Environmental Science & Engineering - www.esemag.com - November 2004
Comments? send them to the editor.
Linking spills response to municipal emergency response plans
By David Clunas,
Clunas Environmental Consulting
Imagine a truck transporting radioactive material during
the early hours of the morning through a community.
Suddenly the unexpected occurs. The truck and its
radioactive material are now an accident scene. A spills
responder arriving at the event could simply secure the site
with the assistance of fire and police, contact the appropriate
federal and provincial authorities and contribute to the
resolution of the spill event.
What is wrong with this picture? The spill responder did
the right thing ...or did he? What about the rumours and
news headlines the next day? What will the elected officials
of the community say about the apparent cover-up and lack
of concern for the health of the people in their community?
This imaginary situation may seem unlikely and unreasonable
but the news headlines which occur the day after a
significant event are not.
The actions taken by all personnel at a spill event could
be appropriate, however, the existence of a contentious situation
and its potential impacts are often not effectively
conveyed to responsible officials and elected representatives
in municipalities.
Spill responders are often the first representatives of a
municipality to investigate and initiate actions dealing
with environmental spills or situations such as accidents
and derailments. Fire and police representatives may also
be on the scene of an incident at the breaking moments of
a spill event.
There is, however, the potential that the event could have
significant impact on persons and the community in the
vicinity of the spill. Fire and police agencies will attend to
the health and safety of the immediate neighbourhood but
will only report an escalating situation through their own
specific reporting structures. Often public health departments
and elected representatives will not be informed of
events occurring and any significant potential risks at a
spill attended by environmental, fire and police responders
as the event is initially occurring.
Rail derailments, accidents involving the transportation
of radioactive waste, sewage leaks/discharges affecting
public water supplies, sensitive receivers such as hospitals
and senior citizen homes downwind from a spill, spills
associated with fire and explosion potential are examples
of situations that can quickly escalate to major news events
in a community.
Mayors, councilors, directors and managers all require
as much time as possible to assess and respond to an event
to ensure an effective and appropriate management
response on behalf of a municipality.
This advance warning can be provided by spill responders
in a simple and effective manner in municipalities. The
advance warning can be achieved through the establishment
of a reporting mechanism for the spills responder when certain
situations or materials are involved at a spill event.
Full management commitment to the reporting mechanism
is required to ensure that the reporting of the situation
is taken seriously. Any direct reporting to Emergency
Response Planning staff should be done by a management
representative. The reporting mechanism must be customized
to the needs and structure of the municipality.
For example, the reporting mechanism could include the
department which handles spills response and on call public
health inspectors. The reporting protocol would only
require that the spills responder report the particular event
of concern to their immediate supervisor and the on call
health inspectors. Further escalation concerning a response
to the event is then dependant upon various levels of management
and the different departments which should be
involved communicating quickly and effectively.
The establishment of a reporting mechanism for spills
responders regarding significant situations at a spills event
can assist municipalities in responding to and dealing with
dangerous situations and potentially newsworthy events in a
community. The reporting mechanism must be customized
to the particular structure and needs of the municipality.
Contact e-mail: david.clunas@rogers.com
See our home page on how to order your subscription. We regret we can
only accept orders from Canada.