Pennsylvania Official Praises State’s HazMat Volunteers

As publicly funded hazardous materials teams have seen their emergency calls dwindle along with the number of volunteers in recent years, Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency Chief Deputy Director Robert A. Full urged the state’s hazmat specialists on Friday to remain “vigilant” in their enthusiasm and committed to their specialized training.

“You’re under-recognized and not appreciated for what you do and the dangers you regularly face. But if something comes up and there is some type of terrorist event, who will they call,” Full asked a conference of about 200 hazmat technicians gathered in Somerset County.

“They’ll call the medical people, and they’ll call you, too,” said Full, former director of emergency services in Allegheny County.

The technicians are at Seven Springs Mountain Resort for a four-day conference for training and the annual convention of the state association of hazmat technicians.

The workshops include responding to propane and mercury-spill emergencies and railroad accidents, explosive device recognition and responses, construction and theories related to deployment of environmental booms to protect rivers and streams.

Full said all that a layman needs to do is read newspapers or turn on a television newscast to realize the continuing threats aimed at the United States and made by terrorist groups around the world.

“Who would have thought in the 1970s, 1980s or 1990s that someone would take an airplane and turn it into a cruise missile … one of them crashed right here in Somerset County on 9/11. If you would have mentioned that back then, they would have called you crazy,” Full said.

Full predicted that another “terrorist plot” will likely happen on U.S. soil, and it is up to the local hazmat teams to be prepared.

“It will probably be a low-tech, high-impact device, but you will get the call,” he said.

Like volunteer firefighters, whose numbers have dwindled statewide from about 300,000 in the 1970s to about 50,000 today, according to the state fire commissioner’s office, Full said the specialized hazmat teams are experiencing participation declines as well. “Most of the members of these volunteer teams come through the ranks of volunteer fire departments, but they require more intensive, specialized training. The commitment required by these volunteers is to be commended,” Full said.

Most volunteer hazmat teams have experienced a decline in calls since the 2001 anthrax threats, Full said. He said the number of calls to public teams have been affected by various industries employing “private, in-house initial response teams.”

“There are as many calls, but many are now handled by the private, in-house teams first,” he said.

Full also discussed the importance of the teams getting to know one another and working together.

“You don’t know which way the wind is blowing or where that creek flows when you have an event,” he said.

Full recalled a 19-car derailment in 2005 that forced the evacuation of 200 residents in East Deer’s Creighton section after two tanker cars containing anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, or AHF, landed in the Allegheny River near the Westmoreland County border. AHF is a caustic, concentrated gas that turns into hydrofluoric acid when mixed with water.

“That is really nasty stuff … poisonous. I remember one tanker car landed upside down in the Allegheny River and realized how serious it was when they pulled it out of the water and we saw the cap was off its top, and I saw all the railroad people gasp,” Full said.

“We were fortunate that the fluoride diluted in the water and did not get in the air. But these type of incidents have no political boundaries,” Full said.

Jerry Digennaro, a management analyst with the Veterans Administration Pittsburgh Healthcare System, deputy emergency management coordinator in Etna and president of the state hazmat technicians association, said the increased turnout at this year’s conference is an indication of the dedication the participants take in their work.

“We’re really pleased we have about 50 more people attending this year than last year and taking part in the numerous workshops that continue through Sunday. We have experts here from around Pennsylvania as well as from Maryland and Virginia as instructors,” Digennaro said.

Paul Peirce is a reporter for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at ppeirce@tribweb.com or 724-850-2860.
August 25, 2014