Rockefeller: Chemical Safety Board Must Have Resources To Review And Investigate All Current Cases Simultaneously

Press Release

Senator Jay Rockefeller, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation, today released the following statement and attached letter after hearing reports that the federal Chemical Safety Board (CSB) may have to delay their investigation and report on the Bayer CropScience explosion in August of 2008 to investigate last week's DuPont incidents.

"I am very concerned about the possibility that the CSB may have to suspend efforts on their Bayer investigation in order to devote the time and resources to investigating last week's DuPont incidents -- this is intolerable. The tragic incidents at both facilities affect the safety and security of Kanawha County residents and all West Virginians, and the investigation at one facility should never hurt the ability of another equally important investigation to move forward.

"Today I wrote a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee asking for an immediate increase in funding to support an additional CSB investigations team -- which would alleviate the pressure on the three existing teams.

"As Chairman of the Senate Commerce Committee, I promise to do everything in my power to see that CSB is able to investigate both the Bayer and DuPont incidents simultaneously, even while there are unprecedented number of open investigations, so that these cases can come to a close as quickly as possible and work is done so that these types of incidents never happen again."

Background

Senator Rockefeller wrote a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee Chairman, Ranking Member, and the Chairman and Ranking Member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies to express concern that due to the unusual circumstances, the CSB does not have adequate resources to perform its mission of investigating industrial chemical accidents in the United States during a year with an unprecedented number of investigations. Rockefeller requested an immediate increase in funding, as a part of the Fiscal Year 2010 (FY10) Supplemental Appropriations bill that is expected to be considered early this year, rather than wait for funding in the FY11 appropriations process.


DuPont history

On Monday, Senator Rockefeller called for a full CSB investigation into DuPont's safety infrastructure and the facility's compliance with emergency notification requirements to Metro 911 and federal agencies. He spoke with the CEO of DuPont as well as the Coast Guard, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Chemical Safety Board (CSB), and strongly urged DuPont to cooperate fully and promptly with the state and federal officials who are investigating the incident.

The Senate Commerce Committee has oversight of the DuPont's security under the Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002, since it is engaged in waterborne transportation and is on or adjacent to the navigable waterways of the United States. The Commerce Committee also has jurisdiction over the safe and secure transportation of hazardous materials in general under the Pipelines and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration at the Department of Transportation. The safety operation of the facility is regulated by OSHA and the Environmental Protection Agency.

Bayer history

Following the August 28, 2008 explosion at Bayer CropScience, Rockefeller backed strong federal efforts to investigate the events surrounding the disaster and improve the public's access to key information during such incidents.

Rockefeller called on the Chemical Safety Board to conduct a full investigation and examine options for Bayer to reduce or eliminate the use or storage of MIC in Institute by switching to alternative chemicals or processes.

Additionally, he introduced legislation -- which was signed into law last year -- aimed at clarifying federal laws regarding the release of public safety information. In a direct effort to ensure communities have access to important details during local industrial emergencies, the legislation makes it clear that the Sensitive Security Information (SSI) designation cannot be used to withhold information that is not explicitly covered in its statutes.

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