Packs of toxic cargo retrieved from shipwreck
By Joel E. Zurbano
Salvors have retrieved 22 packs of the 400 packs of the toxic chemical endosulfan from the wreck of Princess of the Stars without contaminating the sea, Transport Undersecretary Ma. Elena Bautista said yesterday.
Weather permitting, the retrieval of the toxic cargo will be completed within 16 days, said Bautista, head of Task Force Princess of the Stars.
“US-based salvor firm Titan and its local partner Harbor Star have started retrieving endosulfan from the wreck,” Bautista told a press conference. “As of 1 p.m. today, 22 packs of endosulfan, out of a total of 400, have been retrieved and contained in steel drums,” Bautista said.
Each pack weighs 25 kilos. The retrieved packs are kept in sealed steel drums once onboard the Big Time barge. The environment management bureau and the Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority are tasked with the disposal of the toxic cargo, Bautista explained.
The divers and those receiving the containers on the barge are wearing hazmat (hazardous materials) suits. These are people trained in handling toxic substances and they follow strict decontamination procedures after each dive or handling of the chemical, Bautista said.
The plan now is to remove all toxic chemicals as fast and as safe as possible. Simultaneously, procedures are in motion to remove the bunker fuel estimated at 250 liters, Bautista said. “We have to ensure the safety of personnel working in the area.”
Vice Adm. Wilfredo Tamayo, Coast Guard chief, said that it could take them until the Christmas season to recover all bodies of the victims trapped in the shipwreck.
On the extraction of hydrocarbons or bunker fuel, 6 flanges have been attached to different fuel tanks. The next step is to bore holes in each flange and hot tap the bunker fuel from different tanks simultaneously.
“Removing the hydrocarbons may take a few more days, depending on the weather condition. The great part of the wreck is submerged, which means waves and visibility will be a factor in the operation. Salvors contracted by Sulpicio Lines are working as fast as practicable,” Bautista said.
After the chemicals and hydrocarbons are extracted, the victims’ remains will be retrieved next, Bautista said. Plans for the body retrieval have been presented to the task force by Sulpicio Lines and Harbor Star. The retrieval operation will start on Oct. 24.
The 24,000-ton Princess of the Stars with more than 800 people aboard capsized off Sibuyan island in Romblon at the height of typhoon Frank three months ago.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
British Columbia Hazardous Mail Event
Hazardous mail
Prince George Citizen - Prince George,British Columbia,Canada
Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Decontamination team scrubs down workers after suspicious package arrives at Barton Insurance Staff at Barton Insurance had to be washed by the fire department's hazardous materials team Wednesday after receiving a suspicious package at the drive-thru outlet on 20th Avenue and Victoria Street.
"It was delivered in the mail ... it was not dropped off independently," said RCMP spokesperson Const. Lesley Smith
A swarm of police vehicles, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were on the scene around 1:30 p.m. A bright yellow tent was set up as a decontamination centre near the back door of the insurance store.
"The material inside the package was suspicious," Smith said. "Those who first opened the package found its contents to be alarming. The city's HAZMAT team was called as a precaution, those inside the building at the time were held for decontamination."
The hazardous materials team (HAZMAT) is trained in the handling of chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear and explosive materials in publicly hazardous places.
The actual contents of the package will be analyzed and should it prove to be a harmful substance that was deliberately sent, investigators will pursue those responsible. Its origins may have to be traced even if it is not poison.
It was not disclosed what the material looked like or was believed to be. There were eight people who had to be decontaminated.
Each one took a turn being washed down, fully clothed, on a specially designed outdoor shower system, then they went into the tent where they disrobed and were clothed in a plastic oversheet. No one involved showed any obvious signs of medical distress and authorities said there were no confirmed injuries in the incident.
Prince George Citizen - Prince George,British Columbia,Canada
Written by FRANK PEEBLES
Citizen staff
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
Decontamination team scrubs down workers after suspicious package arrives at Barton Insurance Staff at Barton Insurance had to be washed by the fire department's hazardous materials team Wednesday after receiving a suspicious package at the drive-thru outlet on 20th Avenue and Victoria Street.
"It was delivered in the mail ... it was not dropped off independently," said RCMP spokesperson Const. Lesley Smith
A swarm of police vehicles, fire trucks and other emergency vehicles were on the scene around 1:30 p.m. A bright yellow tent was set up as a decontamination centre near the back door of the insurance store.
"The material inside the package was suspicious," Smith said. "Those who first opened the package found its contents to be alarming. The city's HAZMAT team was called as a precaution, those inside the building at the time were held for decontamination."
The hazardous materials team (HAZMAT) is trained in the handling of chemical, biological, radioactive, nuclear and explosive materials in publicly hazardous places.
