By S. HEATHER DUNCAN
Macon Telegraph (Georgia)
A report issued Tuesday by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board pinpointed flaws in Georgia’s oversight of emergency planning for hazardous chemical accidents.
It indicated that a 2004 chemical accident in Dalton, which forced the evacuation of 200 people and hospital treatment for 154, could have been prevented.
The board, an independent agency that investigates chemical accidents, made 16 recommendations to the governor, the companies involved and local governments.
Some recommendations have statewide implications. The board recommended that Gov. Sonny Perdue set up a system for the state to ensure that local communities meet federal emergency planning requirements. For example, although Georgia requires its counties to plan for handling emergencies, no state agency actually checks to be sure those plans include key components such as evacuation methods, according to the report.
When toxic allyl alcohol and allyl chloride were released from a reactor at MFG Manufacturing in Dalton on April 12, 2004, none of the responding police officers had training or protective equipment to safely enter the toxic vapor cloud, but they were sent in to evacuate residents. They were forced to retreat — some injured — until firefighters wearing special breathing equipment were eventually called in to finish the evacuation.
Under federal law, the state has a duty to review the local emergency plans, potentially preventing such injuries, said John Vorderbrueggen, a senior chemical safety board investigator.
“The flaw we see in the state is that the plan gets submitted to the state and it sits on the shelf,” he said.
The board recommended that the state develop a system to provide local authorities with information about chemical risks at nearby plants.
Factories and treatment plants that keep large amounts of hazardous chemicals are required by law to create risk management plans, which describe who would be affected by a chemical release and how the company would prevent and deal with one.
MFG Manufacturing had no risk management plan for the allyl alcohol. But even if it had, Whitfield County, where the accident happened, lacked a key local agency to distribute the plan.
According to federal law, all communities should be covered by a local emergency planning committee that keeps track of the plans and the chemicals used in the community. The committees also coordinate drills to practice responding to chemical emergencies.
Whitfield County — and most other counties — didn’t have one of these committees, however, which could have prevented many of the problems involving evacuation and coordination between emergency responders, the report stated.
“The primary purpose of the risk management plan was to get that information to communities, and in Georgia, that’s not happening,” Vorderbrueggen said.
FEW PLANNING COMMITTEES IN MIDSTATE
In the last few years, Georgia has been encouraging more counties to establish local emergency planning committees. There are now about 24, with more in the works, said Randy Howard, who coordinates the committees for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency. The Dalton accident prompted much more interest among northwest Georgia counties, including Whitfield, he said.
A statewide conference of these was held several weeks ago in Americus, where the Dalton accident was used as an example, said Ted Jackson, an environmental emergency program manager for EPD.
Bibb, Houston and most other Middle Georgia counties don’t have a local emergency planning committee, although Laurens, Macon and Lamar counties do.
Macon County’s committee now partners with ham radio operators to boost emergency communications, Howard said, and other committees work closely with public health officials on pandemic preparation.
Although Johnny Wingers, Macon-Bibb County’s emergency management director, expressed interest in starting a committee last year, Wingers said he has taken no further steps to do so.
“You can’t force counties to start” local emergency planning committees, Howard said. “I’m just disappointed we can’t get a lot more counties.”
The chemical safety board will send its recommendations to responsible parties, asking them to formally respond, Vorderbrueggen said. The board does not issue citations or fines, and it cannot force businesses or governments to follow its recommendations.
But Jim Ussery, assistant director of the state Environmental Protection Division, said state officials find the Dalton recommendations reasonable. The EPD and GEMA are working together to implement them now, he said.
*ON THE WEB*To read the full U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board report on the Dalton chemical accident, along with the board’s recommendations, visit www.CSB.gov (http://www.CSB.gov) .