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Emergency Response Efforts Are Crucial Hazardous Materials Crises Draw By Sergeant Chris Viator and Jennifer B. Armand In January 1993, a traffic accident on Interstate 10 between Lafayette and Baton Rouge erupted
The gasoline burned for nearly five hours, but, fortunately for about 1,000 motorists who were stranded for hours behind the accident scene over the Atchafalaya Basin, the biggest fear of hazardous materials teams from the Louisiana State Police and DEQ was never realized: the molten sulfur did not ignite. For 10 hours following the accident, the Interstate remained closed as traffic was rerouted; debris was removed from the elevated highway; and state and local law enforcement authorities, firefighters, and representatives from the state Department of Transportation and Development and DEQ evaluated the damage to the road and the resulting impacts on the environment. Had the accident occurred in a more populated area instead of over the Atchafalaya swamp, hazardous materials experts would agree later, massive evacuations would have been necessary. While it is one of the most memorable, the truck fire on I-10 was one of a total of 4,019 hazardous materials incidents reported in Louisiana in 1993, and one of 1,062 such incidents that were transportation-related. The State Police Hazardous Materials/Explosives Unit is officially charged with the responsibility of coordinating emergency response activities arising as a result of releases or potential releases of hazardous materials. Since 1980, the seven-member response team has enjoyed a close and effective working relationship with the staff of the DEQ Emergency Response Section, which currently has nine employees statewide. Together, the two groups have responded to a myriad of emergencies throughout the state, ranging from unauthorized releases of chemicals at industrial facilities to industrial explosions to train derailments and highway accidents. Once at the scene of an emergency, the emergency response team is responsible for evaluating, mitigating, and monitoring the situation and supervising cleanup after a chemical leak or spill is contained. Each of the two agencies has trained responders on call around the clock every day of the year -- who are dispatched when calls are received on emergency hotline telephone lines. "As a hazardous materials emergency responder at DEQ or State Police, you have to be on your toes at all times," says Ross Williams, Program Manager of the DEQ Emergency Response Section. "Our staff responds to an average of 25 to 30 incidents a week in which a release of hazardous materials has occurred or an emergency has the potential for chemical release. Fortunately, in many of the transportation accidents, the efforts of our staff and the truck drivers have prevented potentially dangerous releases from occurring." In fact, the cooperation between DEQ and State Police has resulted in the successful mitigation of thousands of incidents involving hazardous materials. It has saved the lives of an untold number of people and prevented the loss of millions of dollars in property, often at great personal risk to the responders from each agency. For these reasons, training is an essential component of a responder's job duties. Each must complete a 40-hour university-level course in hazardous materials emergency response before being activated and, thereafter, must complete an eight-hour refresher course annually. Representatives from both DEQ and State Police also provide all levels of hazardous materials training to all fire and police departments around the state. This includes training volunteer firefighters, who staff 80 percent of fire departments in Louisiana. In addition, over the years, DEQ and State Police emergency response teams have responded to incidents that have later lead to criminal investigations of environmental violations. "We may get called out to a community where citizens are concerned about certain activities they consider to be suspicious occurring in a building down the street," says Jeff Meyers, DEQ Emergency Response Coordinator. "We will conduct an investigation and sometimes uncover potentially criminal violations of state environmental regulations. The staff at DEQ and at State Police has participated in many federal investigations, and in some cases it is our first response to a hazardous materials incident that initiates the investigation." In the event of an emergency involving hazardous materials at an industrial facility, state law requires the facility to make proper notifications within 30 minutes of the onset of the emergency. While State Police must be the first contacted, facilities often, within minutes, also notify DEQ, the local emergency planning committee, and local fire and police departments that may have personnel capable of responding to hazardous materials emergencies. In addition, most industrial facilities have their own trained hazardous material managers on-site who can respond and react quickly to an emergency within the plant boundaries. "Louisiana is a safer place to live today," says Colonel Paul W. Fontenot, Superintendent of State Police. "By working collaboratively with the Department of Environmental Quality, we have made significant progress in responding to environmental crises. I'm convinced our emergency response system is one of the best in the country." To report a hazardous materials emergency or a situation that could result in a spill or leak of hazardous materials, citizens are asked to call the State Police Hazardous Materials/ Explosives Unit at (504) 925-6595. You may also call the DEQ 24-hour hotline at (504) 342-1234 to report incidences that may or may not involve a hazardous materials emergency. Hazardous Materials Placards Tanker trucks carrying hazardous materials must bear the U.S. Department of Transportation ID number for the materials in transport. The ID number may be visibly displayed on numbered placards or on orange panels under placards that bear a symbol for the hazardous material's classification. The ID number and a corresponding symbol on a placard help emergency responders to quickly identify the material in the event of an emergency, and to determine the health hazards posed by the chemical and protective actions required in the event of a spill, leak, or fire. Click "here" for examples of placards for hazardous materials.
November - December, 1994.
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into a 10-hour exercise in emergency response. At approximately 10 a.m. on January 12, a tanker truck carrying 9,000 gallons of gasoline ignited when it was struck from behind by another 18-wheeler carrying molten sulfur, a highly toxic and flammable liquid.