Vertica Software Inc. - Department of Transportation Report Cites Worries About Terrorists Using Trucks Carrying Hazardous Materials to Kill Thousands
AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 15, 2002--
Vertica Software Begins Offering Solutions to Counter Industry Concerns
Vertica Software Inc. (OTCBB: VERI), an innovator in Web-based solutions for environmental compliance with hazardous materials and waste comments today on a recent Associated Press story that was also broadcast on CNN last week. The story focused on a report released on Friday by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Transportation concerning the threat of domestic terrorism by individuals falsely obtaining licenses to transport hazardous materials and then use those materials to harm the American public. The report stated that existing federal standards and state controls are not sufficient to defend against this alarming threat.
Joan Claybrook, who headed the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration during the Carter administration, said the shortcomings noted in the report create loopholes that can be exploited by terrorists. CIA official, Robert Walpole went a step further in his address to the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in March, saying that "U.S. territory is more likely to be attacked with (weapons of mass destruction) using non-missile means," citing trucks, ships or planes as likely vehicles for chemical, biological or nuclear weapons.
"With so many government officials and agencies coming right out and saying that acts of terrorism are highly likely to come from individuals who will use the types of hazardous materials that are moved across America every day, it is time that everyone in this industry realizes the gaps that exist and does everything he or she can to prevent a disaster before it happens," says William Mason, President and CEO of Vertica Software, Inc. "Vertica has long been a proponent of universally tougher standards for compliance that make the misuse of hazardous materials and chemicals harder for would be terrorist to achieve. With our suite of environmental compliance and tracking and solutions, companies can better equip themselves to prevent unnecessary violations and misuses of the dangerous materials they manufacture, store, transport and dispose of."
Vertica's management has spent the last few months restructuring the company from a research and development organization to one that will now focus primarily on aggressively marketing its new line of compliance programs. The company's research and reports from agencies such as the Department of Transportation show that the potential market for Vertica's products is huge and extremely widespread.
According to a report by The Office of Hazardous Materials Safety (10/98), more than 8.6 million tons of hazardous materials are transported in 800,000 separate shipments per day in the U.S. Approximately 500,000 of these daily shipments involve chemical and allied products; about 300,000 involve petroleum products; and at least 10,000 other shipments involve waste hazardous materials, medical wastes and various other hazardous materials.
Vertica's Hazweb solutions (see www.hazweb.com) are web-based and instantly installable and scaleable for all transportation related warehousing, inventory identification, shipping, and tracking; including ready response and crisis communication, for more than 2,000 hazardous materials and waste by-products. Hazweb's in-place hazardous waste and materials solutions and counter-measures are immediately available and cost effective. Vertica believes that a very significant percentage of the companies that move hazardous materials on a regular basis could reduce their compliance costs and overall risks by utilizing its tracking and compliance solutions.
About Vertica
Vertica Software produces Hazweb with iComply(TM) regulatory compliance solutions and Web enabling technologies for the hazardous materials and hazardous waste industries. The company targets a wide variety of companies and organization with its products, including oil
gas, chemical, petrochemical, hazardous waste, transportation and governmental agencies and municipal bodies. For product information, please visit the company's website at www.vertica.com, which is tied to its environmental web portal, www.hazweb.com. Hazweb was designed to serve the needs of companies and individuals that produce, use, process, transport or dispose of all types hazardous materials. The site provides news, information and application services that help address the environmental concerns hazardous materials professionals.
"Safe Harbor" Statement Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: The statements contained in this press release which are not historical facts are forward-looking statements that involve certain risks and uncertainties including but not limited to risks associated with uncertainty of future financial results, additional financing requirements, development of new products, marketing success, government approval processes, the impact of competitive products or pricing, technological changes, the effect of economic conditions and other uncertainties in the Companies' filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The inclusion of such information should not be regarded as a representation by the company or any other person that the objectives and plans of the company will be achieved. The Company cautions potential investors not to place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements.
CONTACT:
Vertica Software, Inc.
William Mason, 512/322-3900
SOURCE: Vertica Software, Inc. |
