The assessment of community vulnerability to acute hazardous materials incidents.

This article states, that the manufacture, storage and transportation of hazardous chemicals in the United States and in Canada pose serious problem for local and regional planners. Part of the problem stems from the lack of recognition of these hazards by community personnel most responsible for their mitigation. The identification of these hazards through risk assessments can thus serve to provide objective confirmation of their existence and can outline the specification of the problem.