W-3
11986
      United States
      Environmental Protection
      Agency
Office of Emergency       3rd Edition
and Remedial Response     April 1986
Washington DC 20460      HW-3  ~
               EPA's Emergency
               Response Program

  JGER ,
  *TS2 WATER I
  I OUT
I ONLY

                 U.S. Environmental  Protection Ageno.y

                 ReR;on V, LI'JI y-j
                 23U South Dearborn Street
                 fr>i-'-o. Illinois 60604

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,S. Environmental Protection Agency

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                        EPA's  Emergency
                        Response Program
Train derailments can re-
lease hazardous sub-
stances over large areas,
possibly requiring evacua-
tion of nearby residents.
                        In satisfying the American
                        public's demand for sophisti-
                        cated products, modern
                        technology's response is  in-
                        genious and complex
                        Sometimes that technology
                        generates toxic by-products
                        as well—hazardous wastes

                        Effective and safe  handling
                        of such wastes has im-
                        proved tremendously under
                        rapidly-advancing disposal
                        technology In  1976, the  Re-
                        source Conservation and
                        Recovery Act (RCRA) was
                        enacted, for the first time
                        establishing controls for the
                        generation, transportation,
                        and disposal of hazardous
                        wastes.
Although it provided the
tools to track and regulate
the handling of such sub-
stances, RCRA did not deal
with existing hazardous sites
that had become trouble-
some as a result of past
improper disposal practices.
These sites, as well as
accidents in handling or
transporting hazardous
substances,  can present
emergency situations requir-
ing an immediate cleanup or
removal

Federal authority to respond
to releases of oil and hazard-
ous substances into the na-
tion's navigable waters is
found under Section 311 of

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                         Emergency Response Program
The swollen bottom on this
drum indicates a serious
threat of leakage.
                         the Clean Water Act  This
                         authority, which is assigned
                         to the Environmental  Protec-
                         tion Agency and the Coast
                         Guard, has existed for over a
                         decade. The Clean Water
                         Act also established a fund
                            to finance these responses.
                            However, it provided only
                            limited authority and limited
                            funds to tackle the variety of
                            problems caused by release
                            of hazardous substances into
                            land, ground water, and air.
Superfund
To provide a more effective
and comprehensive re-
sponse to the foregoing
problems, Congress enacted
the Comprehensive Environ-
mental Response, Compen-
sation, and Liability Act of
1980. Popularly referred to
as "Superfund," CERCU\
and Section 311 of the
Clean Water Act permit the
Federal government to work
with State and local govern-
ments to provide an immedi-
ate and comprehensive re-
sponse to accidental release
of hazardous substances.

Superfund cleanups are
financed by a trust fund.

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                          Emergency Response Program
Barges carrying large car-
goes of hazardous materi-
als may break loose and
strike bridges and other
structures. This barge was
secured in time, preventing
potentially serious damage
to the waterway.
                         The fund can be used to
                         provide both emergency and
                         longer-term cleanup of
                         releases of hazardous
                         substances and inactive
                         waste sites.
In 1968 the Federal govern-
ment established the first
National Contingency Plan
to respond to emergencies
caused by oil spills and
releases of hazardous sub-
stances in navigable waters
CERCU\ required EPA to re-
vise and  republish the Plan
to cover all of the actions
which can now betaken un-
der both  Superfund and the
Clean Water Act  The Plan
details the responsibilities of
14 Federal agencies and
State and local governments

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                          Emergency Response Program
When a hazardous sub-
stance ignites, it not only
presents the immediate
dangers of heat and smoke
but it can spread hazardous
particles and vapors over
wide areas.
                          for cleaning up releases of
                          hazardous substances to all
                          media (land, air, surface wa-
                          ter and ground water) and
                          discharges of oil into naviga-
                          ble waters of the U.S.

