# Presentation: 145831

## Are You Ready For A Hazardous Materials Event In Your Community?

**Presented by: Jeri Harwood**

## Overview

**Background and review of a recent hazardous materials event**
**Is your community prepared**
**What is the training required**
**Action planning**
**Drill and exercise**
**Budgeting**

## Review of a Hazardous Materials Incident

**Background**
**Incident, March 6, 2005 South Salt Lake City, Utah**
**Resources**
**Protective actions**
**Action planning**
**Preservation of evidence**
**Accident investigation**
**Costs**

## Background

**A railcar subleased from Kennecott Copper to Philips Services **
**Rail car was equipped to haul Sulfuric Acid only, due to the phenolic liner that is inside the tank.  This liner is designed to protect the tanker’s steel walls from corrosion by sulfuric acid**
**Rail car stenciled with Sulfuric Acid**
**Philips Services put waste acids into the tank which does not meet the contract requirements from Kennecott**

## Incident

**A railcar marked with sulfuric acid had just been moved to a different track at Roper Rail yard in South Salt Lake City, Utah on 6 March 2005**
**It was noticed at 0550 hours, that there was a leak and a call was placed to 911 stating that there was a hazardous materials fire involving sulfuric and hydrochloric acid at Roper Rail yard **
**The operations manager for the rail yard isolated the area **

## Slide 6

## First Response

**0558 - South Salt Lake City and West Valley fire departments arrived on scene.  At this hour it was still dark**
**Firefighters did not notice any breach of the container, but had confirmed the rail car venting vapor**
**0700 - During shift change there was a yellow/brown vapor plume escaping the railcar.  At this time the incident commander requested Midvale and Sandy City fire department for support**

**0730 – Initial evacuation of 600 west to I-15, which was a 330 meter isolation distance for sulfuric acid. Railcar stenciled with Sulfuric Acid on side**
**0800 – Individual from Union Pacific stated that it appeared the railcar had two bullet holes in the side of the tank from an earlier observation**
**FBI JTTF was contacted**
**At approximately noon, the incident was reviewed and not considered a terrorist event**

**0800 - Recon team in Level A PPE was sent to the tank car after decontamination was set up. This team observed approximately five holes on the side of the tanker with product actively flowing**
**Waybill showed up with the emergency contact from Philips services which stated only sulfuric and hydrofluoric acids were included in the shipment.   The company also stated that the rail car was properly loaded and labeled (Waste Corrosive Liquid) for the shipment**
**The company was called by the Incident Commander (IC).  Philips Services stated that the shipment included hydrochloric, hydrofluoric, nitric and sulfuric acids**

**Information was then passed to Union Pacific who was on scene with their hazmat responders**
**UHP, IC, and FBI agent flew over the incident in a helicopter in an upwind direction**
**A breach could be seen along the side of the railcar with product leaking**
**0930 – A firefighter from the original recon team accompanied another flyover of the incident.  He reported increased damage from the original finding.  The car started showing signs of failure along the total length of the tank car**

## Tank Showing Signs of Failure

## Continued Response

**0930 - Plans made to off-load product **
**1225 – Re-entry team sent in to offload.  Team assessed the tank car and determined that the wrong couplings were sent for the offload.  At this time they also noticed that there were approximately 15 holes in the side of the tank with one about the size of a softball**
**Rate of failure and the integrity of the car were degrading rapidly**
**Command Post was moved to a 1 mile radius from the tank car.  At this distance there was no line of sight **

## Slide 13

## Continued Response

**Approx 1245 – I-15 was shut down**** which took a ****little more than 1.5 hours**
**1530 – IC requested a mandatory evacuation**
**1545 -  Re-entry plans were discussed in further detail**
**1800 – Plan was completed for offload**
**1830 – IC contacted Philips Services again to clarify the tanks contents.  He requested a fax from the company on the contents**

## Inframetrics At 1829

## Continued Response

**1859 – The contents of the tanker was faxed to the IC which listed a different mixture of chemicals than the company previously had listed.  This list is below:**
**Phosphoric Acid**
**Sulfuric Acid**
**Acetic Acid**
**Fluoride Ions**
**Ammonia**
**2000 – Offload was started **

## Corrected Product Information

**Later that evening the company corrected itself by saying the contents included waste acid and it had loaded approximately 12,500 to 13,000 gallons of the following products:**
**Sulfuric acid**
**Phosphoric acid**
**Hydrofluoric acid**
**Acetic acid**
**Ammonia**

