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New Emergency Planning Council chair takes aim |
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Thursday, 04 February 2010 |
By CARL CRITZ
KINGSTON - Whether you know it or not, extremely hazardous materials like chlorine, propane, and anhydrous ammonia are transported and stored throughout Washington County in vast quantities every day of the year. What would happen if any of those substances were to be released, or catch fire? How would your local fire departments respond and make sure to keep you safe? The answer to all of these questions now lies with Union Fire District Deputy Chief Kevin Quinn, the newly elected chairman of a committee designed solely for that purpose.
Quinn brought together first responders and industry representatives last Thursday at the first meeting of the Local Emergency Planning Committee region four, consisting of the entirety of Washington County, in the student senate chambers on the main Campus of the University of Rhode Island.
In attendance were members and representatives from national Grid, Torrey Plastics, Modine Manufacturing, Arrow Gas, South County Hospital, the Rhode Island Emergency Management Association, Charlestown Fire, Quonset Industrial Park, Block Island Fire, Deputy Chief Dave DiMeo of the Cranston Fire Department and LEPC-3 chairman, the Rhode Island Nuclear Science Center, Exeter and North Kingstown Fire Departments, Kingston Fire District, and Hope Valley Fire and Hazardous Materials Response team. Chief Vincent Vespia of the South Kingstown Police Department was also in attendance.
In Washington County there are 19 different fire departments, and only three of them are paid according to Quinn. Within that geographical area are three large ports, rail and highway systems that regularly transport, store, and manufacture hazardous materials. The 16 volunteer departments often operate without a strict code of enforcement of inspection of hazardous materials facilities in their community.
LEPC's were created after a series of incidents involving deadly chemical releases in India and the U.S. in the 1980's. Under federal community right to know legislation, companies are required to inform their surrounding community of hazardous materials that are stored, used, or produced on their grounds or facilities. The LEPC serves primarily as a link between these industries and the government and first responders tasked with keeping the surrounding community safe.
The local LEPC acts not only as a hazardous materials response committee, but also as a clearinghouse of information on where and how hazardous materials are stored in Washington County. The LEPC also acts as a link to the community where residents can inquire about what is really stored near their homes.
During the meeting Quinn identified three critical ingredients to incident management in the event of a hazardous materials emergency, safety, communication, and teamwork. To make the LEPC work, Quinn identified data, planning, and execution as the key things needed from participating members, as well as cooperating businesses and organizations likely to keep hazardous materials on-site.
“Keeping the public safe is your task on this committee,” Quinn said. “We need to know what's out there, and so industry participation is critical. Under the community right to know we need that information and we know we're not getting it all.”
In conjunction with Quinn's first LEPC meeting as chair, tier 2 reports have begun to flood in before their due date of March 1. Tier two reports, often submitted as material safety data sheets, show exactly what kind and quantity of hazardous materials are located on the premises of area businesses. Local LEPC's like Rhode Island's region four are beginning to see the advent of electronic documentation of these hazardous materials in an effort to streamline the process of identification and compliance.
At his inaugural meeting Quinn hoped to assess possible updates to the committee's by laws as well as a new response plan. Quinn said during the meeting that the former response plan was a good one, but at five years old it is dated and will need to be revisited.
Quinn also hopes that a web site, built with federal funding, can be constructed as soon as possible and placed on a Rhode Island parent LEPC homepage to be hosted by Brown University. The web site would be useful for informing the public about the existence of hazardous materials in their community and efforts meant to safeguard residents from harmful accidents and mistreatment of these materials.
Quinn hopes to bring in suggestions from other LEPC system around the state and the country, and tailor by-laws and response plans to fit Washington County’s unique setting.
The LEPC will also fund training in the use of unique computer-aided management of emergency operations (CAMEO) software that utilizes real-time data to identify the hazardous materials involved in an emergency and set up the proper initial isolation and evacuation distances. The software would also explain the proper methods for extinguishing a fire or containing a spill unique to the hazardous materials that are involved.
The software augments the traditional method of using an emergency response guidebook to manage a haz mat incident, and employs GPS-based software to draw out evacuation areas unique to that geographical setting. “In the field, its just a must.” Quinn said. “The critical statistics show that rural areas have the highest death rates,” Quinn said. “We need to know that our response is going to be correct.”
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