                          In general the Plan:
                            •  Encourages coordina-
                               tion of Federal, State
                               and local government
                               involvement in  re-
                               sponse actions;
                            •  Allows State and local
                               governments to be
                               reimbursed by  the Fed-
                               eral government for
                               allowable response
                               costs;  and
                            •  Authorizes  the Federal
                               government to under-
                               take cleanup when the
                               responsible party or
     the State cannot or
     will not do so

Primary responsibility for
dealing with accidental
releases in or near coastal
waters and the Great Lakes
is with the Coast Guard.
The  lead responsibility for
other emergencies occurring
inland or in inland waters
belongs to EPA, as  specified
by an agreement  between
EPA  and the  Coast  Guard.
EPA  responses are coordi-
nated by its Emergency Re-
sponse  Division with the
assistance of the  Hazardous
Response Support Division.
Both are a part of the Of-
fice of Solid Waste and
Emergency Response

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                         Emergency Response Program
Emergency
Response
Program
CERCLA and the National
Contingency Plan provide for
two types of response to
hazardous substance in-
cidents: removal actions for
shorter-term responses and
remedial actions for longer-
term cleanup actions. Re-
moval actions are carried out
by EPA under the emergency
Chemical foams are often
used to prevent evapora-
tion of hazardous sub-
stances or to extinguish
fires resulting from acci-
dents. Response personnel
wear protective clothing
while handling these
chemicals.
response program and are in-
itiated in situations where a
hazardous substance is re-
leased or poses a threat to
public health, welfare, or the
environment Such situations
may include:
   • fires or explosions;
   • direct human contact
     with a hazardous sub-
     stance;
   • human, animal, or  food
     chain  exposure to  a
     hazardous substance;
   • contamination of a
     drinking water supply;
     or
   • high levels of a con-
     taminant on the ground
     surface that could be
     spread.

A removal response generally
includes actions to assess
the threat or extent of re-
lease of hazardous sub-
stances, to stabilize the situa-
tion and to treat or dispose
of removed material, or other
actions that may be neces-
sary to prevent or minimize
danger to the  public health,
welfare or environment Spe-
cifically, removal activities
may include:
   • installing security fen-
     cing;
   •  collecting and analyzing
     samples;
   •  providing alternate
     water supplies;
   •  controlling the release
     or spread of hazardous
     substances;
   •  removing hazardous
     substances from the
     site and  storing, treat-
     ing, or disposing of
     them at  RCRA-
     approved facilities, and
   •  providing temporary
     evacuation of and
     housing  for threatened
     individuals

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                          Emergency Response Program
Above: Workers with pro-
tective suits and self-
contained breathing units
extract samples from
drums. Samples are sent
to a chemical laboratory
for analysis.
                                                      Removal actions may require
                                                      an immediate response to an
                                                      emergency, such as a chem-
                                                      ical spill or explosion; or re-
                                                      movals may be required for a
                                                      situation that, while posing a
                                                      threat, does not demand im-
                                                      mediate attention, and allows
                                                      time for more careful plan-
                                                      ning of removal activities Su-
                                                      perfund does, however, set
                                                      time and cost limits for re-
                                                      moval actions. Exemptions
                                                      from the time and cost limits
                                                      may be  granted for removal
                                                      actions under certain circum-
                                                      stances.

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                         Emergency Response Program
Hazardous
Substance
Cleanup:  An
Industry-
Government
Partnership
In practice, many emergency
cleanups and removals are
handled by the  responsible
party—usually the generator,
transporter, or disposer of
the waste The  remainder
are cleaned up  by an
industry-government part-
nership. If government
resources are called upon,
a variety of local, State, and
Emergency situations in-
volving hazardous sub-
stances require specific
techniques, equipment and
personal safety protection.
Above: Firefighters respond
to a night emergency.
Federal agencies may be
called into action

Superfund and Section  311
of the Clean Water Act
require that EPA, the Coast
Guard, the Federal Emer-
gency Management Agency,
the Department of Health
and Human Services, the
Department of the Interior,
and nine other Federal
agencies cooperate as
members of the National
and Regional  Response
Teams to coordinate activi-
ties in cases of emergency
Additional  Federal agencies
that may be involved are
the Departments of  Agricul-
ture, Commerce, Defense,
Energy, Justice, Labor,
State, and Housing and Ur-
ban Development; and the
Small Business Administra-
tion. In the event Federal
services are called upon:
   • The Coast Guard or
    EPA assumes primary
    responsibility to re-
    spond, depending
    upon  the  location of
    the emergency;
   • The Federal Emergency
    Management Agency
    is responsible for
    evacuations;
   • The Fish and Wildlife
    Service  in the Depart-
    ment of the Interior
    and the National Ma-
    rine Fisheries Service
    in the Department  of
    Commerce conduct re-
    search into the effects
    of the disaster on ma-
    rine, aquatic and ter-
    restrial life;
   • The Public Health
    Service  in the Depart-
    ment  of Health and
    Human  Services inves-
    tigates incidents of
    hazardous substance
    exposure to humans
    and threats to the
    public welfare, and
   • Other agencies play
    roles related to  their re-
                                                                              7

