SPOKANE -- A company in British Columbia that makes liquid chlorine is working to get approval to store up to 4,500 tons of the hazardous material in railroad cars on the Washington Palouse.

Vancouver-based Canexus wants permission from Washington state officials to park around 50 chlorine-filled tanker cars on a railroad siding in Belmont, Washington south of Oakesdale on Highway 27.

Marty Cove of Canexus says the proposal involves moving about 50 tanker cars loaded with 84 to 90 short tons of liquid chlorine each to Belmont sometime after the first of the year.

The rail siding in Belmont, which is typically used for grain cars, would be fenced off and protected by armed guards around the clock until the chlorine is distributed to its American customers. The chlorine could be stored in Belmont for several months.

Canexus needs to move the chlorine because the company is about to renovate its production line and hopes to strategically store some of its product closer to American markets. The majority of Canexus' chlorine is used in water treatment facilities.

The company also wants to move the rail cars out of Vancouver before the Winter Olympics in 2010 begin so they are not a potential target for terrorists. Canadian security officials have not asked Canexus to relocate its chlorine but the company worries the Olympics will trigger a ban on the shipment of hazardous materials and leave their product stranded in the company's rail yard.

Chlorine and chlorine gas is highly toxic and must be transported in double-walled steel tanker cars. The chlorine that could be destined for Belmont would not be transferred to other containers while in Whitman County.

Canexus officials say they are working with federal, state and local officials to obtain the proper environmental and safety permits. While the proposal has not been approved as of yet, Canexus hopes to begin providing training to Whitman County first responders and other emergency workers later this month. Two Whitman County Commissioners were not aware of the proposal to store chlorine in their county until they were asked for comment on the proposal on Monday.

Chlorine has many applications, ranging from its use in household cleaning products to the use as a water disinfectant. What has people concerned is that it also been used as a chemical weapon.

Weaponized chlorine gas was used by the German Army at the Second Battle of Ypres in 1915 during World War I and more recently has been used by insurgents in attacks against civilians in Iraq in 2007.