Armed Guards at Chemical Facilities Again

I have periodically addressed issues surrounding the use of armed guards at chemical facilities in this blog (see here for example). And I have also frequently noted the chemical industry’s opposition to the use of armed guards (see here for example). Today, I came across an example of a willingness to use armed guards that is of concern, armed guards at a gasoline station in Philadelphia.

I understand that most people do not consider gasoline stations to be chemical facilities (the retail gasoline industry certainly does not), but facilities storing more than 10,000-lbs of flammable liquids containing DHS chemicals of interest were considered to be potentially at-risk chemical facilities under the (hopefully only) suspended CFATS program, with gas stations only being exempted because their COI were in fuels in underground storage tanks.

Owners of gas stations at least theoretically understand the dangers of ignition sources in flammable vapor environments, just look at all of the warning signs related to static electricity. Do these owners not understand that muzzle flashes are a much more potent ignition source than static electric discharges caused by getting in and out of a vehicle? And let us not forget the penetrating power of high-velocity (3,200 fps) copper jacketed projectiles flying around the scene. While the in-ground storage tanks are almost certainly safe, how about tank fill lines, vents, and pumps, not to mention all of the portable (in cars) storage tanks found at the facility? Are the security guards trained well enough to avoid hitting all of these potentially hazardous targets in an active shooter situation? I suspect not when one fired an AR-15 at (AND MISSED) a person who threw rocks at him.

The article at TheTrace.com lays out the reasons for the expanding use of armed guards at many facilities in Philadelphia, and there are some legitimate concerns there, but owners of gasoline stations need to conduct a serious chemical hazard review of the situation and figure out how they are going to mitigate the explosive threats involved before the start hiring armed guards.