The actual contents of the package will be analyzed and should it prove to be a harmful substance that was deliberately sent, investigators will pursue those responsible. Its origins may have to be traced even if it is not poison.
It was not disclosed what the material looked like or was believed to be. There were eight people who had to be decontaminated.
Each one took a turn being washed down, fully clothed, on a specially designed outdoor shower system, then they went into the tent where they disrobed and were clothed in a plastic oversheet. No one involved showed any obvious signs of medical distress and authorities said there were no confirmed injuries in the incident.
Missouri Officials Prepare for Disaster on Campus
MU tests chemical spill emergency plan
Local police and fire departments practiced their plans for a hazardous materials leak on East Campus.
By Austin Alonzo
Sept. 26, 2008
Representatives from five local police and fire departments, including the Missouri National Guard, met on East Campus on Thursday to rehearse their plan for a hazardous materials leak on or around MU.
More than 100 people representing departments from the Columbia and Boone County showed up around 8 a.m. to set up a mobile command post, a decontamination area and prepared a Hazmat team to clean up the scenario in the parking lot behind the Animal Sciences Research Center. The departments were preparing to clean up a simulated chemical spill at the Resource Recovery Center, a chemical recycling plant owned by MU and located at the far east end of East Campus.
Despite a law that requires campuses to make public their policies for responding to campus emergencies, this drill was not in response to that legislation.
"That bill requires universities to have an emergency response plan put into place and tested, but here we've had a plan in place for 30 years," said Chad Pfister, project leader for emergency management.
At the Resource Recovery Center, numerous barrels had been thrown around the area, as well as an injured person who would need medical attention. Each of the barrels required inspection from a Hazmat team until it was declared safe.
"The scenario is designed as if a microburst hit the Recovery Center and leveled two of the buildings," said Columbia Fire Department Lt. Shawn McCollom, one of the coordinators for the drill.
Hazmat teams, in full uniform, started their day by recovering an injured woman and setting up a perimeter around the chemical spill using digital monitors that sniff for chemical levels in the air. Then, they systematically photographed, inspected and removed all the barrels from the center.
Although it was a drill, MU and the emergency response teams were not treating it like a drill.
"If this were the real thing we'd set up a mobile command post out here and try to assess the situation and how we were going to address it," MU spokesman Christian Basi said.
McCollom also noted that the weather, the response time and the crowd control would not be as easy to deal with as they were Thursday.
"The drill only lasts nine hours, but usually something like this would last an indeterminate amount of time depending on the size of the incident," McCollon said. "We'd also block off East Campus Road and try to evacuate students."
Basi said chemicals stored and processed at the Resource Recovery Center are for the most part not hazardous, but some can be depending on the conditions. Under the scenario, where wind and rain would factor heavily into the spreading the chemicals, a quick and effective response would be necessary.
Local police and fire departments practiced their plans for a hazardous materials leak on East Campus.
By Austin Alonzo
Sept. 26, 2008
Representatives from five local police and fire departments, including the Missouri National Guard, met on East Campus on Thursday to rehearse their plan for a hazardous materials leak on or around MU.
More than 100 people representing departments from the Columbia and Boone County showed up around 8 a.m. to set up a mobile command post, a decontamination area and prepared a Hazmat team to clean up the scenario in the parking lot behind the Animal Sciences Research Center. The departments were preparing to clean up a simulated chemical spill at the Resource Recovery Center, a chemical recycling plant owned by MU and located at the far east end of East Campus.
Despite a law that requires campuses to make public their policies for responding to campus emergencies, this drill was not in response to that legislation.
"That bill requires universities to have an emergency response plan put into place and tested, but here we've had a plan in place for 30 years," said Chad Pfister, project leader for emergency management.
At the Resource Recovery Center, numerous barrels had been thrown around the area, as well as an injured person who would need medical attention. Each of the barrels required inspection from a Hazmat team until it was declared safe.
"The scenario is designed as if a microburst hit the Recovery Center and leveled two of the buildings," said Columbia Fire Department Lt. Shawn McCollom, one of the coordinators for the drill.
Hazmat teams, in full uniform, started their day by recovering an injured woman and setting up a perimeter around the chemical spill using digital monitors that sniff for chemical levels in the air. Then, they systematically photographed, inspected and removed all the barrels from the center.
Although it was a drill, MU and the emergency response teams were not treating it like a drill.
"If this were the real thing we'd set up a mobile command post out here and try to assess the situation and how we were going to address it," MU spokesman Christian Basi said.
McCollom also noted that the weather, the response time and the crowd control would not be as easy to deal with as they were Thursday.
"The drill only lasts nine hours, but usually something like this would last an indeterminate amount of time depending on the size of the incident," McCollon said. "We'd also block off East Campus Road and try to evacuate students."
