September – a month that brings memories of the tragic events of September 11, 2001. Four airplanes were hijacked by an organized group of terrorists. Two planes struck the World Trade Center Towers in New York City-causing both to tragically crash to the ground. A third struck the Pentagon in Washington DC and a fourth crashed in a field in Pennsylvania. Thousands of lives were lost along with billions of dollars in property damage amidst untold human suffering.

The efforts of the emergency response organizations were truly heroic and played a major role in restoring order out of the chaos.

What has happened since?
There have been a number of actions by governments, trade and professional associations and individual companies, including:
• The US federal government created the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) which continues to aggressively improve security systems across the country
• State and local governments have reviewed their security systems and have made a variety of significant improvements
• The US Coast Guard and Department of Transportation have published federal regulations dealing with security issues
• AIChE’s Center for Chemical Process Safety (CCPS) developed and distributed “Guidelines for Analyzing and Managing the Security Vulnerabilities at Fixed Chemical Sites”
• American Chemistry Council members have implemented the Security Code of Responsible CareR
• Many chemical facilities globally have completed a Security Vulnerability Analysis (SVA) and have implemented recommendations

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