Presentation at the Meeting of the Forum
April 1, 2003

Hazardous Materials Emergencies
Questions and Answers

Is there a regulation establishing the time by which a spill of a hazardous material must by cleaned up?

No, L.A.C. 33:V.6909 requires that all measures necessary to mitigate a spill must commence immediately by the responsible party. The LDEQ personnel on scene will provide the necessary oversight to the progress of these activities. The scope of activities and any safety concerns generally dictate the duration of a cleanup project.

A large segment of the general public seems to be unaware of the availability of a facility for the proper disposal of old tires. Many old tires are being dumped on neutral ground areas or in roadside ditches. Why is no information being distributed to the general public about the proper disposal of used tires at the parish facility on Swiftplant Road?

Information has been provided regarding proper disposal of old tires. This information is available at the DEQ website at this location:

http://www.deq.state.la.us/assistance/wastetires/index.htm

If more information is needed, the following can be used to contact the DEQ personnel handling waste tire disposal:

P.O. Box 82135
Baton Rouge, La. 70884-2135 Email:
assist@deq.state.la.us
Phone: (225)765-0219
FAX: (225)765-0222

Has information regarding long-term toxic effects of hazardous chemicals been forwarded from LDEQ to the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals?

The LDEQ routinely works with and consults with LDHH on a number of environmental issues including both short term and long term health effects of exposure to environmental pollutants. Environmental data collected by the LDEQ, such as mercury in fish tissue, is regularly provided to LDHH. The LDHH is aware of long-term toxic effects of hazardous chemicals and consults with this Department and other health service agencies relative to these manners.

Since the Calcasieu River Pilots are responsible for managing the transit of vessels carrying dangerous cargo on the Ship Channel, does the LDEQ have an interest in the current legal battles associated with the salaries of the pilots paid by the shipping companies?

The LDEQ has no involvement in this matter.

About how often do spills or releases of hazardous chemicals occur in Calcasieu Parish? How do the rates in this parish compare with the rates in other chemical complexes in the state?

The following chart shows a comparison of spill/release notifications reported to the LDEQ for a three year period.

A party that is at fault in a chemical spill has to pay for correcting the damages and cleanup. Are these companies also subjected to additional fines assessed because of the release? If they are fined, who gets the money paid for the fine?

If circumstances surrounding the cause of a chemical spill are the result of non-compliance with environmental regulations, this information will be documented by Surveillance Inspectors and forwarded to the Office of Environmental Compliance – Enforcement Division for further review and appropriate action. Decisions regarding penalties would be the responsibility of the legal and administrative staff (Appointing Authority) for DEQ. Companies may be subject to fines in accordance with the provisions of the Environmental Quality Act. Funds collected are deposited within the Hazardous Waste Clean-up Fund.

What happens to hazardous material that is removed from the environment in the process of cleaning up following a chemical release?

The responsible party to a hazardous materials’ incident must collect and remove all spilled/released chemicals and associated contamination (soils, liquids, solid wastes, etc.). These recovered materials must be properly “waste profiled” and disposed in accordance with environmental regulations. Documentation verifying this process is required and placed into the LDEQ permanent files recording the particular incident.

Who notifies LDEQ in the event of a chemical release or spill that poses a danger to public safety?

All emergency notifications of chemical releases are to be reported to the Louisiana State Police Hazardous Materials’ Hotline at 225-925-6595. The LSP dispatchers at this location will then notify the LDEQ Single Point of Contact (SPOC) person on duty who will then dispatch appropriate LDEQ emergency personnel to the incident.

Does the LDEQ respond with personnel to all chemical spills? If no, what determines when LDEQ responds?

In addition to managing many environmental/regulatory concerns, LDEQ emergency personnel respond to all properly reported chemical spills and releases where there is an evacuation of the general public, a shelter in place, a related injury or fatality, some road closures, and/or a request for assistance by the local authorities. In general, the LDEQ responds to all incidents where the Louisiana State Police Hazardous Materials’ Unit responds in order to support their incident command functions.

When environmental monitoring is done on site of chemical releases, how sensitive is the field instrumentation used if such incidents?

The use of direct reading instruments is employed primarily for detection of the chemical constituent being released. The sensitivity of the instrument is totally dependent upon the type of equipment or its application. All detectable readings are documented. In some situations, samples are obtained and analyzed for more precise levels at a later time.

In general, what is the longest time lapse between LDEQ arriving at the site of a chemical release and the start of acquisition of data on the extent of environmental contamination?

It is anticipated that LDEQ personnel will begin environmental monitoring within 30 minutes of arrival at an incident after getting appropriate instructions from the incident command.

If a call in not made to LDEQ about a chemical release or spill within 24 hours, what happens?

Once it comes to the attention of the Department, an inspection/investigation by OEC – Surveillance personnel will be conducted and the results will be forwarded to the OEC – Enforcement personnel for the appropriate compliance action.

Upon notification of a chemical emergency, does cleanup and recovery begin as soon as the first agency arrives?

The first priority at a chemical emergency is to gain control of the incident to eliminate the emergency conditions. This is the responsibility of the Incident Command. Once the emergency has ended, then the situations controlling the incident dictate considerations made that will allow the responsible party to begin the cleanup and recovery. The responsibility of the LDEQ is to provide the necessary oversight throughout the cleanup process. As in any spill event, cleanup and recovery should commence as soon as practically possible.

If a spill that requires the assistance of agency personal in other parts of the state (Baton Rouge or New Orleans for example) occurs in Calcasieu Parish, how soon will those individuals require to get to the scene?