Basi said chemicals stored and processed at the Resource Recovery Center are for the most part not hazardous, but some can be depending on the conditions. Under the scenario, where wind and rain would factor heavily into the spreading the chemicals, a quick and effective response would be necessary.
Hazmat Concerns with Drilling Disasters Addressed in PA
Drilling disasters
Nearest HazMat support would come from Scranton
By SANDY LONG
REGION — Hydrogen sulfide pockets, explosions, gas flares and the undisclosed chemicals contained in the fluids used to fracture gas wells pose unique threats to workers, emergency responders, hospital emergency personnel and those who live near natural gas wells.
Hydrogen sulfide, for example, is a flammable, colorless gas that is extremely toxic at low concentrations, can occur anywhere and represents a potentially serious threat to those associated with the process of natural gas extraction, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Each situation calls for specific emergency responses, most of which require preparedness to process hazardous materials (HazMats). As recently reported in Newsweek, and before that in The River Reporter, Cathy Behr, a nurse at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, CO, became gravely ill after caring for a gas drilling worker exposed to ZetaFlow, a substance used in fracturing gas wells. Now mostly recovered, Behr suffered liver, heart and respiratory failure during her intensive-care stay in April.
How are regional emergency management services (EMS) coordinators planning to address such unconventional emergency situations?
Both Pike and Wayne counties are relying on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to inform their planning efforts, and have contracted for HazMat support from firms based in the Scranton, PA area. Sullivan County, NY does not contract for HazMat services. The coordinators for all three counties said that most regional firefighters are trained to “awareness level” of HazMat emergencies.
Sullivan County
Sullivan County’s commissioner of public safety, Richard Martinkovic, has spoken with emergency management personnel in other parts of the state and has concluded that there is a “good track record at existing sites there.” He added, “They’ve established 911 numbers for each site. They establish a protective envelope around sites to exclude life and reduce risk. There are no life hazards after the well is installed.”
Martinkovic is aware that those sites do not represent the type of deep-well fracturing and technology associated with the drilling process that may come to Sullivan County. In terms of HazMat issues, Martinkovic said that this threat is limited to the open pits used to store fracking fluids, and that he would prefer to see the fluids stored in enclosed tanks to minimize the possibility of environmental contamination.
According to Martinkovic, the gas companies and property owners are responsible for control and recovery of any HazMats, and that there may be a need to seek appropriate support from the companies for that. “We would go to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for approved contractors and charge back the property owner for cleanup. As we get closer, we may need to look into funding from the companies to provide things like HazMat suits and training,” he added.
Wayne County
With more than 1,400 gas leases signed in Wayne County and one well that has been drilled, EMS coordinator Frank Smith is trying to determine just what to prepare for. “We’re investigating what issues we should be looking at, but right now, we don’t know enough to alter our current approach,” said Smith.
“We’re asking questions of the drilling companies and of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to determine what capabilities we might need. There’s no indication for change yet, but there are a lot of unknowns.” Wayne County contracts its HazMat support to Datam Incorporated of Dunmore, PA.
Pike County
Pike County’s EMS coordinator, Roger Maltby, said that the county has not begun to officially address the possible hazards associated with natural gas extraction. “We really haven’t done anything yet,” said Maltby. “We’re taking a wait-and-see approach to find out what’s been done in other areas. Natural gas is highly specialized, and we don’t have a lot of resources here. If a major emergency were to occur, Team Environmental [the county’s contracted HazMat support firm] would step in.”
According to Maltby, Pike County’s Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC), which meets at the end of September, may begin to address this issue on its next agenda. But Maltby isn’t convinced there will be a need to do so. “Is it really going to happen in Pike? How big will this be? We just don’t know yet,” he said.
Pike County saw the recording of five natural gas leases affecting approximately 3,255 acres within the past several weeks.
Regional hospitals respond
Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Harris, NY and Orange Regional Medical Center (ORMC) in Middletown, NY and Goshen, NY have established procedures to address HazMat emergencies such as those related to drilling. CRMC emergency manager Rolland “Boomer” Bojo said that CRMC has “very specific plans in place that would be called into play,” along with decontamination facilities to minimize hospital personnel’s exposure to HazMats. Executive director of public relations and marketing Rob Lee cited similar strategies at ORMC, including participation in the National Incident Management System.
Bonnie Heal, coordinator of the emergency preparedness program at Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY, said that the hospital not only has plans in place for HazMat emergencies, but that it recently participated in a drill to assess its ability to respond to a simulated chemical exposure incident. Heal noted that the ideal approach to addressing HazMat exposures would be to decontaminate individuals on site, but if that weren’t possible, the hospital has decontamination facilities. Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, PA was unable to provide comment by the issue’s deadline.
