 The evening began with a joint discussion with Kent Hulett, Lincoln
city fire chief, and Dan Fulscher, director of the Logan County
Emergency Management Agency.
Hulett began the discussion by explaining that he and Fulscher
were there together to explain a proposed "Memorandum of
Understanding" that they are asking the city to approve. This same
memorandum will have to also be approved by the county board, and it
is expected that they will vote on it at their Oct. 19 meeting.
Hulett said that EMA has won a $40,000 grant to help with their
training and record maintenance and other key issues related to
dealing with hazardous materials.
Hulett said he approached Fulscher to discuss a joint effort that
would benefit the fire department.
In Logan County there are 54 hazardous materials storage sites.
Of those, 32 are considered to be extreme hazards.
Hulett said that the city fire department was the only technical
team trained to handle hazmat situations in all of Logan County. He
noted a recent event on Interstate 55 when the city department
invested approximately five hours in addressing a spill and
protecting public safety.
Hulett said his department needs additional training to improve
their handling of hazardous materials. In addition there is a great
deal of documentation involved in these situations. Hulett said that
the department is not as up to date as they should be.
"I'll tell you right now, we haven't kept up on what we should be
doing. It is very labor-intensive. There are equipment needs that we
can't meet by ourselves," Hulett said. "There is a lot more that we
should be doing on a city level to improve our hazardous materials
readiness, and that is basically where this Memorandum of
Understanding comes from."
Hulett said the proposal before the council would call for a city
contribution of $5,000. However, he said his department had the
$5,000 in the form of a donation that had been made some time ago,
so there would be no draw from the city's already stressed budget.
When Fulscher took the podium, he said he was delighted that
Hulett came to him and that anytime two groups are willing to work
together, everyone is going to benefit.
He also noted that even though EMA is a county program, it is
funded in part by taxes paid by city residents. He punctuated his
comment with the statement, "I work for you."
The grant that has been awarded is specifically for a "Hazardous
Material Evaluation Plan" and provides money for a full-time staff
person to work exclusively in the hazmat program.
Fulscher said that one of the main things this person will be
doing is documenting sites and incorporating them into the county's
geographic information system. He said this would allow for
immediate access through GIS regarding the site.
Fulscher said this would be of great benefit, in that during a
hazardous condition, the hazmat team would have immediate access to
the information as well as information regarding weather conditions
such as wind direction that would affect an evacuation and other
conditions that can be revealed through the GIS system.
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He said his vision for the future would include access to laptops
and thumb drives for the teams that would allow them to instantly
plug into all the information they needed to safely and effectively
deal with the situation they were facing.
Busby asked how much money the county was going to contribute to
the plan. Fulscher responded that the grant that has been won is
through the county and the $40,000 awarded will be the county
contribution.
He said he had applied for $53,000 but didn't get all of it. The
personnel costs paid from the grant will come to $30,000. The rest
of the money will go toward equipment and a computer server
purchase. He said there weren't enough funds available for the
server that will be placed in the 911 center, and that is what the
city's $5,000 contribution will go toward.
The memorandum before the council was a one-year agreement.
During discussion it was asked what would be expected in the second
year. Fulscher said he would continue to look for funding sources
for the coming years and that he would certainly not turn down any
money the city offered, but he is also not expecting them to
contribute further to the plan.
Bates said he had reviewed the memorandum and penciled in some
changes in the language.
It was discussed whether the city should hold off for a corrected
copy of the memorandum, but in the end, Alderwoman Kathy Horn made
the motion to accept the agreement, pending Bates' recommended
changes. The motion was approved with a vote of 10-0.
Definitions of hazardous materials:
The Occupational Safety and Health Administration's definition
includes any substance or chemical that is a "health hazard" or
"physical hazard," including chemicals that are carcinogens, toxic
agents, irritants, corrosives or sensitizers; agents that act on the
hematopoietic (blood cellular components) system; agents that damage
the lungs, skin, eyes or mucous membranes; chemicals that are
combustible, explosive, flammable, oxidizers or pyrophorics
(substances that can ignite spontaneously in air or water); and
chemicals that in the course of normal handling, use or storage may
produce or release dusts, gases, fumes, vapors, mists or smoke that
may have any of the previously mentioned characteristics.
The Environmental Protection Agency adds to that definition any
item or chemical that can cause harm to people, plants or animals
when released by spilling, leaking, pumping, pouring, emitting,
emptying, discharging, injecting, escaping, leaching, dumping or
disposing into the environment.
[By NILA SMITH]
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