It is risky to store toxic industrial chemicals near population centers.

Therefore, I do not

believe that this should be the case even with security precautions and management systems in

place. Protocols fail. When they do, it often takes a while before the harm can be prevented or

remediated. The only way to protect populations is to have these storage locations far away from

the populations as possible. This ensures good health and no instances of water or soil pollution.

Failure to do this, even with precautions then populations are still vulnerable. It would also help

to have these locations placed downwind such that way potential toxic air blow away from the

population.

One of the ways in which security can be improved at the locations of toxic industrial

chemicals storage is by wide application of automation. Humans make mistakes. In many cases,

they are necessary to help run these facilities. However, the risk involved is too grave to leave to

a human being to manage. Automation would involve the use of robots and other systems so that

the involvement of human beings is limited to little or nil. It would also keep these human beings

out of the way should a security precaution fail thus triggering pollution. The server rooms

would be offsite. Automation would be used for processes like taking inventory.

Another way would be to have detection tools installed in traffic and the general

environment. This would be akin to storm warning alarms. Tools like gas chromatographs would

be placed in strategic places in nearby towns to let the people know the level of chemical in the

air at all times. Alarms would blare and warn the people as soon as there was a whiff of toxicity

in the air. This would hasten the process of evacuation in emergencies. Early detection of

spillage and speed of evacuation are often the difference between thousands of deaths and a few

casualties.
References

Toxic Industrial Chemicals (TICs). Federal Emergency Management Agency.

https://emilms.fema.gov/is_0005a/groups/79.html