Nearest HazMat support would come from Scranton
By SANDY LONG
REGION — Hydrogen sulfide pockets, explosions, gas flares and the undisclosed chemicals contained in the fluids used to fracture gas wells pose unique threats to workers, emergency responders, hospital emergency personnel and those who live near natural gas wells.
Hydrogen sulfide, for example, is a flammable, colorless gas that is extremely toxic at low concentrations, can occur anywhere and represents a potentially serious threat to those associated with the process of natural gas extraction, according to the U.S. Department of Labor Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).
Each situation calls for specific emergency responses, most of which require preparedness to process hazardous materials (HazMats). As recently reported in Newsweek, and before that in The River Reporter, Cathy Behr, a nurse at Mercy Regional Medical Center in Durango, CO, became gravely ill after caring for a gas drilling worker exposed to ZetaFlow, a substance used in fracturing gas wells. Now mostly recovered, Behr suffered liver, heart and respiratory failure during her intensive-care stay in April.
How are regional emergency management services (EMS) coordinators planning to address such unconventional emergency situations?
Both Pike and Wayne counties are relying on the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) to inform their planning efforts, and have contracted for HazMat support from firms based in the Scranton, PA area. Sullivan County, NY does not contract for HazMat services. The coordinators for all three counties said that most regional firefighters are trained to “awareness level” of HazMat emergencies.
Sullivan County
Sullivan County’s commissioner of public safety, Richard Martinkovic, has spoken with emergency management personnel in other parts of the state and has concluded that there is a “good track record at existing sites there.” He added, “They’ve established 911 numbers for each site. They establish a protective envelope around sites to exclude life and reduce risk. There are no life hazards after the well is installed.”
Martinkovic is aware that those sites do not represent the type of deep-well fracturing and technology associated with the drilling process that may come to Sullivan County. In terms of HazMat issues, Martinkovic said that this threat is limited to the open pits used to store fracking fluids, and that he would prefer to see the fluids stored in enclosed tanks to minimize the possibility of environmental contamination.
According to Martinkovic, the gas companies and property owners are responsible for control and recovery of any HazMats, and that there may be a need to seek appropriate support from the companies for that. “We would go to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) for approved contractors and charge back the property owner for cleanup. As we get closer, we may need to look into funding from the companies to provide things like HazMat suits and training,” he added.
Wayne County
With more than 1,400 gas leases signed in Wayne County and one well that has been drilled, EMS coordinator Frank Smith is trying to determine just what to prepare for. “We’re investigating what issues we should be looking at, but right now, we don’t know enough to alter our current approach,” said Smith.
“We’re asking questions of the drilling companies and of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection to determine what capabilities we might need. There’s no indication for change yet, but there are a lot of unknowns.” Wayne County contracts its HazMat support to Datam Incorporated of Dunmore, PA.
Pike County
Pike County’s EMS coordinator, Roger Maltby, said that the county has not begun to officially address the possible hazards associated with natural gas extraction. “We really haven’t done anything yet,” said Maltby. “We’re taking a wait-and-see approach to find out what’s been done in other areas. Natural gas is highly specialized, and we don’t have a lot of resources here. If a major emergency were to occur, Team Environmental [the county’s contracted HazMat support firm] would step in.”
According to Maltby, Pike County’s Local Emergency Planning Commission (LEPC), which meets at the end of September, may begin to address this issue on its next agenda. But Maltby isn’t convinced there will be a need to do so. “Is it really going to happen in Pike? How big will this be? We just don’t know yet,” he said.
Pike County saw the recording of five natural gas leases affecting approximately 3,255 acres within the past several weeks.
Regional hospitals respond
Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) in Harris, NY and Orange Regional Medical Center (ORMC) in Middletown, NY and Goshen, NY have established procedures to address HazMat emergencies such as those related to drilling. CRMC emergency manager Rolland “Boomer” Bojo said that CRMC has “very specific plans in place that would be called into play,” along with decontamination facilities to minimize hospital personnel’s exposure to HazMats. Executive director of public relations and marketing Rob Lee cited similar strategies at ORMC, including participation in the National Incident Management System.
Bonnie Heal, coordinator of the emergency preparedness program at Bon Secours Community Hospital in Port Jervis, NY, said that the hospital not only has plans in place for HazMat emergencies, but that it recently participated in a drill to assess its ability to respond to a simulated chemical exposure incident. Heal noted that the ideal approach to addressing HazMat exposures would be to decontaminate individuals on site, but if that weren’t possible, the hospital has decontamination facilities. Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, PA was unable to provide comment by the issue’s deadline.
