Public's right to know about harmful chemicals halted after 9/11

[IChing]

SALEM, Mass. — She had driven by the gray, two-story building a hundred times, seen the locked metal gates, but had never given it much thought. Until the Danversport explosion. "It never bothered me before," said Denise Bradstreet, 59, of Hathorne Street. "And then there was something nagging me in the back of my head. And then I went, 'Oh, my God. The little chemical plant.'"

The "little chemical plant" is Univar USA, a chemical distribution center. It is located just off Jefferson Avenue, about a half-mile from Bradstreet's home. It has been in Salem for years. But after the Danversport chemical plant blast in November, which destroyed more than a dozen buildings, Bradstreet wanted answers about the plant near her home.


According to the federal Right-to-Know Act adopted more than 20 years ago after a deadly chemical accident in India, information about industrial plants, including lists of chemicals and emergency response plans, "shall be made available to the general public." Local residents, the law says, have a right to know about hazardous chemicals in their communities.

In the wake of the Danversport explosion, The Salem News asked for a list of industrial plants on the North Shore and the hazardous chemicals stored at each facility. The Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety denied the request, citing public safety concerns, and sent copies of its ruling to local officials.

A lawyer for the state wrote that "releasing information ... may present a public safety danger to the facilities which contain the materials as well as to the public at large." >>>>snip

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