New chemical regulations could affect mining

The federal government has drafted regulations that seeks to “classify” certain information on materials and chemicals that could be dangerous in the hands of terrorists.

The rules will apply to large mining and pulp-and-paper companies, refineries, and chemical plants.

The handling of explosives such as dynamite is already covered by federal law. But most of the compounds that can be made into bombs have been regulated only for their environmental impact.

Soon, information on the quantity and location of certain materials will be known only to the government and emergency response officials.

As many as 174 different types of chemicals, such as ammonia, benzene and cyanide, will be covered by the new regulations, which are expected to come into effect in August. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service will review the list and decide what chemicals pose the greatest security threat.

Environmentalists argue that the new regulations take important information out of the public realm and will not deter potential terrorists.

“This specific kind of information is of real interest to citizens and environmental groups,” says Mark Butler of the Ecology Action Centre in Nova Scotia.

When Canada’s Environmental Protection Act came into effect in 1999, officials had only drawn up guidelines for the storage of a limited amount of industrial materials. The events of Sept. 11 forced officials to adopt a longer, more extensive list of chemicals, many of which are regulated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Officials are looking at adding some fertilizers to the list, such as ammonium nitrate, but that likely won’t be done until next year.