WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — Ohio is facing a chemical disaster, nearly a month after chemicals spilled out of a train that derailed near East Palestine.
New Hanover County Emergency Management is speaking about plans it has in place to prevent and respond to chemical release incidents locally.
New Hanover County Emergency Management Director Steven Still said the county has a committee dedicated to planning and preparing for chemical emergencies.
“Preparation is truly an ongoing endeavor. It’s not a series or phase that we go through. We’re always in a phase of training and/or preparation,” said Steven Still, New Hanover County Emergency Management director.
Still says the county has a large number of industries that use chemicals.
He says there are response measures developed and reviewed through the New Hanover County Local Emergency Planning Committee, also known as the LEPC.
The committee consists of county emergency response leaders, industry partners, and members of the private sector.
“Whether it’s in an ocean going vessel, such as we have for the port, or if it’s coming in rail, there are a whole host of regulatory entities that require safe amounts, safe mass, safe geometry, what it’s stored in, and appropriate notification to our partners, through something called Tier II, so we have an idea of what’s coming into and out of the county, and then how we respond to it,” said Still.
The LEPC holds a conference every May, and conducts training to prepare for incidents involving hazardous materials.
Still says in addition to the conference, New Hanover County Emergency Management continuously reviews its response plans.
“Our local emergency partners talk routinely about tabletops. You know, what would happen, how would we respond,” said Still. “How would we recover from –let’s just say ‘x’ material on ‘x’ vehicle, or ‘x’ freight line, ‘x’ container at the port, –and so we routinely talk about preparation for response to, and recovery from these events, even outside of the local emergency planning commission.”
Still says emergency management and industry partners have unique response plans for the numerous different chemicals coming in and out of the county.