Madera County Hazardous Material Response Team

Technical assistance and advice to the Incident Commander at incidents involving hazardous materials within Madera County and to others under mutual aid

Personnel and specialized equipment at Hazmat incidents

Sampling and assistance in the field identification of hazardous materials

Tactical operations within the scope of the Hazmat Response Team capabilities and training to contain and mitigate Hazmat emergencies

Assisting Environmental Health with the clean-up of minor spills

Technical support for medical health considerations of first responders A 911 call will normally initiate a response by the appropriate agency. When it has been determined that a release of hazardous material is involved, the Hazmat Response Team will be called. Appropriate personnel will be dispatched depending on the level of the incident. When the incident involves an unknown substance classified as level 1, the Hazmat Response Team from Station #19 will be sent to the location. The spill is observed from a distance to determine its nature. Additional assistance is called as deemed appropriate. In a Level 2 incident, which is considered a standard call, the station and the team members are paged to meet at the incident. A minimum of six Hazmat Response Team members are required if the team must enter an exclusion zone. An exclusion zone is the area around the spill for which protective gear is required. For complex operations, ten Hazmat Response Team members are required. The only exception to this policy is an immediate life threat. The mission of the Hazmat Response Team is to control the spill and eliminate any imminent public hazard. The business or property owner is responsible for the clean-up and proper disposal of the hazardous material. Grant money is available to assist the responsible party in some circumstances. Responsible parties should consult with Environmental Health to determine if money is available when faced with a hazardous material clean-up. The Grand Jury finds that county Hazmat incidents were low in 2010. During 2010 there were four chemical spills at gas stations, two chemical suicides, and a waste oil complaint. In 2003 there were 110 meth lab incidents which gave Madera County the dubious distinction of being the #1 county in the nation for this type of problem. Incidents involving meth labs have declined significantly. The Hazmat Response Team characterized their operation as low in number of incidents but high in public impact. The staff of Station #19 require many hours of specialized training to achieve different levels of expertise. Training required to reach each level is expensive and funds are limited. Staff wishing to upgrade their skills by attending the required training are often required to pay for their training. Madera County has a small budget for training and there are also grants available to pay for some training opportunities. The cost of backfilling a position, however, makes many training opportunities cost prohibitive. Different teams involved in Hazmat clean-up use different breathing apparatus. The cost of replacing the breathing equipment used by Station #19 would be around $72,000, which would provide equipment that holds a larger supply of air and is interchangeable with that used by the Merced Hazmat team. Funds to replace this equipment are currently coming from uncertain Homeland Security grants. Safety suits cost about $2,400 and expire after 5 years, used or not. These suits must also be replaced any time they fail to pass a required pressure test. The current tool budget for Station #19 is $5,500. Twenty- seven hundred dollars is required to replace equipment that can no longer be used due to expiration. The Grand Jury was supplied a Hazardous Material Area Plan and several draft copies of excerpts from what is to become the Madera-Mariposa-Merced Policy and Procedure Handbook. These excerpts deal with a variety of topics that guide critical components of the Hazmat Team’s day-to-day operations. The Grand Jury finds that the Policy and Procedure Handbook in draft form indicates a lack of agreement and enforcement capability. Conclusions: The Grand Jury concludes that the highly motivated Hazmat Team is an asset to the community. The Grand Jury concludes that training requirements to maintain the current level of expertise are extensive, and adequate staff to backfill for training is not being provided. The Grand Jury concludes funding for Station #19 replacement of tools and equipment is uncertain. The Grand Jury concludes that the policy and procedures handbook for Hazmat operations needs to be put in final form and distributed. The Grand Jury concludes that Station #19 breathing equipment should be compatible with equipment used by other agencies.