**Notes:**
Does the inconsistency add to confusion for the responder?

**With the conflicting information from the company, the IC was uncertain if any of the information was correct **
**Response was based on worst case scenario which was Nitric Acid due to the orange vapor coming from the rail car**
**Further containment was set up and a berm was constructed in the retention pond**
**2000 – Plans to start the off load began**

## March 7, 2005

**0001 - Approximately 6000 gallons went to the ground**
**0130 - 6500 gallons were offloaded into the tanks**
**0200 – Evacuation was suspended**
**0500 – Roads were reopened**

## March 7, 2005

**0900 – Samples taken to the state lab was completed and products identified**
**Sulfuric Acid**
**Phosphoric Acid**
**Nitric Acid**
**Ammonia**
**Acetic Acid**
**Hydrofluoric Acid**

**Hydrochloric Acid**
**Tri-nitro phenol**
**Di-nitro phenol**
**Aluminum**
**Other metals**
**Water**

## Slide 21

## Slide 22

## Slide 23

## Resources Utilized

**South Salt Lake Fire and Police Departments (Dept)**
**West Valley City Fire Depart**
**Midvale City Fire Depart**
**Utah Highway Patrol**
**Utah Division of Emergency Management**
**FBI and the JTTF**
**Unified Fire Authority**

**Union Pacific Railroad Hazmat Team**
**Sandy City Fire Depart**
**Utah DOT Incident Management**
**SLC/Country Health Dept**
**South Salt Lake C.E.R.T Team**
**Gold Cross Ambulance**

**South Salt Lake and West Valley Fire Departments provided initial entry (Level A) hazmat teams**
**Midvale Fire Department (Hazmat Team) provided their Hazmat Van which had the following capabilities:**
**Satellite uplink, radios, computers (with Cameo, Aloha and Marplot) which was used for plume projection), FAX, Video Imagery, weather station and Hazmat response gear if needed.**
**Sandy City Fire Department provided the Decontamination Unit**
**Two lane heated shower unit in a trailer**

**Utah Highway Patrol Helicopter**
**Dept of Public Safety Emergency Mgmt – Mobile CP**
**Law Enforcement to shut down freeway and to evacuate personnel – All South Salt Lake City Police were recalled**
**Dispatch used to complete Reverse 911 calling**
**Union Pacific Railroad – hazmat teams, chemist, monitoring and still monitoring **
**DEQ utilized for environmental impacts**
**Philips Services removed waste**

## Protective Actions

**IC requested a mandatory evacuation of the area**
**This evacuation was based on forecast and plume modeling**
**Evacuation was handled by South Salt Lake Police and surrounding law enforcement Agencies**
**Reverse 911 was utilized**
**There were approximately 6000 to 7000 personnel evacuated**

## Action Plan

**Go through side of tanker**
**Use of a JLG Lift with 100 ft boom**
**Attached hose with pumps**
**Ensure compatibility of tires and pumps**
**Offload 200 gallons to ensure compatibility of containers that product will be stored in for shipment for approximately 1 hour.**
**Procure samples to be taken to state lab for chemical identification**
**Decontamination**

## Other Actions

**Preservation of Evidence**
**Accident Investigation**
**Costs – Exceeding 100K +**

## Is Your Community Prepared?

**What are the hazards that go through your community**
**Does your community train and exercise together**
**What are your resources**
**Do you budget for training and drills**

## Training

**What training has your Emergency Responders  received**
**For the team in Utah, all Hazmat Technicians have at least 200 hours plus any specialized training that they deem necessary**
**Law enforcement are trained to Hazmat Awareness**
**Incident Command Training is offered to all responders**

## Action Planning

**How easy is it to do an action plan at the time of an incident**
**Two action plans were written for this event.  It took approximately 9 hours to coordinate the 2****nd**** plan**

## Drills and Exercises

**Do your emergency and community responders drill together**
**The response agencies involved in this incident, drilled for the Olympics **
**A drill was, also, held Sept 2004 with all involved at the same rail yard where this incident happened**

## Budgeting

**How much does it cost**
**Is it worth the cost**
**The drill in Sept 2004 was approximately $300K**

## Conclusion

**Prior planning and training successfully enabled the responders to respond effectively even though Placards were incorrect**
**There were no injuries to first responders or civilians**
**Reverse 911 was effective in notifying local residents**
**Unified command was utilized effectively**

## Questions?