Registrants to Green Markets‘ Oct. 23 audio conference heard up-to-date analysis of the many security issues currently facing the fertilizer industry. Speakers for the 90-minute interactive event, entitled Chemical Security and the Fertilizer Industry, included MaryBeth Kelliher of the Department of Homeland Security, Jim Schellhorn of Terra Industries Inc., and Richard Gupton of the Agricultural Retailers Association.
Kelliher kicked off the event with an in-depth look at the new Chemical Facility Anti-Terrorism Standards (CFATS), which were published in April and went into effect June 8, 2007. As chief of DHS’s Policy and Programs Branch, Kelliher described in detail the department’s Chemical Security Assessment Tool, calling it the “backbone of the CFATS program.” The fertilizer and chemical industries are still waiting for the release of the final Appendix A list of chemicals and screening threshold quantities, which Kelliher reviewed and said will be published this fall.
Schellhorn, director of Environmental Health, Safety and Security for Terra Industries, talked about Terra’s facility security program and how the company has responded to the Maritime Transportation Security Act and Homeland Security’s CFATS program. He also gave an up-to-the-minute overview of federal efforts to regulate ammonium nitrate sales, and talked about the increased costs related to the rail transportation of toxic-by-inhalation (TIH) commodities such as anhydrous ammonia.
ARA’s Gupton capped the conference with a discussion of the industry’s continuing efforts to influence the final CFATS regulations. As vice president of Legislative Policy & Counsel for ARA, Gupton talked about other areas of concern involving chemical security legislation and provided listeners with specifics about conducting a Security Vulnerability Assessment (SVA). He observed as well that as railroads continue to distance themselves from TIH commodities, the demand for truck transportation will grow. Gupton noted that it takes four trucks to replace one ammonia tank car.
Listeners were allowed to pose questions to the panel, either by email or by telephone, at the conclusion of the presentations. An audio recording of the conference is available on CD-ROM for $199, and can be ordered by visiting http://www.pf.com/eventDetail.asp?id=78&type=2. Recordings of past Green Markets audio conferences can also be ordered at http://www.pf.com/events.asp.