Are We Feeling Safer Yet?

Terrorist Incident at Chem Plant?

Amazing how a tiny little article buried deep in the paper can be enough to send shivers up your spine, especially after watching 60 Minutes and reading numerous newspaper stories about reporters waltzing, unchallenged, onto chemical plants. Thank God the Bush Administration is trusting the chemical industry to police its own security (scroll down):

HOUSTON -- U.S. and Texas law enforcement agencies are investigating the shooting of a security guard outside an ammonia terminal on Texas's Gulf Coast, authorities said. A security guard at the BASF Corp. ammonia terminal in Freeport was shot late Friday by a man in a pickup truck parked outside the terminal's fence and within sight of a multistory ammonia tank. The guard, who was hospitalized in good condition, said the gunman had a heavy Middle Eastern accent, police said.

What do we need to assure the safety of the weapons of mass destruction right down the street? Mandatory regulations or voluntary industry guidelines. More on the chemical plant security debate here, here and here.