DOOMED IN THE GARDEN STATE !

(GlobalSecurity.Org Senior Fellow Alert paper) On Monday readers learned they were doomed because of the proliferation of biotechnology which allows the terrorist or just the plain old disgrunted and crazy to make viral illnesses. And earlier today they were served a sampling of articles from the Washington Post to the Taunton Gazette on atomic doom -- from a fishing boat offshore to nuclear smuggling through tunnels under the Mexican border and into San Diego. "No one can say otherwise," said one nob in a Pennsylvania newspaper.

Yes, the official Doom Line is red hot today, with the Associated Press warning that you in the Garden State -- are doomed when the terrorists make a chemical attack. Here at Dick Destiny blog we imagine our readers to be so shaken by the proclamations, they've bitten their nails until their stomachs need a manicure.

From the Associated Press:

Millions of people in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania are at risk from a terrorist attack or accident at chemical plants in the Garden State, according to a report released that calls for tougher security standards.

The report by the New Jersey Work Environment Council estimated a release of chlorine at one Kearny facility could endanger up to 12 million people in northern New Jersey and New York, and a similar plant in South Jersey along the Delaware River could send deadly gas into downtown Philadelphia.

"There has always been a degree of risk associated with living near or around a chemical-handling facility, but in this post-9/11 world, we must recognize the need to safeguard ourselves against those who might attempt to use these facilities as weapons," said Rick Engler, the council's executive director.

The biggest risk cited in the report is posed by Kuehne Chemical Co. in Kearney, where a release of chlorine could seriously injure or kill as many as 12 million people within a 14-mile radius in northern New Jersey, Manhattan, Staten Island and Brooklyn in New York.

Others cited as big dangers include the Infineum USA plant in Linden, where a chlorine release could affect 4.2 million people within 14 miles; the Solvay Solexis plant in the Torofare section of West Deptford Township, where 4.1 million could be at risk from chlorine in a 25-mile radius, and the Valero refinery in Paulsboro where 3.1 million people could be affected by hydrofluoric acid within a 19-mile radius.

"This for the first time gives directions to potential terrorists as to where the targets are . . . It is a disservice to the workers who work there and the communities that surround them. This puts people at significant risk for a terrorist attack that up until today wasn't necessarily there," said a spokesman for the chemical industry.

The group decided to identify the individual facilities because residents and emergency services workers need to know what dangers lurk in their communities.

"Any terrorist with a good pair of binoculars and a high-powered rifle can drive down the New Jersey Turnpike and find targets," shot back a spokesman for the environmental group.