NYPD warns of chlorine terror risk

Following test drill, NYPD warns of chlorine terror risk due to ease of obtaining key chemicals

The National Terror Alert Response Center reported Thursday, Feb. 14, on the New York Police Department conducting a drill whereby a fake company purchased chlorine in the internet.

Undercover police secretly ran the test, demonstrating how easily and anonymously such procurement could take place for terrorist ends: a chemical strike against the city.

A videotape presented Wednesday at a briefing of private security executives discloses for the first time the results of “Operation Green Cloud.” [the gas’s yellow-green color]

The purpose was to assess the ease or difficulty with which a terrorist in the United States could acquire large quantities of chlorine without being detected…

The conclusion: “At the present time, few if any barriers stand in his way,” a spokesperson quoted in published reports said.

There has been no specific terror threat against the city involving chemicals, but New York City police recently put more emphasis on screening shipments of chlorine after learning that it has become a favored component of homemade bombs in Iraq.

A 2007 United Nations report found that at least 10 attacks in Iraq involved explosives attached to chlorine canisters.

Chlorine typically is used as a disinfectant or purifier, and as an ingredient in plastics and other products. While routinely transported in liquid form, it can turn into a deadly toxic gas when exposed to air.

Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly said that while there were no places to obtain chlorine in New York, there are several locations in neighboring New Jersey.

“It’s something we have to be concerned about,” he said of the potential of an attack using chlorine. “We think the whole area needs a lot of regulation.”

Kelly said the NYPD has been lobbying the Department of Homeland Security to draft stricter regulations requiring chlorine vendors to verify the legitimacy of their customers.

The department sent federal officials a copy of their documentary videotape and “asked them to include strict ‘know-your-customer’ rules,” Kelly said…

The video includes surveillance footage of a truck delivering the canisters on a rain-slicked Brooklyn street lined with warehouses. At the time, hazardous material teams were on standby to respond to any accidents, police said.

Demonstrating the danger with a documented video tape, the risk is hopefully being assessed better and responses will be implemented.

Christian Action Network will soon submit a documentary on terrorist risk, now in editing, to hopefully improve assessments of home grown terrorism.

Will the documented use of terrorist training camps in rural areas of America result in an appropriate response to the clear and present danger?

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