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Emergency Response Program
    spective authorities if the
    emergency requires it

When To Notify the
Government
When  release of a hazard-
ous substance creates an
emergency situation, local
police and fire departments
probably will  be the first
agencies involved. While
they are taking initial pro-
tective actions, however,
local officials  may be  calling
upon  State and Federal
agencies for assistance

The responsible party—such
as a generator, transporter
or disposer of hazardous
waste—must also notify the
National Response Center
(NRC)  as soon as (s)he has
knowledge that a hazardous
substance was released in a
Reportable Quantity (RQ)
into the  environment  Sec-
tion  102 of CERCLA desig-
nates almost 700 sub-
stances as hazardous and
assigns RQs that trigger
notification requirements

To request Federal assist-
ance under Superfund, a
State or local government
should  contact its nearest
EPA Regional  Office.

When the National Re-
sponse Center is notified,
the duty officer immediately
relays the release informa-
tion to an EPA or Coast
Guard On-Scene Coordina-
tor (OSC), depending upon
the location and nature of
the emergency. The  OSC
coordinates  and monitors all
protective and precautionary
activities to  ensure that
everything possible is done
to protect public health,
welfare, and the en-
vironment.

The Federal  Role
The response  process be-
gins with the  OSC's  deci-
sion to  initiate response
measures. This decision
is based on a preliminary
assessment of notification
information and on follow-
up data gathered from the
responsible  party or  officials
at the release  site.  The OSC
must decide whether the
Federal  government is the
appropriate  response
agency  Alternatively, State
agencies may take the lead
in cleaning up a release
site, or  the party responsible
for the  release may  have
the capability  to provide
mitigation actions  In both
cases,  however, the  Federal
OSC will retain the authority
for oversight or monitoring
of the  cleanup operations to
ensure  that the threat is
mitigated. At times,  the ex-
pertise  of other Federal

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The grappler's specially-
designed pickup arm helps
remove hazardous waste
drums from an active dis-
posal site.
agencies and other States
can be  brought to a re-
sponse  action through the
Regional Response Team
(RRT) established by the
National Contingency Plan
The Federal OSC, either in
consultation with  other
agencies or on the spot,
must  decide what type of
response to make whether
the release should be con-
tained to prevent  migration,
whether the release should
be treated  in situ, or
whether a  federally-funded
removal to  a treatment,
storage  or  disposal (TSD)
facility should  be  un-
dertaken

The OSC seeks assistance
from the EPA Regional
Emergency Reponse  Offices
and the special Environmen-
tal Response Teams  based
in Cincinnati, Ohio, and Edi-
son,  New Jersey

As part  of  EPA's policy of
keeping the public accur-
ately informed, the OSC
may also seek assistance
from the Agency in coor-
dinating information for the
media and providing liaison
with citizens organizations
as necessary.

According to CERCLA, an
official  Federal removal ac-
tion may be considered in
cases where:
   • The discharger is
     unknown;
   • The discharge is
     caused by an act of
     God or war; or
   • The responsible party
     cannot or will not re-
     spond adequately

Under Superfund, govern-
mental emergency response
is able to  achieve the
highest degree of inter-
agency and inter-govern-
mental teamwork  If Federal
authorization is provided,
State and  local  govern-
ments may conduct the
cleanups and reimburse-
ment will be made by
Superfund  The Federal
government itself may con-
duct the removal  if the
State or local government
requests assistance.

In either case, the Federal
government retains its im-
portant advisory  and coordi-
nation role. EPA's scientific
resources and its specialized

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                          Emergency Response Program
                          monitoring, sampling and
                          safety equipment will sup-
                          port State and local efforts
                          Superfund will be the key
                          source of cleanup money.

