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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 06131989 - S.2 Tot 4 -BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROMt Tom Powers, First District Supervisor Costa DATE: June 6, 1989 County SUBJECTt Recommendation to Establish a .H_.zardous Materials Response Agency (HMRA) SPECIFIC REQUEST(S) OR RECOMMENDATION(S) & BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION Recommendation: That the County form a Hazardous Materials Response Agency (HMRA) which would implement the Contra Costa County, Hazardous Materials Area Plan. The newly formed HMRA should implement the plan in cooperation with existing agencies. That the funding of the implementation of this plan be through the Special District Augmentation Fund and . assistance from the private sector. Background: As a ,result of recent episodes in this County, it has become increasingly clear that while we have an excellent hazardous materials plan, there are at least three elements lacking. 1. The implementation of the plan is not possible because the responsible agencies are unable to fund the appropriate training, equipment and person power to go forward with responses under the plan. 2. There is no coordinated system for implementing the plan so there is confusion about the protocol for response by the agencies although this area is currently being addressed. 3 . There is little incentive to develop a plan to respond to hazardous materials incidents when there is no funding capable for training, equipping or implementing the plan.' We should continue to review funding for the necessary training, equipment and person power to coordinate and implement the Contra Costa County Hazardous Materials Area Plan through the Special District Augmentation Fund. While this fund is not large, it does have some resources capable of funding the plan. We should carefully evaluate this by using a steering committee of staff members from the Health Services Department, a designated Fire Chief, and the County Administrator' s office. CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT$ X YES SIGNATURE$ RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S) ACTION OF BOARD ON ._ ,1t1np 1.1- l qSq APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER Xis The above proposal is REFERRED to the Internal Operations Committee. ) VOTE OF SUPERVISORS X UNANIMOUS (ABSENT ) I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AYESt —_ NOESt AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN ABSENT$ ABSTAIN) AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: County Administrator ATTESTED _ June 13, 1989 Internal Operations Committee Phil Batchelor, Clerk of the Board Supervisor Powers Supervisor McPeak of Supervisors and County Administrator M3e2/7•e3 BY -, DEPUTY . J ep L Many of the responsibilities for the implementation of the plan lie within the purview of our existing fire agencies. Only two agencies in the county are equipped with apparatus capable of going into a major fire, spill, or similar disaster and they do not cover close to all of the areas where releases and hazards can occur. More surprising is the fact that there is no other backup agency in the entire county with the exception of the County Health Services Environmental Division' s response unit. The "First In" responders need to be prepared to enter these hazardous situations to mitigate the exposure to the public and to themselves. The only way this can happen is to provide them with the necessary equipment and to train them in the use of this equipment. There is some concern about the ability of the County to evaluate an emergency situation when there is a spill or reported release. Currently, the Health Services Department is studying this to ascertain if response teams need to be placed in the outlying locations instead of responding from Martinez. Apparently, the average time of response has been about 45 minutes and while this may not be an exceedingly long period of time, these situations are volatile enough that in some instances, timing may be very important and even a small reduction in response time may be very helpful. One of the solutions that has been discussed is to install these response units in outlying areas of the county and to equip and train them to be used by local fire departments. There is some concern about the ability of local agencies to communicate the needs necessary to respond to a hazardous materials release. The communication system in these difficult times is key and it is necessary to evaluate the capability county-wide to communicate in a rapid and accurate manner. The response agency I am proposing should evaluate this capability and make recommendations to improve the system. There are several areas of conflicting, overlapping and absent responsibilities that need to be addressed when dealing with a serious hazardous spill or when a release is discovered. While local agencies are performing well within their capabilities, there are many areas that still need work. As much as anything, funding, coordination and cooperation are necessary from all the responsible agencies. No single solution exists, butt if properly guided, an acceptable level of readiness can be achieved. Not only does this need to be done on a county-wide basis, we also need to develop the capability of working with Alameda and Solano Counties as well. Jurisdictional borders are little protection from hazardous spills. Therefore, I suggest that as a phase of the agency' s development, a coordinated plan be completed on a sub-regional basis if not on a regional basis. We are doing this in the area of trauma care which is closely related to hazardous emergency st tuatfons.