Laxed Security At Chemical Plants

[oldfart56]

It looks like Kuehne has not changed, once it was Frank and Rosa, now its the reporters from the New York Times.

The NYT fronts a bunch of chemical plants in northern New Jersey, particularly a chlorine plant, that mark "what terrorism experts call the most dangerous two miles in America." According to the Times, the EPA estimates that the chlorine plant has the possibility of being a "lethal threat" for a 14-mile radius, home to 12 million people. (Another study, not cited by the NYT, put the number at just a couple million.) The paper says the chlorine plant is so poorly guarded that a "reporter and photographer drove back and forth for five minutes, snapping photos with a camera the size of a large sidearm, then left without being approached." Federal counter-terrorism funding for Jersey has been cut this year from $99 million to $60 million.

Two things about the Times chemical piece: First, the paper glides by the political angle, waiting until the 35th paragraph to mention, in passing, that congressional efforts to bolster chemical-plant security "have been stalled, in part by industry lobbyists." Former EPA Chief Christine Todd Whitman gave the issue a bit more attention in her recent book, writing, "Although both Tom [Ridge] and I agreed such legislation was necessary, strong congressional opposition, led by some Republicans on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, to giving EPA even this modest additional statutory authority, made it difficult to secure administration support." (The New Republic has also probed the lack of action.)

Second point about the chemical piece: Despite all the wandering about, the Times published no close photos and it doesn't name the plant. It's an understandable decision, though one that TP disagrees with. As it happens, other papers and media outlets have already outed the place: It's the Kuehne Chemical Co. plant in Kearny.

see the article about the article at http://slate.msn.com/id/2118302/

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here we go ww2 dupont! i told ya it does not change"you do NOT OWN KEARNY THEY DO! you just live there! your puppet/ mayor! does what they tell him" look back way back then you can see how to fix the problims!!!history!! yours

[Guest Guest_Kearnyguy26_*]

So you say and I quote,

"Oh great one the "terroist" are looking to accomplish several things. 1. Hurt the USA financially. 2. Look to cause a high numbers of American deaths. 3. Kills as many Jews as possible. 3. Attack cherished American symbols."

So you really mean to tell me that if a terrorist attacked/"blew up" that plant in South Kearny that wouldn't kill high numbers of American's or hurt the US financially?

You gotta be kidding!

I'd be interested in hearing what you think would hurt the US financially.

Let's see, power plant blows up, TOTAL DISASTER, potentially killing millions of people, do you not think this would "trickle" all the way to Wall St.

C'mon now, what you should do is read a few books and see what 9/11 did to the US economy, blowing up a plant would be a lot worse for the US economy, trust me.

I think your misinterpreting "hurt the USA financially" by thinking of what the US has to pay, in 9/11's case help rebuild the towers, grants ect.

It's much deeper than that

I'm not siding with Frankie F. on this one either, as I don't know who he is or what he stands for but just stating a fact.

Wow a ghost from the past Frankie F. the man who has forgotten about the little people he swore he'd help even if he wasn't elected. You lost and did a magic trick you disappeared. Oh great one the "terroist" are looking to accomplish several things. 1. Hurt the USA financially. 2. Look to cause a high numbers of American deaths. 3. Kills as many Jews as possible. 3. Attack cherished American symbols. None of the above can be accomplished in South Kearny. Maybe we need to send you there or better yet maybe you were in Iraq trying to sue Saddam for wronging Americans. You should crawl back into the hole from which you've been hiding and stop working up the masses into a frenzie. Funny how you pop out of the woodwork all the sudden. Mayor Al still rules and you'll always be a trouble maker in my book who cost the taxpayers $ to benefit your own selfish venues. Oh Frankie boy where have you been hiding ? GO BACK. Maybe the terroist will release all the sex offenders and they'll go out of their way to attack Kearnyites. Maybe they'll break into the chemical plants and see signs "hey the deadly stuff is over here". Newark airport had mega security. Boston airport. the same. You can go to home Depot and and the stuff in there is just as deadly as whats in those chemical plants. You need to get real or spend more time righting the wrongs instead of trying to make everyone else look like they don't care.