                          To  help keep  the fund sol-
                          vent, Superfund also pro-
                             vides that the responsible
                             party may be liable for
                             punitive damages of up to
                             three times  the cost of  the
                             Federal  removal for failure
                             to respond  properly to the
                             emergency.
Prevention
The containments
around the storage
tanks are designed to
prevent any leakage of
oil products into adja-
cent waters.
Oil Pollution Prevention
For more than a decade,
EPA has been concerned
about the discharge of oil
into the navigable waters of
the United States To prevent
such oil discharges by non-
transportation-related (NTR)
onshore and offshore facili-
ties, EPA promulgated the oil
pollution  prevention regula-
tion in December 1973  The
regulation establishes re-
quirements for the develop-
ment and implementation of
Spill Control and Counter-
measure Plans (SPCC
Plans)  This regulation is ap-
plicable to all owner/opera-
tors of NTR onshore and
offshore facilities engaged in
drilling, producing, gather-
ing, storing, processing,
refining, transferring, dis-
tributing, or consuming oil
and oil products and who,
because of their location,
could reasonably be ex-
pected to discharge oil into
or upon the navigable
waters of the United States.
The EPA Regional Offices
implement this regulation by
routinely visiting  facilities and
reviewing their SPCC Plan.

All transportation-related fa-
cilities are regulated by the
Department of Transporta-
tion in  accordance with an
agreement with  EPA
10

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                        Emergency Response Program
 Superfund
 in Action
 The Emergency
 Response at Cecil
 County, Maryland
Site workers wearing
protective suits placed
leaking drums into over-
packs. In all, more than
1,300 drums and 5 million
pounds of contaminated
soil were removed and
disposed of at authorized
facilities.
In the late 1960s, approxi-
mately 1,300 drums of haz-
ardous wastes were stacked
in a clay quarry and covered
over in the small Cecil
County, Maryland, commu-
nity of North East  When the
new owners of the  land be-
gan an expansion of a mo-
bile home community into
the former quarry area, they
discovered chemical odors
and several surfacing drums

After receiving complaints in
April 1981, the county and
the  Maryland Office of En-
vironmental Programs tested
drinking water wells and sur-
face water in the area The
property owner also con-
ducted geological studies
                                                                        11

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                         Emergency Response Program
The drums were
stacked up to 15 layers
deep.  To speed up the
removal action, EPA
combined compatible
chemicals so they
could be either treated
at the site or bulk
shipped to a disposal
facility.
The analyses showed safe
drinking water, but the sur-
face water and soil samples
contained organic solvents,
including several  known and
suspected carcinogens  The
State then requested as-
sistance from Superfund

From February to April 1982,
EPA conducted a site investi-
gation, including  additional
sampling The on-scene in-
vestigators discovered drums
of hazardous organic wastes
located a few hundred feet
from a 300-unit trailer park
These wastes were contami-
nating soil, two small ponds,
and a creek  running through
the trailer park A joint State
and EPA emergency re-
sponse team evaluated the
site in May EPA approved a
removal action under Super-
fund in June 1982

EPA began an  immediate
removal action costing
$110,000 on Wednesday,
June 16,  1982  This in-
cluded erecting a fence
around the site to secure the
area, installing filter fences
on the stream, removing
four drums of ignitable
materials found on the sur-
face, overpacking eight leak-
ing drums, conducting mag-
netometer and ground-
penetrating radar surveys to
determine where additional
drums were buried, and
continuing air,  water, and
soil sampling

Based  on these studies,
EPA estimated that there
were approximately 125
drums at  the site Because
of the  potential danger
these posed to the
neighboring community,
EPA decided to undertake a
planned removal action  In-
stead of  the expected 125
drums, however, in
November, 1982, on-scene
personnel discovered that
there were 1,300 drums
stacked up to 15 layers
deep
12

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                         Emergency Response Program
At the completion of the
removal action, the site
was filled, capped with
clay, covered with top soil,
and seeded.
The discovery changed the
scope of the planned re-
moval action  EPA, State
and local agencies, and con-
tractors  increased personnel
to complete the action with-
in the statutory limit of six
months—a deadline of De-
cember  16, 1982 EPA
changed the removal strat-
egy to combine compatible
chemicals together and dis-
pose of  them as  bulked li-
quids rather than in drums
This and other innovative
strategies lowered the per
drum cost of cleanup, so
that the  planned  removal ac-
tion cost $960,000, only
about $300,000  more than
anticipated when the num-
ber of drums was thought to
be a  tenth of how many
were found
In all, EPA removed 50,000
gallons of contaminated li-
quids, 5 million pounds of
contaminated soil, and
treated 100,000 gallons of
contaminated water Site
workers refilled the hole with
clean fill material,  installed a
clay cap to prevent water
seepage into the former
drum area and the leaching
out of any contaminants
possibly left in  the deeper
ground, and covered the
surface with topsoil seeded
with  grass to prevent ero-
sion  The State pledged to
maintain the air and water
monitoring stations To date,
all environmental samples
have been free of the con-
tamination that prompted
this Superfund removal
action
                                                                              13

