Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 11021993 - 2.1 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS5........ o Contra FROM: Phil Batchelor ;F County Administrator Costa County DATE: November 2, 1993 'T,•�•;;fir SUBJECT: Safety at the. Concord Naval Weapons Station SPECIFIC REOUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECOMMENDATIONS 1. RECEIVE this initial report on the County Disaster Council subcommittee review of accidents which have occurred at the Concord Naval Weapons Station during the period 1989-1992 . 2. AUTHORIZE the .Board Chair to direct a letter to the Commanding Officer, Concord Naval Weapons Station, thanking him for timely responses to concerns of the Board and the County Disaster Council, expressing concern about the number of industrial accidents which have occurred and requesting that employee training programs be reviewed to assure that adequate training on safety procedures is being provided to all employees. 3 . DIRECT the County Emergency Services Director to request the Commanding Officer, Concord Naval Weapons Station, to annually provide the County Disaster Council with a summary .. of all accidents which have occurred at the Station during the previous year which potentially could have threatened the public safety. 4. DIRECT the County Disaster Council, with the advise and cooperation of the Naval Weapons Station Emergency Response Coordinator, to determine the worst case scenarios of those accidents which might occur that could potentially endanger the public to assure that joint response procedures are adequate and to recommend any additional emergency preparedness actions that are deemed appropriate. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT: /YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITT APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON ovem er X793 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED X OTHER X The Board amended the report to include contact on an annual basis with the civilian employees' labor organization represented by James Wright, and directed staff to transmit a copy of-the report to the labor organization, the Cities .of Concord and Pittsburg, Bay Point Municipal Council , Clyde Town Council , and the Legislative -Delegation, both Federal and State. VOTE OF SUPERVISORS X I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: I ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ATTESTED November 2, 1993 Contact: PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF CC: Capt. A. , CQTm8rid7Ii, CXflOL'r, Ca� 14rval 1433PCn' STadL9UPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR Cary ]? an, Camty HwrMILY SaNiCes Dixer-tcr Lt. Jerzy Indy, California Hi,&oy�P,a=l Capt. J]IA Webster, CC1700rd Police Dept. BY DEPUTY RECOMMENDATIONS (Continued) 5. ACKNOWLEDGE that Jerry Wills, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Concord Naval Weapons Station, attended the October 28, 1993 meeting of the County Disaster Council to present information on the Station's emergency preparedness and response programs. BACKGROUND On September 28, 1993 Captain A. Nibbs, Commanding Officer, Concord Naval Weapons Station, appeared before the Board of Supervisors to discuss recent media reports about safety concerns at the Weapons Station. The Board referred this matter to the County Disaster Council with a request that the Council review reports of incidents which have occurred. On October 5, 1993 a subcommittee of the Disaster Council met to conduct such review. In attendance were Phil Batchelor, County Administrator, Gary Brown, County Emergency Services Director, Lieutenant Jerry Brady, California Highway Patrol, Captain Jim Webster, Concord Police Department, Jerry Wills, Emergency Preparedness Coordinator, Concord Naval Weapons Station, and Dean Meyer, Acting Safety Director, Concord Naval Weapons Station. The Disaster Council subcommittee discussed the Weapon Station's safety program and the procedures for the reporting of any accidents which occur on the station. All accidents, whether or not ordnance is involved, are the subject of at least two internal investigations one conducted by the Safety Department and one conducted by a Management Investigative Board. The resulting reports are forwarded to the Navy's Safety Center in Norfolk, Virginia. The Safety Center reviews these reports from all Naval facilities to determine the type of accidents which are occurring and, as necessary, to recommend new safety procedures or training requirements. In addition to the on-going inspections conducted by Concord Naval Weapons Station staff, the Department of Defense conducts two explosive inspections per year, using outside inspection teams. Buildings housing ammunition and other explosive materials must meet stringent structural requirements. Safety zones are established around and between such buildings to prevent propagation of an incident from one building to another. In addition, each ordnance storage facility is limited as to the amount and type of ammunition/explosives it can contain. A computer system tracks all explosive materials to assure that such materials are stored appropriately, ie, incompatible materials are stored apart. This system is closely monitored so that on a daily basis the amounts of ordnance on the station grounds at any time is readily known. In addition to the explosives inspections conducted by internal teams and the Department of Defense, the State Health Department conducts inspections of the hazardous materials storage facilities located on the Weapons Station. The Weapon Station's handling of explosive materials is governed by Standard Operating Procedures which are reviewed and approved by the Commanding Officer. The purpose of these SOP's is to ensure the safety of operations. For example, ammunitions are stored and transported without the fuses necessary to initiate detonation sequence. It is common practice for ammunition parts to be stored and transported separately so that the complete weapon is not assembled until it reaches its final destination. Also, certain ammunition parts are transported in safety containers specially designed to ensure the security and safety of the parts. The Concord Naval Weapons Station is a transshipment facility, ie, it receives materials, stores them and eventually ships them to a final destination. It does not