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[Guest Kelly Clarkson]

I drive past the chemical plant daily on my way to school. There used to be a Kearny police officer post on the corner by it, but for the past 6months or so, there has been no police presence there, although the guard shack is still there unoccupied. I think that us, US citizen should go down there as our patriotic duty and guard that plant. I think the best solution is to keep anyone with the name Mohammad or has two or three hyphens in there name should be kept 100 miles away.

All kidding aside a task force should be set-up by the surrounding town like Kearny, JC, Newark, Bayonne and other city to form a rapid response team, to deal with emergency situations, and provide security. This is everyone's problem not just Kearny!

PS-The news does a great job on telling the terrorist were and how to attack!

[oldfart56]

I drive past the chemical plant daily on my way to school.  There used to be a Kearny police officer post on the corner by it, but for the past 6months or so, there has been no police presence there, although the guard shack is still there unoccupied.  I think that us, US citizen should go down there as our patriotic duty and guard that plant.  I think the best solution is to keep anyone with the name Mohammad or has two or three hyphens in there name should be kept 100 miles away.

All kidding aside a task force should be set-up by the surrounding town like Kearny, JC, Newark, Bayonne and other city to form a rapid response team, to deal with emergency situations, and provide security.  This is everyone's problem not just Kearny!

PS-The news does a great job on telling the terrorist were and how to attack!

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DITTO!

[Guest Mayor Do Something]

Another article about Kuehne,

http://www.courierpostonline.com/news/sout...ey/m051005o.htm

[Guest Resident]

Look at pictures of Kearny NJ Transit Fire, Kearny asked for mutual aid from NYC. How can we expect our firefighters to fight a fire at Kuehne without proper equipment. The federal government should be putting together a package to stock and man our fire department with the best equipment possible. This fire was nothing to what could happen at Kuehne.

Kearny Bridge Fire Means Train Trouble in Region

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/traffic/wabc_0...bridgefire.html

Then read Christie Whitman's take on the Kuehne plant from her book,

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Y.shtml

Mayor Santos & Council time to act.

[Guest Guest]

Look at pictures of Kearny NJ Transit Fire, Kearny asked for mutual aid from NYC.  How can we expect our firefighters to fight a fire at Kuehne without proper equipment.  The federal government should be putting together a package to stock and man our fire department with the best equipment possible.  This fire was nothing to what could happen at Kuehne.

Kearny Bridge Fire Means Train Trouble in Region

http://abclocal.go.com/wabc/traffic/wabc_0...bridgefire.html

Then read Christie Whitman's take on the Kuehne plant from her book,

http://www.truthout.org/docs_05/012905Y.shtml

Mayor Santos & Council time to act.

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What are you saying, you want Kearny to have a fire boat like NYC? And Harrison and East Newark and North Arlington and on and on. Get real!

Everyone else is talking about regionalization and you want every town to have everything? Hey, why don't we have a fireman living in every house in town while we're at it.

[Guest Resident]

What are you saying, you want Kearny to have a fire boat like NYC? And Harrison and East Newark and North Arlington and on and on. Get real!

Everyone else is talking about regionalization and you want every town to have everything? Hey, why don't we have a fireman living in every house in town while we're at it.

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If the Mayor concentrated on getting mad as hell at the current situation in South Kearny, then maybe we would get our fair share of anti-terrorist money to put a fireman in every house. At least we should get a fire boat instead of sending our firefighters out with a row boat and a firehose. What happens if Kuehne goes up? What do we do meet at the Mayor's apartment in Greenich Village.

[KOTW]

There is an article in the Observer about Kuehne, it looks like the writer has been reading the posts on KOTW

http://www.theobserver.com/currentissue/safety.shtml

[oldfart56]

There is an article in the Observer about Kuehne, it looks like the writer has been reading the posts on KOTW

http://www.theobserver.com/currentissue/safety.shtml

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what is your point? i got the news here in fla! all the same! fox cnn abc cbs all had it! but lisa told me she might shut down the web forum! its sad its a wast land back stabing lieing name calling and thats just tony! um i said this not her! we still need the observer site freedom of speach but not the above!the town is in trouble big time you can fix it but it will HURT!