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                         Emergency Response Program
Research
and
Develop-
ment
Controlling and cleaning up
hazardous substances is a
relatively new field.  New
equipment and new tech-
niques are required  to re-
spond quickly and effec-
tively to emergencies, and
to dispose of the materials
in a way that is environ-
mentally safe. Both  industry
and EPA are working dili-
gently to learn more about
controlling such substances
and to develop new

EPA's "Blue Magoo" can     cleanup techniques and
be moved quickly to
hazardous waste sites to
remove hazardous sub-
stances from contaminated
water.
equipment.

Much of the development
and testing  related to the
Emergency  Response Pro-
gram occurs at  EPA's
Environmental Emergency
Response Unit (EERU) in
Edison, New Jersey  EERU
is a cooperative effort
among emergency response
research personnel at Edi-
son, the Environmental
Response Team, other EPA
operational personnel, and
contractors from private
industry. As new equipment
is developed  and tested
satisfactorily,  it is utilized by
EERU  in actual emergen-
cies,  it is also used in train-
ing courses and in develop-
ment  of emergency
response assistance man-
uals. Additional R&D sup-
port is provided at other
EPA research  installations

Chemical Cleanups
A number of  special clean-
up equipment designs are
under development at Edi-
son. One, designed for
cleanup of chemical sub-
stances, is a fully-
operational Physical-
Chemical Treatment Trailer
nicknamed the "Blue Ma-
goo."  A combination of
treatment units mounted on
a flatbed trailer truck, the
Blue  Magoo  is capable of
being  transported to an
emergency site

The treatment technology
was adapted  from equip-
ment  currently used for
conventional water pollution
control treatment.  The
physical-chemical treatment
 14

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                          Emergency Response Program
Oil is released into the EPA
OHMSETT tank at Edison,
New Jersey, to test spill
cleanup methods and
equipment.
concept for hazardous sub-
stances has now been
adopted by at least two
commercial cleanup  equip-
ment manufacturers.

Still in the  testing stage is a
mobile hazardous waste in-
cineration  system. This unit
will be capable of on-site
thermal detoxification of
many hazardous materials
such  as PCBs, kepone,
malathion,  and TCDD The
system is mounted on three
over-the-road semi-trailers to
facilitate  transportation to
operating sites. Trial burn-
ings of liquid hazardous and
toxic substances have been
completed successfully. This
is to be followed by trial
burnings on contaminated
solids

Oil Cleanups
EPA also conducts a wide-
ranging  oil spills research
program  under Section 311
of the Clean Water Act
Major research and de-
velopment efforts for oil
spills include:
   • Construction and  oper-
     ation of a Spill Clean-
     up Testing Facility at
     Leonardo,  New Jersey.
     The testing facility,
     called the Oil  and Haz-
     ardous Materials  Simu-
     lated Environmental
     Test Tank (OHMSETT),
     is a large concrete
     tank with a mobile
     bridge. It  permits
    environmentally-safe
    testing of spill  cleanup
     methods  and  equip-
    ment. Oil  spill contain-
     ment booms,  skimmers
    and dispersing agents
    can  be tested repeat-
    edly to insure reliability
    and efficiency
   • Evaluation of chemical
    dispersants developed
                                                                                15

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                         Emergency Response Program
                             by industry, and tech-
                             niques for  applying
                             them from ships and
                             aircraft in rough seas
                             Techniques for cleaning
                             up and protecting
                             shorelines  and
                             beaches. The Edison
                             facility, for  example,  is
                             emergencies involving con-
                             tamination of ground water,
                             surface water and drinking
                             water by spills of hazardous
                             substances and oils. The
                             unit also has provided
                             emergency responses to
                             uncontrolled waste sites
                             EERU activities during these
EPA's mobile hazardous
waste incineration system
is mounted on three semi-
trailers to facilitate trans-
portation to hazardous sub-
stance sites.
    investigating use of
    chemical agents which
    could be applied be-
    fore an  oil slick arrives.
    These agents form a
    thin film that prevents
    the oil from adhering
    to the beach

