Twenty years ago on December 3rd, 4,000 people died in India.

The Union-Carbide plant in Bhopal, India, blew up, immediately killing 4,000 and later killing thousands more and injuring tens of thousands. Union-Carbide, now owned by Dow Chemical, said through a spokesman on NPR this morning [Friday] that basically it wasn’t their fault, a malcontent sabotaged the plant. Oh, so your chemicals and your lack of security kill and injure tens of thousands and it’s not your fault - right.

Meanwhile, in related news, if you do a little research, you’ll find that our own chemical plants are woefully unprepared for a terrorist attack. Greenpeace, an admittedly biased source, published an editorial in the New York Times and Houston Chronicle detailing the hypocrisy of the Bush administration.

Here are some excerpts: “While President Bush continues to make terrorism and domestic security the centerpiece of his campaign, he has made little mention of one of the most urgent threats to our safety: the risk that terrorists could cause thousands, even millions, of deaths by sabotaging one of the 15,000 industrial chemical plants across the United States.”

“The administration knows the dangers. Soon after the 9/11 attacks, Sen. Jon Corzine, D-N.J., highlighted the issue with legislation requiring chemical plants to enhance security and use safer chemicals and technologies when feasible. (Such safer substitutes are widely available.)”

“A study by the Army surgeon general, conducted soon after 9/11, found that up to 2.4 million people could be killed or wounded by a terrorist attack on a single chemical plant.”

“In February 2003, the government's National Infrastructure Protection Center warned that chemical plants in the United States could be al-Qaida targets.”

“Investigations by The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review and the CBS program 60 Minutes have highlighted lax or nonexistent security at chemical plants, with gates unlocked or wide open and chemical tanks unguarded.”

“The Environmental Protection Agency under Christie Whitman did its part to evaluate the threat, identifying 123 chemical facilities where an accident or attack could threaten more than a million people, and 7,605 plants that threatened more than 1,000 people. The agency determined that it could use the Clean Air Act to compel chemical plants to increase security.”

I’ve always had some modicum of respect for Ms. Whitman, I believe she managed to leave the administration with some of her integrity intact - but I digress. Rather than permit EPA to compel the chemical industry to improve security, the administration, under industry pressure, transferred that responsibility to Homeland Security, a reasonable move on its face. The problem is that DHS has no enforcement authority.

Then, DHS made us safer by determining that the number of plants threatening a million folks became 2, not 123. Also, the number of plants threatening 1,000 people was reduced to 4,605, not 7,300. I know I feel safer - but I’m glad I don’t live downwind from Charleston, WV or another chemical plant intensive area.

Greenpeace continues: “Industry groups have lobbied intensely against the Corzine legislation. While reluctant to invest in plant safety, some of these companies and their executives have found the resources to help pay for the Republican campaign.”

“For the Bush administration, it seems, homeland security is critical except when it conflicts with the wishes of supporters who own chemical plants.”

Remember, this is the administration that is spending billions on the non-working “Missile Defense” program yet still haven’t developed a program to inspect all those shipping containers arriving in our ports or the cargo getting stuffed in the holds in our passenger aircraft.

I know all this Homeland Security makes me feel ever so much safer, although not as safe as living down here in East Carolina away from the big cities and big chemical plants.