[Guest Observer Reader]

Did you see the Letters to the Editor regarding the Kuehne Chemical Plant in the Observer.

http://www.theobserver.com/currentissue/letters.shtml

The letter from Mr. Pinho brought out a great point "Why isn't Kuehne retrofiting the Kearny plant"

As far as Councilwoman Sherry's letter, what does "This particular facility has been the subject of much consternation and speculation on the part of Kearny residents and residents of neighboring municipalities. The inherent sensitive nature of security programs and impending process changes at Kuehne may have provoked a discretion which the public perceives as lack of information" mean.

The councilwoman is really trying to impress us. Does she mean "Nothing's happened at the plant so far" or "Let's make believe that Kuehne has actually done something to improve security."

I believe that Mr. Pinho has hit the nail on the head, "Our local officials should be lobbying to get Federal and State loan monies so Kuehne has no excuse as to why it cannot retrofit the plant. If the State can find $100 million to build a soccer stadium in Harrison, why can’t we find 30 million to loan to Kuehne so that a potential disaster can be averted. "

Does Mayor Santos and the Council members support such a "Loan" plan?

[JohnPinho]

Both Senator Lautenberg and Corzine mention the Kuehne Chemical plant as examples in their testimony before the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.

I have urged the Mayor and council to make this their top priority. In my opinion, there is no reason why this plant cannot be retrofitted in the same manner as the Kuehne Delaware plant. It has been almost three years since the Wall Street Journal Article was published. As I stated in my Letter to the Editor published in the Observer, a New York Times reporter did what my friends Frank Ferreira and Rosa Alves did almost three years ago and had a very similar result. Frank & Rosa's video is still available online. It clearly shows the vunerability of the plant. Senators Lautenberg and Corzine mention the same facts in their testimony. I believe that even the Republicans in Congress cannot vote against a loan to Kuehne Chemical to retrofit their plant. The residents of Kearny deserve as much respect as the residents of Delaware. This issue is a Kearny issue. Although Mayor Santos agreed with me that Kuehne must be addressed, he suggested only that we write our federal officials. I agree in part but Senator Corzine and Lautenberg know the facts already and have been fighting for us already. What we need is to think outside the box. I suggested at the council meeting that the Mayor and Council meet with officials of Kuehne Chemical and ask them what they need to increase their security. What funding do they need? What are they willing to do to retrofit the plant? What will it cost? Then go and put together funding to accomplish the task. This can be a model for other chemical plants throughout NJ and the United States. The terrorist attacks have changed our capitalist system as it relates to chemical plants. We must have a modified capitalist system where Government is a partner in chemical companies.

John M. Pinho

[Guest Radagast]

No offence to anyone and I hate to bring up this depressing point again, but alas! I must.

I happened to be stuck in a traffic jam the other day in Route 1&9 in Newark on my way to the airport. Having nothing better to do, I watched a long freight train pass by my car not more than 40 feet away. I saw car after car after tank car passing me by clearly marked 'DANGER LIQUID CHLORINE'. This is the same liquid chlorine that is the feared creature resident in the South Kearny chemical plant. Mind you now, unlike South Kearny, some fifty feet below lies the Ironbound section of Newark where thousands live within a mile of the rail line.

Now I've been assured by those 'in the know' that these tank cars are nearly indestructable. However, we hear about train derailments involving chlorine tank cars all the time in other states and sometimes they have ruptured. Most times people from miles around have to be evacuated. That's bad enough in Poedunk, AK but we're talking about Newark, NJ... so much for the 'experts'.

Now, every street within a mile of this chemical plant in South Kearny is blocked with concrete barriers and they put up a high fence on the Pulaski Skyway just in case someone might stop their car to throw a bomb over it... stop a car on the Skyway... now that a real suicide bomber.

OK... my point is as follows... WE ARE NOT SAFE ANYWHERE!.. and further.. WE NEVER WILL BE SAFE ANYWHERE! ... I don't care how much money we pour into the black hole of the Homeland Security Department or Operation Freedom or any other hokey plan old Bushie Boy comes up with... we simply can't cover all the bases.