Locomotion Commotion: Mock train-derailment teaches lessons about disaster preparedness
Locomotion Commotion: Mock train-derailment teaches lessons about disaster preparedness
Posted by Crystal McMorris | The Bay City Times September 25, 2008 08:11AM
More than 300 firefighters, police, paramedics and other disaster-handlers staged a mock train-derailment near the Cass Avenue Boat Launch on Wednesday to prepare themselves for any real large-scale disasters that might occur.
Scores of participants enacted a scene that included injured people breathing in toxic chemicals and several people dying.
Michael Gray, deputy Bay County Executive, said participants learned several lessons from the drill, one of which was that having a joint information center at the Bay County Community Center, rather than closer to the incident, was inconvenient.
"We're kind of isolated here," he said.
Gray, flanked by Dow Chemical spokeswoman Jennifer Heronema and Bay Regional Medical Center spokesman Kurt Miller, held a press conference at the community center, 800 John F. Kennedy Drive.
"Anytime you do an exercise like this you see an opportunity where you could do things better," Gray said.
The drill, dubbed "Locomotion Commotion," was conducted with federal Homeland Security grants, which now are awarded regionally. Participants from several neighboring counties took part. In the scenario played out near the boat launch, terrorists bombed the train, which was carrying anhydrous ammonia, causing several nearby residents to fall ill or die.
Gray, who is the county's public information officer, said if a disaster such as the staged one actually occurred, the identity of people who lost their lives would be closely guarded.
"If something like this happened and there were 58 fatalities," he said, "the names would never be released."
One mistake during the drill was the faxing of a press release that announced the train derailment and 39 casualties - without any indication that the incident was staged.
"That should have said 'This is a test' on it," Gray said.
Posted by Crystal McMorris | The Bay City Times September 25, 2008 08:11AM
More than 300 firefighters, police, paramedics and other disaster-handlers staged a mock train-derailment near the Cass Avenue Boat Launch on Wednesday to prepare themselves for any real large-scale disasters that might occur.
Scores of participants enacted a scene that included injured people breathing in toxic chemicals and several people dying.
Michael Gray, deputy Bay County Executive, said participants learned several lessons from the drill, one of which was that having a joint information center at the Bay County Community Center, rather than closer to the incident, was inconvenient.
"We're kind of isolated here," he said.
Gray, flanked by Dow Chemical spokeswoman Jennifer Heronema and Bay Regional Medical Center spokesman Kurt Miller, held a press conference at the community center, 800 John F. Kennedy Drive.
"Anytime you do an exercise like this you see an opportunity where you could do things better," Gray said.
The drill, dubbed "Locomotion Commotion," was conducted with federal Homeland Security grants, which now are awarded regionally. Participants from several neighboring counties took part. In the scenario played out near the boat launch, terrorists bombed the train, which was carrying anhydrous ammonia, causing several nearby residents to fall ill or die.
Gray, who is the county's public information officer, said if a disaster such as the staged one actually occurred, the identity of people who lost their lives would be closely guarded.
"If something like this happened and there were 58 fatalities," he said, "the names would never be released."
One mistake during the drill was the faxing of a press release that announced the train derailment and 39 casualties - without any indication that the incident was staged.
"That should have said 'This is a test' on it," Gray said.
Tanker spill drill trains officials for actual emergency
Tanker spill drill trains officials for actual emergency
A Roanoke police official said Tuesday's scenario was within the realm of possibility.
By Jeff Sturgeon
981-3251
Sept 24, 2008
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Emergency crews respond to a mock disaster Tuesday in Roanoke. Overall, "it worked out well," said a Roanoke Fire-EMS official.
Disaster management leaders staged a fake chemical accident in Roanoke on Tuesday, giving emergency responders a chance to practice lifesaving skills.
The story line went like this: At ground zero, a rail crossing on Patterson Avenue Southwest, a tank car filled with water had sprung a leak.
With 1,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia spewing forth from a derailed tanker, a plume of toxic gas was spreading over the Norwich area and part of Raleigh Court.
While a hazardous material crew of Roanoke Valley firefighters and railroad-contracted personnel contained the leak, rescuers tended to 36 simulated victims, half of whom were hospitalized. Police pretended to evacuate nearby neighborhoods where an estimated 500 people were home.
The all-clear on the two-hour simulation was given just before noon.
Leaders said the drill involving 125 people at the scene, city hall, a school, area hospitals and other locations was valuable.
But officials withheld details of what went wrong or what they learned -- other than to refer vaguely to communication and staffing issues.
"Couple people were caught a little off guard," Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said in an interview.
Overall, "it worked out well."
Shortly before 10 a.m., responders closed Patterson Avenue to establish on-site command, medical treatment and a decontamination bay adjacent to the troubled tanker. Red blinking lights and squawking radios added realism to the scene, which media members were allowed to watch from a nearby hilltop.
