NCFLEPC - What's New

NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA
LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE
2009 NW 67th Place, Gainesville FL 32653-1603 -- (352) 955-2200 x108 -- fax 955-2209

What's New as of

SUMMARY

Tuesday, 16 February 2010, Regional Hazmat Team Trailer Work Day 10:00 a.m. and Policy Board Meeting at 1:30 p.m, North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, 2009 NW 67 Place, Gainesville
Wednesday, 17 February 2010, Using the New Florida On-Line Tier 2 Reporting System - FloridaHMIS.org Workshops at 9:00 am and 1:00 p.m., North Central Florida Regional Planning Council, 2009 NW 67 Place, Gainesville
Friday, 19 February 2010, 10:00 a.m., LEPC Meeting, Suwannee River Water Management District office, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak
Friday, 19 February 2010, 1:00 p.m., Using the New Florida On-Line Tier 2 Reporting System - FloridaHMIS.org Workshop, Suwannee River Water Management District office, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak

NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE
MEETING NOTICE

The North Central Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) will meet at 10:00 a.m. on Friday, 19 February 2010. The meeting is being held at the Suwannee River Water Management District office, 9225 CR 49, Live Oak, Florida An agenda and a location map are included. A full packet is available on http://www.ncflepc.org approximately one week prior to the meeting.

Following the LEPC meeting at 1:00 p.m. at the same location, a workshop will be given on Using the New Florida On-Line Tier 2 Reporting System - FloridaHMIS.org. This workshop is also being offered twice in Gainesville on 17 February 2010. A Flyer is included. These workshops are part of LEPC outreach efforts during Hazardous Materials Awareness Week - February 14-20, 2010. Additional information regarding On-Line Tier 2 reporting is available at http://ncflepc.org/floridahmis.html .

If there are any questions regarding these meetings, free hazardous materials training or the LEPC, do not hesitate to call Dwayne Mundy, Director, Public Safety and Regulatory Compliance at (352) 955-2200 x108 or email mundy@ncfrpc.org .

NORTH CENTRAL FLORIDA REGIONAL HAZARDOUS MATERIALS
RESPONSE TEAM POLICY BOARD MEETING NOTICE

The Regional Hazmat Team Policy Board will meet on 16 February 2010 at the North Central Florida Regional Planning Council office, 2009 NW 67 Place, Gainesville, Florida starting at 1:30 pm. A Response Trailer work day will begin at 10:00 a.m. at that location.

PAPERLESS MEETING NOTIFICATIONS AND MEETING PACKET

The LEPC is moving towards paperless meeting notifications by distributing materials using the internet. Most future LEPC meeting notices will not be sent using the U.S. Mail, but will be published in the Florida Administrative Weekly, on the www.ncflepc.org website and through email. The best way to learn about LEPC meetings, seminars and free training is by joining the LEPC email list by sending an email to: ncflepc-subscribe@yahoogroups.com.

FREE TRAINING CLASSES FOR HAZMAT RESPONDERS

An IAFF 160 hour Hazardous Materials Technician Level class is being organized to begin on 25 January 2010.

Summary of Last Meeting

The North Central Florida Local Emergency Planning Committee (District 3 LEPC) last met on November 19, 2009 at the SiVance LLC, a Section 302 chemical company located in Gainesville. A presentation was given on a hazardous materials fire that shut down I-75 for eight hours. Items discussed included the ongoing reorganization of the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team, hazmat training, selecting a planning project, and beginning the planning for the LEPC biennial exercise.

Gainesville Fire Rescue Special Operations Chief Donald Sessions and Hazmat Captain Dan Smith gave an overview of the regional response to a September 8, 2009 hazardous material release/fire on I-75 in Hamilton County near the Georgia border. Six Fire Departments from four counties responded to the incident. An overturned cargo tractor trailer shipped from Orlando was involved in a chemical fire. The fire burned intensely for over two hours before the arrival of the Gainesville Hazmat Team. Identified products included:

•       1,320 fifty five pound pails of Calcium Hypochlorite
•       Two ton-containers of Chlorine
•       Thirty 150lb Chlorine cylinders
•       Four 55 gallon drums of Xylene
•       Many other chemicals including Sodium Nitrate

Pictures were shown of two plumes being released during the fire. A white, fog-like cloud stayed near the ground, while a red cloud was rising from the burning trailer. Incident command was established, an incident action plan developed along with a site safety plan. Air monitoring was conducted by the 18 hazmat technicians that responded as part of the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team.
Various departments were assigned different operational sectors. Hamilton County Emergency Management served as Incident Commander. Other state and local agencies responded, as well as representatives for the shipper Brentag Mid South.

Overall the response was considered a big success and no one was hurt. The LEPC decided to conduct an After Action Report on this incident as part of its biennial exercise. The LEPC also accepted an offer from Columbia County to participate in a Table Top exercise based upon this scenario.

Five operations level classes have been held during the past fiscal year. These are in preparation for an anticipated offering of the IAFF Hazardous Materials Technician class which the LEPC wants to start during the first quarter of 2010. One additional operations level class was requested at the meeting to farther improve regional response planning.

The reorganization of the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team continues to be a priority for the LEPC. Alachua County Fire Rescue and the City of Starke have ceased operating as hazmat response teams. Bradford County Emergency Medical Services have also decided to give the Decontamination Trailer to another local government Team member. Suwannee County Fire Rescue has been formally invited to join the team. The goal is to make maximum use of equipment acquired through competitive grants previously awarded by the Division of Emergency Management.

The LEPC discussed the upcoming availability of online Tier 2 submissions for EPCRA regulated facilities. Section 302 Outreach was selected as the HMEP planning project. This will allow the LEPC to begin assisting hazmat sites with using the new system, as well as conducting 50 site visits to encourage participation in this and other LEPC projects. These site visits have already been started.

Staff activities include providing administrative support to the LEPC, scheduling and teaching hazmat classes, and using CAMEO to update hazards analyses for seven counties. Staff continues to provide administrative support for the North Central Florida Regional Hazardous Materials Response Team.

Staff helped LEPC Region 7 teach an HSEEP class in Haines City on November 23-25, 2009. Staff also taught CAMEO, ALOHA and E-Plan classes in White Springs (September 1st and October 6th) and in Gainesville (September 22nd). Staff attended the Division of Emergency Management Area 3 meeting held in MacClenny at the new Baker County Emergency Operations Center. Staff is helping evaluate the Operation Radar Exercise being held at Camp Blanding in January and the Jumping Jax Flash Bioterrorism Table Top Exercise being held in December in Tallahassee and Jacksonville via Video Teleconference.

The next LEPC meeting is tentatively scheduled for 10:00 a.m., Friday, February 19, 2009, at the Suwannee River Water Management District in Live Oak.

What's New as of //

What's New as of