manufacture any explosive materials or weapons. The Weapons Station has a Disaster Preparedness Plan. A copy of this plan has been reviewed by and is on permanent file with the County Office of Emergency Services. The plan includes the Mutual Aid Agreement between the Naval Weapons Station and Contra Costa County, which has been in effect since 1981. Under the terms of the agreement, either party may request assistance, in the form of equipment and personnel, from the other party whenever such assistance is deemed necessary in a man-made or natural disaster. Also, each party is to immediately notify the other of any emergency which presents an imminent danger. Thus, the Weapons Station would notify the county of any incident which could potentially affect residents outside its boundaries. A similar mutual aid agreement also exists between the ' Naval Weapons Station and the Contra Costa County Fire Protection District. In addition to the formal mutual aid agreement, the Weapons Station and the county have enjoyed a cooperative informal relationship. Staff of the County Office of Emergency Services and other county staff are regularly invited to participate in disaster exercises conducted on the Station grounds. Likewise, Weapons Station staff have participated in county disaster exercises. During the General Chemical hazardous material incident on July 26, 1993, the Weapons Station loaned staff and equipment to the County Emergency Operations Center to provide valuable computer assistance to the management of that incident. The subcommittee reviewed the reports on incidents which have occurred at the Weapons Station during the period 1989-1992 . Most of the incidents were on-the-job industrial accidents caused by careless workers or equipment failure. There were no incidents involving explosions or radiation exposure. The subcommittee agreed that review of more detailed information on these incidents was not necessary. Most of the incidents reviewed fall into one of the following categories: a) Forklift accidents caused by careless operators. This is the leading cause of accidents. In most such incidents the forklift operator did not follow proper procedures or exercise due caution. b) Material loading, unloading or storing accidents caused by failure of employees to follow proper safety procedures or to exercise due caution. c) Many of the reported incidents were not accidents caused by Weapons Station employees but, rather, were discoveries by employees that materials being received had been damaged during loading or transit. In some cases the shipments had not been properly blocked, braced or banded. d) Equipment failure. This is not a large category but includes such things as broken rail track, poorly constructed shipping crates, failed rail switches, failed hook assemblies, failed winch controls and weak pallet skids. It is noted that it is a long standing policy of the Naval Weapons Station that the County Emergency Services Director be immediately notified of any accident or incident that is a threat to the public safety and that the Commanding Officer intends to provide the County Disaster Council with an annual report of all accidents which potentially endangered the community during the preceding year so that the Council can continue to monitor the number and types of these incidents. Beyond the review of these particular accidents, with the advice and cooperation of the Naval Weapons Station Emergency Response coordinator, the Council should develop mutually, acceptable scenarios and conduct annual exercises dealing with worst case theoretical incidents to insure that adequate response can be taken and appropriate safeguards are in place to prevent their occurrence. GB:of The'Board of SupervisorsContra Phil Batchelor Clerk of the Board and County Administration BuildingCos}� County Administrator 651 Pine St., Room 106 ` (510)rA6-2371 Martinez, California 94553 County Tom Powers, 1st District Jeff SmithNevcm ier 2, 1993 E.... Gayle Bishop,3rd District c•.••. °s Sunne Wright MCPeak,4th District Tom Torlakson,5th District rTA,couri`� Captain A. Nibbs, Commanding Officer Concord Naval Weapons Station Code E IA-1 Concord, CA 94520 Dear Captain Nibbs: On September 28, 1993 you appeared before the County Board of Supervisors to discuss recent media reports about safety concerns at the Concord Naval Weapons Station. The Board referred the matter to the County Disaster Council with a request that the Council review reports of incidents which have occurred and report back to the Board. Subsequently, a subcommittee of the Disaster Council met to review the incident reports. Enclosed is a copy of a Board Order dated November 2, 1993 which accepts the subcommittee's report and makes several recommendations. Based on the subcommittee's review, it is clear that the accident reports which were examined involved industrial type incidents that did.not threaten public safety and were mostly caused by workers who failed to exercise proper caution or observe required 'safety procedures. We acknowledge that the Naval Weapons Station has strict procedures for handling, transporting and storing explosive materials. We also acknowledge that your safety training program is reviewed by outside and internal Navy ordnance experts to assure that proper training is received in order to prevent on-the-job accidents, particularly those which might impinge on public safety. We request, however, that you reassure that adequate safety training is being provided to all employees. We know that you are just as concerned as we are about the safety of your employees and community residents. We appreciate the cooperative relationship that has been developed between the Weapons Station and the county. Although your facility is a potential source of an emergency incident, we also realize that you have vast resources, in the form of personnel and equipment, that could be available to the county to assist in our response to a major disaster. We accept your offer to provide us with an annual report of all accidents which potentially could have threatened public safety during the preceding year and the steps taken to prevent recurrence of such accidents. This will help assure us that on a day-to-day basis the Naval Weapons Station is doing everything possible to maintain a safe environment. Very truly yours, Tom Torlakson, Chairman