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SPILL CENTER
DEMONSTRATES
NEW ELECTRONIC
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE MANAGEMENT
SYSTEM
FOR HAZMAT INCIDENTS
Hudson, Mass. – At a time
when national attention
is keenly focused on the security
of hazardous materials,
Spill Center®, a company
specializing in hazmat
incident management, has introduced
an integrated
communications system that
can save critical time
during hazmat emergencies.
Combining satellite-
tracking technology, wireless
communications and
online access to specialized
databases, the system
will enable
public responders and companies having
care, custody and control
of hazardous materials to make
better decisions in the management
of spills, according
to Tom Moses, an environmental
attorney and Spill
Center president.
Spill Center
has applied for a patent on the new
Electronic Emergency Response
Management System,
which promises to bring emergency
response personnel
to the scene of a hazmat incident
faster and better
prepared than ever before,
Moses related. Based on
Spill Center’s proprietary
online spill management
system and extensive databases,
the system offers spill
generators and responders
fast access to information
needed to expedite response
and remediation of
hazmat spills.
“At no
time in our country’s history has the need been
greater to plan and work diligently
to make better response
and remediation resources
available more quickly,” said
Moses. He has written a white
paper about the system
entitled, “New Technology
and Systems for Emergency
Response in an Era of Counterterrorism.”
The paper is
available at no charge from
Spill Center.
The system
was demonstrated for the first time during a
recent hazmat training conference
conducted by the U.S.
DOT’s Research and Special
Programs Administration.
Participants included fleet
safety managers, emergency
responders and law enforcement
personnel – all of whom
were well aware that hazmat
can become a weapon of
mass destruction in the wrong
hands, Moses said.
As part
of the demonstration, representatives from
wireless messaging companies
discussed how satellite
tracking and wireless communications
are able to tie into
Spill Center’s Electronic
Emergency Response Manage-
ment System. Spill Center
personnel demonstrated
electronic spill reporting
systems and technologies,
online contingency planning
capabilities and response
management systems.
“Global
positioning systems and other technologies
provide real-time information
about equipment and mat-
erials being transported.
Using on-board computers,
vehicle tracking and wireless
communications technology
that is already on vehicles,
this system can provide real-
time information about cargo
and equipment, the vehicle’s
location and the nature of
the incident within minutes,”
said Moses.
Wireless
systems enable a driver to send an instant
alert via the wireless service
provider in the event of a
hazmat emergency. Routed electronically,
the message
would be received at Spill
Center, which would alert
emergency responders, providing
the exact location of
the vehicle and additional
details as they become known,
he noted. Vehicle tracking
technology could also be
configured to determine if
a hazmat delivery has been
delayed or a route changed
for some unexplained reason.
To demonstrate
the benefits for emergency responders
in Massachusetts, Spill Center
developed a prototypical
system that includes a specialized
database for
emergency equipment inventories.
The system can locate
emergency units in real time
and facilitate communication
and coordination for first
responders and law enforcement
officials. An assessment can
be made as to which units
are available to respond to
a particular incident in the
quickest period of time, said
Moses.
“We
can enable every fire service and hazmat
response company in the commonwealth
to go online,
identify themselves, complete
a survey about their
response capabilities and
list their equipment inventories,”
he explained. Each response
unit would be equipped
with an on-board transmitter
that emits a unique, identifiable
signal to track its location.
A computer-generated map
would show where the units
are at all times. “We’ll keep
track of the location of all
this equipment throughout
Massachusetts and enable emergency
responders to
search the databases when
they need assistance or
additional equipment,” said
Moses.
“No coordinated
collection of emergency response
capabilities exists at the
local, state or even national level.
This system can provide emergency
response planners
and agencies with centralized
access to resources and
critical information for greater
control over accidental
hazmat releases or even terrorists
attempting to use
hazmat as a weapon of mass
destruction,” he added.
“Integrating
wireless technologies with Spill Center’s
extensive databases and the
capabilities of trained
personnel produces a unique
system that provides
access to resources and information
not available by
any other known system,” he
observed. One database
has the names of nearly 4,000
qualified cleanup
contractors throughout North
America. Each listing
provides the contractor’s
statement of qualifications,
equipment list, fee schedule,
insurance certificate,
and transportation references.
Another
Spill Center database contains local,
state and federal reporting
requirements for hazmat
incidents. Spill Center compliance
associates
complete reports for clients,
avoiding fines from
regulatory agencies for failure
to report. Moses noted
that all reporting and remediation
activities performed
on behalf of clients are documented
to limit environ-
mental liability and third-party
claims.
As part
of the nationwide effort to improve hazmat
security, local and state
regulatory agencies are
becoming stricter about enforcement
of spill notification
requirements, noted Moses.
Texas requires spill
generators to report incidents
within one hour of a spill.
A county in Ohio has a 30-minute
reporting require-
ment, he added, noting that
the only notice many
transporters ever receive
is the one that arrives by
mail stating the company is
in violation for failure to
report. Moses advises transporters
to stay current with
changing regulations related
to hazmat releases.
When Spill
Center is notified of a hazmat or diesel
fuel spill, a compliance associate
activates the client’s
pre-filed spill contingency
plan, which is a set of
detailed claim-handling instructions,
customized to
meet the client’s individual
requirements, explained
Moses. The contingency plan
indicates which people
in the client organization
are to be notified. It also
triggers the right internal
and external reports and lists
preferred contractors, he
added.
For
transporters, being prepared for a spill is the
key to handling it quickly
and minimizing damage to
the environment, noted Moses.
“Contingency planning
is the place to start. That
is where you decide how you
want to respond,” he told
attendees at the Spill Center
demonstration. “Next is putting
that contingency plan
in a place like Spill Center,
where trained people can
activate it and follow your
instructions. Then comes
finding the resources needed
to respond to the spill
as soon as possible.
“With the
addition of our new electronic system, we
can offer better tools to
manage inventory for
response and remediation,”
he observed. “They give
government agencies access
to resources they need
to protect us, while giving
industry the level of control
they want to limit liability
and minimize damages to
valuable equipment and cargos.”
Spill Center was founded
by Tom Moses in 1990 as
a 24-hour/7-day nationwide
resource for spill gener-
ators and responders. A
leading environmental
claims management company,
Spill Center provides
support services and incident
management for
clients and non-clients
(at higher rates) who are
involved in hazmat spills.
Spill generators notify Spill
Center by telephone or
via the Internet through the
reporting capabilities
of the company’s Web site.
For more information about
Spill Center, contact
Tom Moses at Spill Center,
22 Kane Industrial Dr.,
Hudson MA 01749. Tel (978)
568-1922 (x222).
Fax (978) 568-1945. E-mail:
tmoses@spillcenter.com.
Or visit the Web site, www.spillcenter.com.
New users can register as clients
and complete spill
contingency plans online.
# # #
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