Be it for fun or profit, it seems everyone has their pet security project now a days and I'm sure they are all worthwhile. The advantage our enemies have is that a) they are smart enough to find a weakness and, they are willing to kill themselves in order to kill us. Fortunately, fanatics of that nature are scarce.

'Should we do nothing then, Rad?, you unAmerican SOB!!!' Of course we should. Perhaps we should get over this insanity we've contracted after 9/11 and remember who we are. WE ARE AMERICANS!! We stand for something more than hiding behind a false sense of security. Perhaps we should as a people stand once again behind the true pricipal of freedom that we were founded on rather destroying that freedom in the face of danger.

P.S. -- To the wingnuts who wave the flag in my face ... I'll wave the Bill of Rights and the rest of the Constitution, thank you... they mean more.

[Guest Guest]

Did you see the Letters to the Editor regarding the Kuehne Chemical Plant in the Observer.

http://www.theobserver.com/currentissue/letters.shtml

The letter from Mr. Pinho brought out a great point "Why isn't Kuehne retrofiting the Kearny plant"

As far as Councilwoman Sherry's letter, what does "This particular facility has been the subject of much consternation and speculation on the part of Kearny residents and residents of neighboring municipalities. The inherent sensitive nature of security programs and impending process changes at Kuehne may have provoked a discretion which the public perceives as lack of information"  mean.

The councilwoman is really trying to impress us.  Does she mean "Nothing's happened at the plant so far"  or "Let's make believe that Kuehne has actually done something to improve security."

I believe that Mr. Pinho has hit the nail on the head, "Our local officials should be lobbying to get Federal and State loan monies so Kuehne has no excuse as to why it cannot retrofit the plant. If the State can find $100 million to build a soccer stadium in Harrison, why can’t we find 30 million to loan to Kuehne so that a potential disaster can be averted. "

Does Mayor Santos and the Council members support such a "Loan" plan?

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Wow...the quote from Ms. Sherry is a tad elitist. Remember our roots, this is the 2nd Ward. Most of us speak plainly. It also sounds like the company wrote it. garble garble...

[oldfart56]

Wow...the quote from Ms. Sherry is a tad elitist. Remember our roots, this is the 2nd Ward.  Most of us speak plainly.  It also sounds like the company wrote it.  garble garble...

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1ST WHY ARE THEY STILL THERE ?GET THEM OUT ! MAKE THEM MOVE! YOU HAVE THE POWER! ITS YOUR TOWN!!! GET THEM THE HELL OUT OF KEARNY NOW!!! SOMEONE IS PAYING OFF SOMEONE! FIND OUT "WHO"THEN GET RID OF HIM TOO!!! DO IT BEFORE ITS TO LATE!!!!! KUEHNE MUST GO!

[Guest Flabbergasted]

Wow...the quote from Ms. Sherry is a tad elitist. Remember our roots, this is the 2nd Ward.  Most of us speak plainly.  It also sounds like the company wrote it.  garble garble...

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Why is the quote elitist? Because Councilwoman Sherry knows how to spell and construct a sentence? Are you suggesting that second warders are incapable of using proper English? What a snobbish (and elitist) statement! As a second ward resident I am offended.

Just for today, call me "Ticked Off"

[Guest Guest]

Why is the quote elitist?  Because Councilwoman Sherry knows how to spell and construct a sentence?  Are you suggesting that second warders are incapable of using proper English?  What a snobbish (and elitist) statement!  As a second ward resident I am offended.

Just for today, call me "Ticked Off"

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do you understand what she's saying? i don't. talk smaller and stop trying to impress. double talk is all it is.

[Guest Retired English Teacher]

do you understand what she's saying? i don't. talk smaller and stop trying to impress. double talk is all it is.

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As a child, were you attacked by a capital letter? That might explain why you avoid them!

[Guest Radaguest]

As a child, were you attacked by a capital letter?  That might explain why you avoid them!

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Well, they did want "smaller talk"!!!