Fake patients were taken to hospitals. Evacuees went to Patrick Henry High School. Emergency team leaders asked Valley Metro to pretend to shift to consolidated emergency routes to free up buses for human transport.
The leaders obtained cooperation from schools to pretend to keep students rather than send them home amid the toxic cloud.
Even though Valley Metro did not shift schedules and schools did not hold children, officials confirmed the capacity of those organizations to do such things in the future if needed.
Roanoke police Lt. Sam Roman said the scenario staged is within the realm of possibility for the Star City.
"It could happen," he said.
The police department would evacuate a neighborhood if actually needed by sending 20 to 25 officers into an area to knock on doors, get people out and mark each vacated dwelling with a masking-tape X.
Police deployed fewer officers Tuesday but have the resources to muster the amount needed, he said.
Fire-EMS Deputy Chief Ralph Tartaglia said the railroad hauls "a lot" of anhydrous ammonia -- an ingredient in fertilizer -- through the valley.
Dave Schoendorfer, manager of hazardous materials for Norfolk Southern, countered at the same news conference that "the volume is very small."
Schoendorfer said that asphalt is the hazardous item passing through the valley in the largest quantity. Asked to name the most toxic material moved through the valley, he said one of the most toxic items is denatured alcohol, which he went on to say is the ethanol frequently added to automobile fuel these days.
The railroad moves such materials under a legal duty prescribed by the federal government, he said.
Behind the scenes, disaster management teams are constantly training and perfecting plans. Some 200 personnel received fresh training in hazardous materials management last week in Roanoke.
Tuesday's drill, which culminates many months of work, was seen as a critical test of plans, personnel, equipment and strategic infrastructure.
A Roanoke police official said Tuesday's scenario was within the realm of possibility.
By Jeff Sturgeon
981-3251
Sept 24, 2008
JEANNA DUERSCHERL The Roanoke Times
Emergency crews respond to a mock disaster Tuesday in Roanoke. Overall, "it worked out well," said a Roanoke Fire-EMS official.
Disaster management leaders staged a fake chemical accident in Roanoke on Tuesday, giving emergency responders a chance to practice lifesaving skills.
The story line went like this: At ground zero, a rail crossing on Patterson Avenue Southwest, a tank car filled with water had sprung a leak.
With 1,500 gallons of anhydrous ammonia spewing forth from a derailed tanker, a plume of toxic gas was spreading over the Norwich area and part of Raleigh Court.
While a hazardous material crew of Roanoke Valley firefighters and railroad-contracted personnel contained the leak, rescuers tended to 36 simulated victims, half of whom were hospitalized. Police pretended to evacuate nearby neighborhoods where an estimated 500 people were home.
The all-clear on the two-hour simulation was given just before noon.
Leaders said the drill involving 125 people at the scene, city hall, a school, area hospitals and other locations was valuable.
But officials withheld details of what went wrong or what they learned -- other than to refer vaguely to communication and staffing issues.
"Couple people were caught a little off guard," Roanoke Fire-EMS Chief David Hoback said in an interview.
Overall, "it worked out well."
Shortly before 10 a.m., responders closed Patterson Avenue to establish on-site command, medical treatment and a decontamination bay adjacent to the troubled tanker. Red blinking lights and squawking radios added realism to the scene, which media members were allowed to watch from a nearby hilltop.
Fake patients were taken to hospitals. Evacuees went to Patrick Henry High School. Emergency team leaders asked Valley Metro to pretend to shift to consolidated emergency routes to free up buses for human transport.
The leaders obtained cooperation from schools to pretend to keep students rather than send them home amid the toxic cloud.
Even though Valley Metro did not shift schedules and schools did not hold children, officials confirmed the capacity of those organizations to do such things in the future if needed.
Roanoke police Lt. Sam Roman said the scenario staged is within the realm of possibility for the Star City.
"It could happen," he said.
The police department would evacuate a neighborhood if actually needed by sending 20 to 25 officers into an area to knock on doors, get people out and mark each vacated dwelling with a masking-tape X.
Police deployed fewer officers Tuesday but have the resources to muster the amount needed, he said.
Fire-EMS Deputy Chief Ralph Tartaglia said the railroad hauls "a lot" of anhydrous ammonia -- an ingredient in fertilizer -- through the valley.
Dave Schoendorfer, manager of hazardous materials for Norfolk Southern, countered at the same news conference that "the volume is very small."
Schoendorfer said that asphalt is the hazardous item passing through the valley in the largest quantity. Asked to name the most toxic material moved through the valley, he said one of the most toxic items is denatured alcohol, which he went on to say is the ethanol frequently added to automobile fuel these days.
The railroad moves such materials under a legal duty prescribed by the federal government, he said.
