The Role of the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)

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The Role of the Local Emergency Planning
Committee(LEPC)
David Powell EPCRA Program Manager N.C. Division
of Emergency Management [phone] david.r.po
well_at_ncdps.gov
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Why do we need LEPCs?
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Bhopal, India
December 3, 1984 Union Carbide pesticide plant
in Bhopal India 15,000-20,000 dead
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Bhopal, India

• Release of 40 tons of methyl isocynate
• 30 mins health effects notices
• 2.5 hrs sirens utilized
• 6 hrs release controlled
• 3,800 people immediately killed
• West Virginia release caused 135 residents to
  seek treatment in 1985

Credit Raj Patidar/Reuters Raj Patidar/REUTERS
Sources AlJazeera America, the National
Institutes of Health, and the New York Times
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The Emergency Planning and Community Right to
Know Act

• Passed by congress in response to the Bhopal and
  West Virginia incidents
• Signed by Ronald Regan
• Also known as title three of the Superfund
  Amendments and Reauthorization Act

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SERC LEPCs

• State Emergency Response Commission
• Coordinates state hazmat preparedness
• Establishes LEPCs
• Encompasses all-hazards rather than just hazmat
• Local Emergency Planning Committee
• Coordinates local hazmat preparedness
• Create and maintain hazardous materials emergency
  response plan

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What is Required of my LEPC?
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LEPC General Checklist
9 of 12 must be completed for SERC approval

• Membership must include essential stakeholders
• Annual submission of membership to SERC
• Chair must be appointed
• Establish rules/bylaws
• Create procedure for handling requests for
  information
• Appoint a Public Information Coordinator
• Meet annually to review emergency plan

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LEPC General Checklist
9 of 12 must be completed for SERC approval

• Create an emergency response plan containing nine
  elements
• Designate an authorizing authority in E-Plan
• Create a process to develop, implement, and
  exercise the emergency plan
• Submit the emergency plan annually for review to
  SERC
• Annually publish in local newspapers where the
  response plan, Material Data Safety Sheets
  (MSDS), and inventory forms are available to the
  public

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Membership Responsibility

• The membership of your LEPC should include
• Elected State or Local officials
• Emergency Services
• Public Health Services
• Community Groups
• Owner/Operators of Extremely Hazardous Substance
  (EHS) facilities
• Local Media
• A membership list should be annually submitted to
  the SERC

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2014 Charleston, W.V. Water Contamination

• Contaminated the Elk River, Charlestons water
  supply
• Impacted 300,000
• Lasted over a week

Source CNN
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Organizational Rules

• LEPCs must establish bylaws that cover
• Appointment of a chairperson
• Public notification process
• Public meetings to discuss the emergency plan
• Process for public comments
• Distribution of the emergency plan

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Public Information Responsibilities

• EPCRA requires LEPCs to
• Appoint a Public Information Coordinator
• Establish procedures to handle public information
  requests
• Publish annual notices in local newspapers
  advertising where emergency response plans,
  MSDSs, and inventory forms can be publicly
  viewed.

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Public Information Responsibilities

• How to handle requests
• Any Risk Management Plan (RMP) offsite
  consequence analysis data cannot be shared
• Do not honor blanket requests for information
• Do not honor requests that unduly comprise the
  security of a facility or the public
• Reports that could be sensitive in nature (most
  Tier II reports) should not be mailed or
  distrusted electronically

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 1
• A member of the public emails a request to view
  the chemicals contained at a facility one mile
  away from her sons school. The Tier II report
  shows the facility has 10,000 lbs. of anhydrous
  ammonia in their refrigerant system.

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 2
• You receive a call from a man who states he is a
  citizen within your jurisdiction. He asks to have
  the chemical report for a nearby concrete plant
  faxed to him.

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 3
• You receive a written letter from a local media
  outlet requesting a list of all facilities in
  your jurisdiction that have reported EPCRA 304
  notifications for chemical spills into a local
  river.

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 4
• A citizen sends you a letter requesting a list of
  all the facilities in your jurisdiction that have
  EHS substances on site.

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 5
• A citizen sends you a letter requesting the
  storage location and container type of the
  chlorine stored at your local waste water
  treatment plant.

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Approve the FOIA Request?

• Case 6
• A citizen writes you a letter requesting to come
  to your office to view the RMP offsite
  consequence analysis date for a facility that
  physically borders his backyard.

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Planning Responsibility

• LEPCs are required to create an annually reviewed
  emergency response plan
• Section 11003 of EPCRA requires
• Identification of hazmat facilities and
  transportation routes
• Hazmat response procedures for facilities and
  emergency personnel
• Designation of a community emergency coordinator
  and facility emergency coordinators
• Procedures for providing reliable, effective, and
  timely notification by the facility emergency
  coordinators and the community emergency
  coordinator to persons designated in the
  emergency plan, and to the public

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Planning Responsibility

• Methods for determining the occurrence of a
  release and the area or population likely to be
  affected
• A description of emergency equipment and
  facilities in the community and an identification
  of the persons responsible for such equipment and
  facilities
• Evacuation plans, including provisions for a
  precautionary evacuation and alternative traffic
  routes
• Training programs, including schedules for
  training of local emergency response and medical
  personnel
• Methods and schedules for exercising the
  emergency plan
• LEPC should establish steps to test and implement
  the plan.

