Fears of catastrophic chemical leaks remain By KRISTEN HAYS,AP
Dorothy Kellogg, senior director of security and operations for the ACC, said member companies recognize, at the very least, the economic benefit of avoiding deaths, minimizing injuries and preventing lawsuits by meeting or exceeding safety requirements with extra precautions and detailed community response plans.
"It's not just an issue of the litigation," she said. "There's just no money to be made in blowing up. There's no money to be made in injuring your employees or shutting down your process."
Yet environmental groups say such initiatives must be mandatory to be meaningful because ACC member companies that give up their membership only have to do the minimum required by laws and regulations. And the PACE International Union, which represents about 50,000 workers in the paper, chemical and oil refining industries, says worker training in prevention and emergency response needs improvement.