LDEQ has twelve (12) emergency response personnel and two (2) ER supervisors prepared to respond statewide. The Surveillance Division has additional support personnel (more than 120 individuals) are located in six (6) regional offices that can support these 12 primary responders. Response times are limited to distances to travel. The 12 responders are located statewide as follows:

If a chemical spill occurred within the city limits of a municipality, can state agencies respond with spill management capabilities?

Spill management for state agency capabilities is restricted to oversight functions. It would have to be a coordinated effort with the city authorities and the responding state agencies to provide the necessary resources for spill management. Circumstances surrounding the spill would dictate the use of the appropriate resources to be used.

What was the worst chemical spill or release in Louisiana over the past 10-15 years?

It would be more appropriate to respond to this question by stating that most nearly every spill scenario can be recalled where there was a major incident involving significant environmental impact. There is documented incidents involving transportation (highways), rail, maritime (ships, barges) and fixed site facilities. DEQ does not compare or rank these events.

These questions relate to LAC 33:V Chapter 101.

This regulation requires that SARA Title III inventory form must also be submitted to the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). What is the penalty if such forms are not submitted to the LEPC per the regulation? Who sets and collects fines if they are imposed and where does the money go if fines are collected?

This question should be referred back to Col. Oxley’s agency.
(Speak to Bob Hayes at 225-925-6113)

If air sampling is done at the fence line of a chemical facility in Calcasieu Parish, are significant levels of air pollutants detected?

It would depend on the particular incident.

In the event of a hazardous material spill or release in Louisiana, can personnel from other states assist in the response and cleanup?

There are mutual aid agreements in place with other states to provide assistance and response to peacetime radiological incidents. In addition to this, there are a great deal of resources in this state in the form of industrial, commercial, governmental and military assets to draw upon in the event of a large scale incident.

At least one local DEQ agent and one Louisiana State Trooper serving in the local area have developed cancer after serving on the Hazardous Materials Response Team. Has this happened on other parts of the state or the nation?

I am unaware of any health studies done with present or former DEQ employees.

Is anyone following the health of HazMat responders to determine if they are disproportionately impacted by exposures related to their duties?

All Surveillance Division Inspectors (including the ER HazMat responders) are required to take an annual physical examination provided by DEQ. The results of these exams are used to track their medical monitoring during the course of their career.

What actions are taken by LDEQ in response to citizen complaints and how are members of the community notified of actions resulting form these complaints?

The following items are relative to the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) to be followed by Surveillance personnel when handling a citizen complaint:

The Department will address all environmental complaints within five working days of receipt.

The Department has designated the Single Point of Contact (SPOC) to receive, log, and route citizen complaints to the appropriate regional personnel.

Each Regional Manager shall be the focal point of contact for receipt of complaints from SPOC for efficient complaint management and processing. Each manager shall enlist services from appropriate staff to ensure that all provisions of this SOP are efficiently implemented.

Unless a complaint is handled as an emergency situation, the information received at the DEQ regional office will be assigned to a Surveillance Division Environmental Supervisor or Staff Scientist to determine what priority to place on the complaint. Complaints that may result in an emergency condition will be given high priority.

If an investigation is warranted, an Environmental Scientist will be assigned to investigate the complaint. In the case of radiation complaints, the person responsible for entering NMED (Nuclear Material Events Database) information will also receive a copy of the complaint from SPOC. Follow-up with the field inspector will be done to ensure that all relevant data is entered into the NMED database.

Written correspondence will be sent to the citizen lodging the complaint when sufficient information is available for routing the correspondence through the U.S. Postal Service. The correspondence will be signed by the Regional Manager and will be sent within 7 working days of the Region receiving notification.

The Surveillance Division investigator will ensure that the investigation is initiated as the applied priority requires, but in no case later than five working days of the date of notification to the Department. Potential emergency situations must be investigated immediately. High priority situations will be addressed within two days. Moderate or low priority situations will include phone contact with the complainant within five working days.

If the complaint involves a business or commercial facility, locate a facility representative and request to meet with the highest-ranking official at the facility that can accompany you on the investigation of the complaint. Explain to this individual the nature of the complaint. If the facility is uncooperative and/or denies access, immediately contact your supervisor for assistance. If the complaint involves a private residence or other private property, make certain that the investigation complies with LRS 30:2012. If you believe a particular exigent condition to exist that requires immediate remedy, then immediately contact your supervisor for direction.

Begin the investigation to verify the allegations noted in the complaint. Concentrate on the merits of the complaint and avoid any comments, distractions, or criticisms of matters not relevant to the complaint. The discovery of areas of concern must be adequately documented in writing along with any necessary supporting documentation. It is also imperative that the facility representative or potentially responsible party be informed verbally as to what areas of concern were found and to what laws, rules or regulations are affected by the activities of concern. The investigator must not pre-judge what action the Department will take in a given situation and be ONLY a witness of fact. A complaint investigation that includes a site visit to a regulated facility must also include use of a Field Interview Form (FIF) to document findings.

If the facility has compliance issues that may lead to an emergency condition, the investigator is to report areas of concern to supervision promptly and may request additional help as needed. The investigator must document the areas of concern and gather facts necessary to make a referral to the Enforcement Division.

Contact the complainant, if known, and verbally inform them of your findings within 20 working days of initiating the investigation or within 7 working days of closure of the incident. Ensure that the complainant knows the name and contact information of the investigator and is encouraged to contact the investigator when further developments or questions on the progress of the investigation arise. The complainant may request a copy of the resulting report. Reports are provided to citizens in accordance with the Departments public records request procedures.

A hard copy of the incident report and supporting documentation will be forwarded to the DEQ headquarters in Baton Rouge within ten working days of supervisory review and approval.