[Guest Alden Leeds Company]

Article from NY Times on chemical release this morning, the reports on the radio say the Kearny Firefighters could not go into the building because they did not have their suits with them. Do they have suits for chlorine gas. Why hasn't the Mayor and Council been more vocal on this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/nyregion...d-chemical.html

[Guest Kearny's bravest]

Three men manning south Kearny. Kind of shabby Chief . What does the Mayor

think or is he fiddling. How about the council.

Where do we evacuate to DArco's of the Chiefs house!

[Guest Guest]

Article from NY Times on chemical release this morning, the reports on the radio say the Kearny Firefighters could not go into the building because they did not have their suits with them.  Do they have suits for chlorine gas.  Why hasn't the Mayor and Council been more vocal on this?

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/30/nyregion...d-chemical.html

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Do you really need to ask that question?

[Guest Rose color glasses]

If the Mayor concentrated on getting mad as hell at the current situation in South Kearny, then maybe we would get our fair share of anti-terrorist money to put a fireman in every house.  At least we should get a fire boat instead of sending our firefighters out with a row boat and a firehose.  What happens if Kuehne goes up?  What do we do meet at the Mayor's apartment in Greenich Village.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

From where the mayor and council sit everything is wonderful. Their getting their fire engine. Harrison will not have to lend us theirs.

New Orleans was no accident and either was today. It will never happen here.

We do everything on the cheap. We have two fire fighters a captain and a Policeman down there. That is more than enough. If nothing happens.

Guess what Shit happens.

What is it that POGO said "We met the enemy and it is us."

Pogo for Mayor

[Guest BERT DIAZ PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPA]

From where the mayor and council sit everything is wonderful. Their getting their fire engine. Harrison will not have to lend us theirs.

  New Orleans was no accident and either was today. It will never happen here.

We do everything on the cheap. We have two fire fighters a captain and a Policeman down there. That is more than enough. If nothing happens.

Guess what Shit happens.

  What is it that POGO said "We met the enemy and it is us."

  Pogo for Mayor

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Let's get rid of Mayor Santos and his Assistant ,Kearny Board of Education President of 21 years, Mary Torres.The Lord has been good to all of the Kearny residents. The Kearny High School wall came violently down and no one was hurt. This chemical plant issue today that could have been catastrophic because of the very poor Planning and preparation Mayor Santos and his croanies have done.For the record, Mayor Santos should be impeached, I have said it before and I will say it again.He is a very poor Administrator, lacking in proper planning, organizing and preparation skills.The Heavens have warned us more than once,it is time we start listening and see the writing on the wall before it is too late!!!!!!!!!!!!!!IMPEACH MAYOR SANTOS!!!

[Guest BERT DIAZ PUBLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPA]

If you don't think the lack of security at chemcial plants like the one in South Kearny needs to become a greater priority for our elected officals and of concern to you and your family, you might want to watch 60 Minutes tomorrow and CNN on Monday.

CNN rolls out a three-part series on Chemical Security on Monday, November 17, continuing on Tuesday and Wednesday. The first run of each day will be during the 5pm-6pm ET hour on Wolf Blitzer reports. There will probably be other runs, but the first run will be on Wolf's program.

Log on to this site for more info

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2003/11/13/...ain583528.shtml

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Thank you Mr. Ferreira for bringing to our conscious awareness something that many of us were subconciously cognizant of:MAYOR SANTOS AND HIS CROANIES HAVE MADE KEARNY INTO A VERY UNSAFE, UNPROTECTED LIVING ENVIORMENT.THEY HAVE TAKEN AWAY OUR MEDICAL EMERGENCY HOSPITAL ROOMS AND COMPLETELY LEFT US AND OUR FAMILIES VULNERABLE TO A CATASTROPHIC CHEMICAL EXPLOSION.THEY HAVE RAISED OUR TAXES MORE THAN ANY OTHER SURROUNDING MUNICIPALITIES AND COMPLETELY DISEMPOWERED OUR PUBLIC SCHOOLS.Thank God, though, at least we did get Applebees built!!!!!It must have been all those "rebate" monies circulating around town.Keep up the good work, Mary Torres and Mayor Santos, I hope we do NOT get chlorinated food served at Applebees...