Emergency Assistance
During the past  several
years, the EERU has
responded to a variety of
emergencies  included:
   • Evaluation of the
     severity  and extent of
     contamination,
   • On-site analytical
     support;
   • Recommendation of
     safe, effective treat-
     ment and disposal
     options; and
   • Supervision of spill
     cleanup operations.
16

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 Emergency Response Program
Chemical
Countermeasures

Section 311 of the Clean
Water Act (CWA) establishes
a mechanism for prevention,
response, and notification of
oil discharges. Section
311(b)(3) prohibits the dis-
charge of oil in quantities
that may be harmful.

Implementation of the pro-
visions of Section 311 has
been the responsibility of
EPA and the Coast Guard as
specified in Executive Orders
11735 and  12418. For non-
transportation-related
onshore and offshore facili-
ties, EPA is empowered to
establish procedures,
methods, equipment, and
other  requirements for the
control,  prevention, and
abatement of oil spills. The
Coast Guard has similar re-
sponsibilities for vessels and
transportation-related
onshore and offshore facili-
ties.

Section  311(c) 2(G) of the
Clean Water Act (CWA) re-
quires that  EPA prepare a
schedule of dispersants and
other chemicals that may be
used to remove or control oil
discharges  into the navigable
waters of the United States.
This requirement is im-
plemented through Subpart
H of the National Oil and
Hazardous Substances Polu-
tion Contingency Plan (NCP).
The NCP product schedule
includes chemical agents,
dispersants, surface collect-
ing agents, biological addi-
tives, and burmg agents
Sinking agents are prohibited.

While dispersants are one of
the most feasible chemical
countermeasures treatment
for spills on the high seas,
other products and methodo-
logies now available are rec-
ognized under the National
Contingency Plan. These
counter-measures include
surface collecting agents
(herders), biological additives,
which are microbiological  cul-
tures, enzymes or nutrient
additives  which encourage
biodegradation of the oil;
burning agents, which impr-
ove the combustibility of
the materials to which they
are applied; and new chem-
ical products such as gelling
agents.

Some of these products may
be used in inland waters,  but
with the exception of the  dis-
persants, none is truly effec-
tive for removal of spilled  oil
in non-quiescent waters

EPA firmly believes that the
dispersants on the market to-
day,  if properly applied at  rec-
ommended rates,  should
pose no threat to the marine
                                                       17

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                          Emergency Response Program
In November, 1979, the
Burmah Agate spilled
840,000 gallons of oil and
burned for 30 days in an
accident in the Guff of
Mexico off Galveston, TX.
environment in most U.S.
coastal waters. Thus, the
aquatic ecosystem can be
preserved and most of the oil
prevented from reaching the
shoreline.

Oil Spill
Decision Tree
In 1985,  EPA developed  and
tested an Oil Spill Decision
Tree,  a computerized system
which has the potential of
revolutionizing the role of'On-
Scene-Coordinators (OSCs)
who manage oil spill
cleanups and of improving
contingency planning and
training of field personnel

The decision tree is a
straightforward procedure
Observations concerning the
nature and size of a spill are
entered into the program of a
portable computer, along
with information on the con-
dition of the receiving
waters,  i.e., water tempera-
ture and salinity, wave
height, current direction and
speed, and other data. The
program takes the  OSC
through a series of steps to
arrive at conclusions regard-
ing the types of counter-
measures which should be
employed.

The software for the program
was developed for the IBM
PC in the BASIC program-
ming  language In addition  to
being easily adaptable to
18

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                          Emergency Response Program
A vessel equipped with
spray booms applies
dispersants on a small
scale oil spill.
most microcomputers, mini-
computers, and mainframes,
it can be set up in a multi-
user environment so that
members of Regional Re-
sponse Teams in different
geographic areas can use the
program interactively over
the phone, saving time that
would otherwise be neces-
sary to assemble the team
members. With veteran
OSCs entering accurate and
complete data into the sys-
tem, decisions which pre-
viously took agonizing hours
to reach can now be made in
a few minutes.

