The Center for American Progress, a leftist think tank, has issued a report listing the 101 most dangerous chemical facilities in the nation. One of them is on the Wasatch Front and puts 1.3 million people at risk:

Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility, South Salt Lake. The facility uses chlorine gas (and anhydrous sulfur dioxide) to treat wastewater. A better solution, according to the center, would be to Treat wastewater with ultraviolet light, use liquid bleach in place of chlorine gas, and sodium bisulfite in place of anhydrous sulfur dioxide gas.

The report puts three other Wasatch Front facilities in the top 202 dangerous chemical facilities:

Woods Cross Refinery-Holly Refining & Marketing Company in Woods Cross uses hydrofluoric acid in turning crude oil into gasoline. Residents at risk: 200,000.

Thatcher Chemical Company, west of Salt Lake City, repackages bulk chlorine gas to produce liquid bleach and repackages bulk anhydrous sulfur dioxide to produce sodium bisulfite. Residents at risk: 900,000.

ChevronTexaco's refinery, Davis County, uses hydrofluoric acid in the process of refining crude into gasoline. Residents at risk: 680,000.

The American Progress thinkers say these plants are not only a safety hazard to the communities around them, but that terrorists could sabotage the facilities to create massive improvised chemical bombs:

Most of the nation’s 101 most dangerous chemical facilities could become less attrac- tive terrorist targets by converting to alternative chemicals or processes. Doing so would improve the safety and security of more than 80 million Americans living within range of a worst-case toxic gas release from one of these facilities.

Photo of Woods Cross refinery by tephdra.