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2005 Graniteville, South Carolina Chorine Release

• Occurred after an operator neglected to change a
  track
• The release occurred at 239 AM and emitted 60
  tons of chlorine
• Nine were killed, 5,400 evacuated, and 554 were
  treated at hospitals

Credit EPA Region 4
Credit Associated Press
Source Transportation Effects and Lessons in
Small-Town Capacity for No-Notice Evacuation
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2005 Graniteville, South Carolina Chorine Release

• 1 min 911 notified
• 2 mins the local fire department was en route
• 6 mins fire chief on scene
• 13 mins evacuations were in progress and Reverse
  911 activated

Within 13 min, the chief recognized the need for
a mass evacuation and relocated upwind. Emergency
responders marshaled personnel and equipment,
established incident command, requested mutual
aid, activated Reverse 911 with instructions to
shelter in place, and initiated a major
evacuation However, these actions did not take
place with immediacy and efficiency.
- Transportation Effects and Lessons in
Small-Town Capacity for No-Notice Evacuation by
A.E. Dunning and Jennifer Oswalt
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LEPCs in Practice
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North Carolina Data
North Carolina NTSIP-eligible toxic substance
releases
  2010 2011 2012 Total
Toxic substance releases 347 251 256 854
Releases resulting inone or more injuries 54 (16) 34 (14) 20 (8) 108 (13)
Releases that led to anofficial evacuation 42 (12) 39 (16) 28 (11) 109 (13)
North Carolina Facility transportation
NTSIP-eligible toxic substance releases
  2010 2011 2012 Total
Fixed-facility releases 185 143 131 459
Transportation releases 162 108 125 395
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North Carolina Data
Severity of injuries that resulted from
NTSIP-eligible toxic substance releases
Severity of injury 2010 2011 2012 Total
Death on scene or on arrival at hospital 4 5 5 14
Treated at hospital (admitted) 6 10 15 31
Treated at hospital (not admitted) 16 12 30 58
Treated on scene 26 28 3 57
Observed at hospital (not treated) 2 0 7 9
Unknown 11 1 2 14
Total injured persons 65 56 62 183
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Rural LEPCs

• Challenges for jurisdictions with few hazardous
  material facilities
• What are your hazmat transportation routes?
• (47 of toxic releases in North Carolina
  occur in transportation)
• How close is the nearest capable hazmat team?
• Are local hospitals appropriately equipped?

Credit Main.gov
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2013 Lac-Megantic, Canada Railcar Explosion
Town of approximately 6,000 people, 47 were
killed
Credit The Canadian Press/ Paul Chiasson
Credit The Canadian Press/ Ryan Remiorz
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2013 Lac-Megantic, Canada Railcar Explosion

• Caused by human error and mechanical failure
• An unattended train moved downhill towards
  Lac-Megantic
• The train derailed in a track that travels
  through the center of Lac-Megantic
• Over 1.5 million gallons of oil was released, and
  multiple explosions ensued

Source Transportation Safety Board of Canada
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All Hazard LEPCs

• Chemical hazards
• Natural hazards
• Hostile actions
• Cyber threats
• Public health emergencies
• Routine response

Credit Jill Helmuth/AP
Credit City of Columbus
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LEPC Resources
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E-Plan

• North Carolinas tool for collecting and
  distributing Tier II information (erplan.net).
• Every county should have an authorizing authority
  in E-Plan.
• Authorizing authorities give access to first
  responders.

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E-Plan
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E-Plan
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2013 West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion

• Explosion of ammonium nitrate
• Death toll of 17, including 10 first responders
• Responders were largely unaware of the ammonium
  nitrate quantity on site

Credit Reuters/Adrees Latif
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2013 West, Texas Fertilizer Plant Explosion
"The West, Texas, first responders were doing the
best they could under the circumstancesThe
failure was in the community, county, and state
leadership to provide emergency planning and
implementation guidance I don't think it's
appropriate to beat up on what the first
responders did at the time of detonation, but
everything that led up to it - preparedness and
preparation - was lacking,"

• A fire was reported at 719 PM on April 17,2013.
• Explosion reported 20 mins. after first
  responders arrived
• February 2012 Tier II filing did not list
  ammonium nitrate
• Apartments and nursing homes within a few hundred
  yards of the plant

- Neal Langerman, chemical and health safety
officer at the American Chemical Society
Source Reuters
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Transportation Risk Assessments

• Trucking routes for key chemicals
• Pipelines for Highly Volatile Liquids
• Hazmat rail lines
• Hazmat shipping lines
• Access granted upon request

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HMEP Grant

• The state annually awards subgrants to LEPCs to
  conduct training and re-write plans.
• 10,000 awarded per county
• 25,000 awarded for regional exercises/plans
• Applications are accepted every fall.

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Contact Information

• David Powell, EPCRA Program Manager
• 4236 Mail Service Center
• Raleigh, NC 27699-4236
• david.r.powell_at_ncdps.gov
• [phone]
• Matt Kemnitz, Technological Hazards Lead
• 4236 Mail Service Center
• Raleigh, NC 27699-4236
• matthew.kemnitz_at_ncdps.gov
• [phone]