Behind the scenes, disaster management teams are constantly training and perfecting plans. Some 200 personnel received fresh training in hazardous materials management last week in Roanoke.
Tuesday's drill, which culminates many months of work, was seen as a critical test of plans, personnel, equipment and strategic infrastructure.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Colorado Haz Mat Team Prepared for Emergency Situations
Haz Mat Team Prepared for Emergency Situations
Telluride Watch - Telluride,CO,USA
Sep 23, 2008
PUEBLO – Ouray County’s hazardous materials response team averages one hazardous-materials emergency per year, according to Norm Rooker, chief of Ouray County Emergency Medical Services. And if they’re lucky, they get called out of the county to back up another team maybe once every two or three years. Nevertheless, when something does go wrong, they have to be ready – and there are all kinds of things that can go wrong.
“Which is why we put so much emphasis on training to stay confident and sharp,” Rooker said. He and two other members of the OCEMS Haz Mat Team, Mike Bazin of Ouray and Dave Drew of Ridgway, recently attended a three-day training at a facility east of Pueblo to bone up on the assessment, containment and handling of chemicals such as gasoline, propane, acids, and anhydrous ammonia, often used locally as fertilizer for hayfields.
The session was part of a biannual training organized by the Western Slope Hazardous Materials Response Consortium and funded by grants obtained by county emergency management coordinators such as Ouray County’s Alan Staehle. The training consisted of classroom time and field work, with exercises probing everything from how to defray static electricity that could cause an explosion, to handling a spill near a residential neighborhood.
“Each [material] has different properties,” Rooker said. “Some pose a minimal threat. Some are explosive, some displace oxygen – they’re heavier than air.” Rooker said that the placards on vehicles carrying hazardous materials are required to help responders tell from a distance what they are dealing with. “We have what we call the rule of thumb: If you can’t cover up the incident with your thumb with your arm held in front of you, then you’re standing too close.”
While Highway 550 is off-limits to through-transport of hazardous materials, it is open to the transport of materials for local consumption, meaning anything bound for Ouray County as well as for Montrose, Delta and Gunnison counties. That can include gasoline, propane, kerosene, and agricultural chemicals. A 2004 study found that 58 percent of all hazardous materials transported into and through the county were petrochemicals.
In addition, the construction of a gasahol refinery in La Plata County has Rooker expecting an increase in transport of the ethanol-gasoline mix, which has its own unique set of hazards.
“For gasoline and other petroleum products, fire departments carry foam,” Rooker said. However, gasahol breaks down that foam, and while another product is available to fight ethanol fires, it’s more expensive, leaving departments scrambling to find the funding for it.
Regulations, however, don’t always keep the public and the environment safe. Rooker said that last year there were convoys of trucks, 12 to 16 per day, traveling through Ouray County carrying wastewater from gas-drilling projects on the West End, which is not covered by haz-mat regulations. “It may be mostly water, but it’s also contaminated with varying amounts of flammables and more importantly, benzene,” Rooker said. He said that a similar truck overturned near Carbondale the previous year that send six people to the hospital. However, since a new holding facility for the wastewater has been built, he doesn’t expect to see more of the trucks.
What regulations also miss are the people who choose to ignore them. Such was the case earlier this year when a flatbed carrying methanol overturned on Red Mountain Pass.
“The pass had been closed for six days,” Rooker said. “The driver was trying to make up for lost time and had an unfortunate accident.”
Rooker also cited the everyday over-the-counter hazardous materials that don’t get placarded. “Look at all the chemicals at the hardware store or the supermarket,” he said, citing paints, drain cleaners and petroleum distillates. “If I were to go to your house right now and look under your sink and in your garage I would easily find two dozen containers of hazardous chemicals. They’re OK by themselves, but if we were to have a flood or a fire we’d have to deal with them. That’s one of the reasons firefighters wear self-contained breathing apparatus.”
Next year’s training, involving response to radioactive incidents, is already being planned to take place at the Department of Homeland Security’s Nuclear and Radioactive Response School at the Nevada Test Site outside Las Vegas. Though Rooker doesn’t expect the increase in uranium mining in the West End to cause increases in transport of the materials in our direction – currently all ores are being shipped west to Utah for processing – nevertheless, OCEMS may have to go out on a call anyway. With the closest two-man technician teams based in Cortez and Grand Junction, each with a four-hour response time, it’s up to local operations crews, who work together when a job is too big for one county’s team, to hold the fort until they arrive.
“Because we’re so remote we run an operations team on steroids,” Rooker said. “We rescue victims, size up the operations on what we’re dealing with, do defensive operations like dike and dam to stop leaks, prevent it from getting into the water system, keep it out of the environment, and then we decontaminate the rescuers and victims.”