The Oil Spill Decision Tree
identifies specific questions
which must be answered
affirmatively before dis-
persants can be considered
for use. The decision tree
also queries about the size of
the area covered by the spill,
counseling use of helicopters
and/or boat spray for dis-
persant application on small
spills, and use of fixed-wing
aircraft on large spills.

As long as oil spills continue,
countermeasures will be
necessary. Countermeasures
technology has come a long
way, but clearly there is still
a long way to go, particularly
in terms of increased
cooperation  between the
maritime industry and gov-
ernments worldwide

Inter-governmental coordina-
tion, together with constantly
improving technology and a
growing environmental
awareness  by industries
which produce, transport and
use petroleum products,  is
being reflected daily in in-
creased protection of human
health, welfare and the en-
vironment.
                                                                                19

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                                            r*« IP
                          Emergency Response Program
                         Manuals
                         With its developmental test-
                         ing functions, EPA publishes
                         an extensive series of man-
                         uals to assist emergency re-
                         sponse personnel in planning
                         and conducting cleanup op-
                         erations. In an effort to
                         achieve a uniform and cohe-
                         sive national response pro-
                         gram, the Agency develops
                         manuals in  emergency re-
                         sponse methodology,  adapta-
                         tion of latest cleanup tech-
                         niques, uniform communica-
                         tions terminology and  ad-
                         ministrative procedures, guid-
                         ance on decision-making, and
                         instructional and reference
                         manuals for students in the
                         ERT training courses.

                         Recently published manuals
                         deal with pesticide disposal,
                         contingency planning  (in
                         cooperation with the Federal
Emergency Management
Agency), and control of haz-
ardous materials spills. Cur-
rently available manuals on
emergency response to spills
include:
   • Manual of Practice for
     Protection and Cleanup
     of Shorelines
   • Manual for Control of
     Hazardous Material
     Spills
   • Hazardous Materials
     Incident Response
     Operations

All  emergency response
manuals are published and
made available through the
National Technical Informa-
tion Service,  Springfield,
Virginia 22161. Further infor-
mation  may  be obtained
from  NTIS, from  EPA's
Emergency Response Team
or any EPA Regional Office
20
                                                UB GOVERNMENT PRDJTINQ OFFICE 1986 - 621-160 - 1302/00063

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EPA  Regional
Emergency
Response
Offices
Region 1
Chief, Oil and Hazardous Materials
Section
Environmental Services Division
60 Westview Street
Lexington, MA 02173
(617) 861-6700

Region 2
Chief, Emergency Response
Branch
Emergency and Remedial
ResponseDivision
Edison, NJ 08837
(201)321-6657

Region 3
Chief, Superfund Branch
341 Chestnut Building (3HW-20)
Philadelphia, PA 19107
(215)597-8132

Region 4
Chief, Emergency Remedial and
Response Branch
345 Courtland Street, N E
Atlanta, GA 30365
(404) 347-3931

Region 5
Chief, Superfund Branch
Waste Management Division
5-SEES
230 S. Dearborn Street
Chicago, IL 60605
(312)353-2102

Region 6
Chief, Emergency Response
Branch
6ES-E
1201 Elm Street
Interfirst-Two Building
Dallas, TX 75270
(214) 767-2720
Region 7
Chief, Emergency Planning and
Response Branch
Environmental Services Division
25 Funston Road
Kansas City, KS 66115
(913)236-3888

Region 8
Chief, Emergency Response
Branch
Waste Management Division
1 Denver Place
999 18th Street
Suite 1300(8-HWM-ER)
Denver, CO 80202-2413
(303)293-1723

Region 9
Chief Emergency Response
Section
T3-3
Field Operations Branch
Toxic and Waste Management
Division
215 Fremont Street
San Francisco, CA 94105
(414)974-7511

Region 10
Chief, Environmental Emergency
Response Section
Hazardous Waste Division
1200 6th Avenue
Seattle, WA 98101
(206)442-1263

National Response Center
(800) 424-8802
to report oil and
hazardous substance releases
                                         ,.   U.S.  Environmental  Protection  Agencj
                                             Region  V,  Library
                                             230  South Dearborn Street
                                             Chicago,  Illinois  60604

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Superfund/RCRA Hotline             (800) 424 9346
for information on programs                   or
                                    (202) 382-3000

National Response Center	   (800) 424-8802
to report oil and hazardous substance releases

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