FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE OJP
MONDAY, JUNE 17, 2002 202/307-0703
JUSTICE DEPARTMENT
RELEASES CHEMICAL FACILITY
VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT
METHODOLOGY
Tool Will Help Chemical
Plants Increase Security
WASHINGTON, D.C. ? The
Department of Justice today released an assessment tool for the nation?s 15,000
chemical facilities to use in identifying and assessing potential security
threats, risks and vulnerabilities.? The
Chemical Facility Vulnerability Assessment Methodology was developed by
the Office of Justice Programs? (OJP) National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the
Justice Department?s research and development agency.?
?The Department?s
concerns regarding security at chemical facilities are well known and
documented,? said OJP Assistant Attorney General Deborah J. Daniels.? ?The risk assessment methodology provided
today will be a critically valuable tool that industry can use to help protect
chemical plants against possible terrorist activity.?
The vulnerability
assessment methodology (VAM) is a practical method to assess the security of
chemical facilities across the United States, which was developed by NIJ in
collaboration with the Department of Energy?s Sandia National
Laboratories.? In developing the methodology,
NIJ and Sandia focused primarily on terrorist or criminal activities that could
have significant national impact or cause releases of hazardous chemicals that
would compromise the integrity of a facility, cause serious injuries or
fatalities among facility employees, contaminate adjoining areas and cause
injuries or fatalities among adjoining populations.??
The methodology provides
a tool that facilities can use to identify risks and reduce the
likelihood of attacks.? In general, the most common approach to reducing potential attacks
and
catastrophic events is increasing protection
measures against specific attack scenarios.
The methodology provides chemical facility operators specific assessment
and evaluation tools based on potential risks and attack scenarios.?
The 12 basic steps for
developing a chemical facility assessment, include:
?
determining
the need for a vulnerability assessment,
?
assessing
threats,
?
analyzing
risks, and
?
making
recommendations.?
A flow chart and
detailed explanations that allow chemical facility officials to follow
step-by-step procedures for developing a threat and risk vulnerability
assessment are included in the VAM.??
In developing the
methodology, NIJ and Sandia collected and reviewed extensive information
relevant to threats, risks and vulnerabilities associated with chemical
facilities,? conducted outreach with the
field, including meetings and discussions with a range of industry, government,
citizen representatives and private individuals, created a Web site to describe
the development effort and solicited comments and inspected a number of
chemical facilities across the country.
The VAM is available on
NIJ?s Website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/nij. ? For more
information on NIJ or other OJP programs, please contact OJP?s Website at http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/.?
Media should contact
OJP?s Office of Congressional and Public Affairs at 202/307-0703.? ????????????????????
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