For more information on the Pueblo haz mat training facility go to www.hazmattraining.com. For more information on the Nevada Test Site radioactive response training program go to www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1115.pdf.
Telluride Watch - Telluride,CO,USA
Sep 23, 2008
PUEBLO – Ouray County’s hazardous materials response team averages one hazardous-materials emergency per year, according to Norm Rooker, chief of Ouray County Emergency Medical Services. And if they’re lucky, they get called out of the county to back up another team maybe once every two or three years. Nevertheless, when something does go wrong, they have to be ready – and there are all kinds of things that can go wrong.
“Which is why we put so much emphasis on training to stay confident and sharp,” Rooker said. He and two other members of the OCEMS Haz Mat Team, Mike Bazin of Ouray and Dave Drew of Ridgway, recently attended a three-day training at a facility east of Pueblo to bone up on the assessment, containment and handling of chemicals such as gasoline, propane, acids, and anhydrous ammonia, often used locally as fertilizer for hayfields.
The session was part of a biannual training organized by the Western Slope Hazardous Materials Response Consortium and funded by grants obtained by county emergency management coordinators such as Ouray County’s Alan Staehle. The training consisted of classroom time and field work, with exercises probing everything from how to defray static electricity that could cause an explosion, to handling a spill near a residential neighborhood.
“Each [material] has different properties,” Rooker said. “Some pose a minimal threat. Some are explosive, some displace oxygen – they’re heavier than air.” Rooker said that the placards on vehicles carrying hazardous materials are required to help responders tell from a distance what they are dealing with. “We have what we call the rule of thumb: If you can’t cover up the incident with your thumb with your arm held in front of you, then you’re standing too close.”
While Highway 550 is off-limits to through-transport of hazardous materials, it is open to the transport of materials for local consumption, meaning anything bound for Ouray County as well as for Montrose, Delta and Gunnison counties. That can include gasoline, propane, kerosene, and agricultural chemicals. A 2004 study found that 58 percent of all hazardous materials transported into and through the county were petrochemicals.
In addition, the construction of a gasahol refinery in La Plata County has Rooker expecting an increase in transport of the ethanol-gasoline mix, which has its own unique set of hazards.
“For gasoline and other petroleum products, fire departments carry foam,” Rooker said. However, gasahol breaks down that foam, and while another product is available to fight ethanol fires, it’s more expensive, leaving departments scrambling to find the funding for it.
Regulations, however, don’t always keep the public and the environment safe. Rooker said that last year there were convoys of trucks, 12 to 16 per day, traveling through Ouray County carrying wastewater from gas-drilling projects on the West End, which is not covered by haz-mat regulations. “It may be mostly water, but it’s also contaminated with varying amounts of flammables and more importantly, benzene,” Rooker said. He said that a similar truck overturned near Carbondale the previous year that send six people to the hospital. However, since a new holding facility for the wastewater has been built, he doesn’t expect to see more of the trucks.
What regulations also miss are the people who choose to ignore them. Such was the case earlier this year when a flatbed carrying methanol overturned on Red Mountain Pass.
“The pass had been closed for six days,” Rooker said. “The driver was trying to make up for lost time and had an unfortunate accident.”
Rooker also cited the everyday over-the-counter hazardous materials that don’t get placarded. “Look at all the chemicals at the hardware store or the supermarket,” he said, citing paints, drain cleaners and petroleum distillates. “If I were to go to your house right now and look under your sink and in your garage I would easily find two dozen containers of hazardous chemicals. They’re OK by themselves, but if we were to have a flood or a fire we’d have to deal with them. That’s one of the reasons firefighters wear self-contained breathing apparatus.”
Next year’s training, involving response to radioactive incidents, is already being planned to take place at the Department of Homeland Security’s Nuclear and Radioactive Response School at the Nevada Test Site outside Las Vegas. Though Rooker doesn’t expect the increase in uranium mining in the West End to cause increases in transport of the materials in our direction – currently all ores are being shipped west to Utah for processing – nevertheless, OCEMS may have to go out on a call anyway. With the closest two-man technician teams based in Cortez and Grand Junction, each with a four-hour response time, it’s up to local operations crews, who work together when a job is too big for one county’s team, to hold the fort until they arrive.
“Because we’re so remote we run an operations team on steroids,” Rooker said. “We rescue victims, size up the operations on what we’re dealing with, do defensive operations like dike and dam to stop leaks, prevent it from getting into the water system, keep it out of the environment, and then we decontaminate the rescuers and victims.”
For more information on the Pueblo haz mat training facility go to www.hazmattraining.com. For more information on the Nevada Test Site radioactive response training program go to www.nv.doe.gov/library/factsheets/DOENV_1115.pdf.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)