the country told him the industry, though making marked progress, still had a long way to go in gearing up for the new era of safety. He criticized one plant he visited for making available to the community maps indicating the lo cation of sirens. That was nice, he said, but the company withheld more crucial maps that pointed out the locations of chemical hazards
Reinforced plastics and composites had a good year in 1986 and will do even better in 1987, according to new figures from the Composites Institute of the Society of the Plas tics Industry. Shipments in 1986 to taled a record 2.28 billion lb, a 2.8% increase from 1985. For 1987, ship ments are projected to grow anoth er 3%, to nearly 2.35 billion lb. Carl Rue, general chairman of the Composites Institute, revealed the numbers at the 42nd annual Com posites Conference in Cincinnati. Rue notes that this segment of the plastics industry has been growing faster than the economy as a whole, and that this above-average growth will likely go on, thanks to the con tinuing emergence of new products and new uses for composites. Take, for example, the auto in dustry, the largest market for rein forced plastics and composites. U.S. auto production in 1986 fell 3.7% from 1985 and is expected to de cline more in 1987. But even in a declining overall market, Rue says, shipments of such plastics and com posites to the auto industry rose 3.0% from 1985 to 585 million lb in 1986. This year, shipments are expected to increase another 4.0% to 608 mil lion lb. The construction industry is the second largest user of reinforced plastics and composites. Shipments to that market amounted to 456 mil lion lb in 1986, up 2.7% from 1985. In 1987, Rue says, housing starts will drop and business investment is also expected to soften. Never theless, he still predicts a 1.8% in
crease in shipments to 464 million lb. In the marine market, shipments totaled 340 million lb, a 3.0% in crease from 1985. Rue foresees an other modest 3.2% rise in 1987, to 351 million lb. Shipments to the corrosion-re sistant e q u i p m e n t market w e r e down for the second year in a row. Shipments of 291 million lb last year were down 1.4% from 1985, follow ing a 4.8% annual decline in 1985. However, Rue says, the impact of the oil glut probably has bottomed out. A 3.2% increase is projected for 1987, with shipments rising to 300 million lb. The aircraft/aerospace/military market for reinforced plastics and composites is small, in terms of pounds, but it has had the largest percentage growth. Shipments in 1986 reached 37 million lb, up 12.1% from 1985. Another strong year is forecast for 1987, with shipments rising 8.1% to about 40 million lb. D
PCB incinerator starts up in Kansas Commercial operation has begun in Coffeyville, Kan., at what is claimed to be the first rotary slagging kiln in the U.S. dedicated solely to in cineration of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and materials contami nated with them. The plant is oper ated by Pyrochem, a joint venture of Westinghouse Electric Corp. and National Electric Inc.
Sacco petition candidate for Region V election Louis J. Sacco Jr.» a Chicago-based consultant in environmental science and chemicai waste management» has been nominated by petition to run in the upcoming election for Region V director on the ACS Board. Two other candidates wiil vie for tfie post—I. Dwaine Eubanks and John β. Verkade (C&EN, Jan. 5, page 7), The winner wili serve on the board for the remain tier of the 1986-88 term. Ballots will be maiied Feb. 20 to ail members residing in Region V {the Midwest).
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