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Wednesday, August 22 9:30 a.m.,
Union Pacific Rail yard at 25th Street and Western, Chicago, IL 

The Chicago Chapter of the ACHMM and the Academy of Certified Hazardous Materials are sponsoring a CHMM Emergency Response Drill on the last day of the ACHMM 2001 Conference.  The following organizations are supporting the drill: 

  • Arcadis Geraghty & Miller

  • Chicago Local Emergency Planning Committee

  • Chicago Fire Department

  • Union Pacific Railroad

  • City of Chicago Department of Environment

  • City of Chicago Police Department

  • Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago

  • City of Chicago Health Department

Purpose of Exercise

The purpose of the proposed emergency response exercise is to meet Federal and State requirements, and to identify and evaluate challenges faced by both a private and city agency during an emergency response.  Our objectives are to:

  • Assess the effectiveness of joint ICS operations to direct the emergency response

  • Identify the capabilities to assess and respond to on-site risks

  • Demonstrate the ability to gather, verify, coordinate and disseminate accurate information in a timely manner

  • Illustrate the effectiveness of the coordination of communications, resources, identification and utilization of labor, equipment supplies and other material to support emergency operations

  • Demonstrate appropriate screening, decontamination process and transport

ACTION PLAN

Location

The scenario will be held on-site at a Union Pacific Rail yard at 25th Street and Western Avenue at 9:30 a.m.  This location is a noted training site for both private and government response units.

Scenario

The emergency scenario simulates a release of chlorine from a railroad tank car that resulted when two trains collided. 

Briefing

The DOT-105 Tank Car, and responders will be in position.  The exercise begins with a narrative of events.

Upon arrival at the scene, you see a fog-like mist escaping from the tank car.  Two people are unconscious, lying on the ground near the tank car in the rail yard.  A first responder meets you and states the rail car holds approximately 20,000 gallons of liquefied chlorine and is being released.  There were five crewmembers on the train.  Additional responders arrive to take you through what is happening and how the response and clean-up will be handled by their departments.

Participant Actions

The Chicago Fire Department’s capabilities and resources will determine the action plan.  Quick, offensive steps could turn this incident into a winner:

 

·         Responders must quickly execute shut-off measures to control the leak until other assistance arrives (Union Pacific Emergency Responders.)

·         Responders must connect a water supply/water spray to reduce vapors or divert vapor cloud drift.

If water flow cannot be maintained and the tank is still impinged and venting, defensive action responders will take immediate action to evacuate all personnel to an acceptable distance as determined by department SOP.  Activities being demonstrated on-site will include:

 

Zoning

·         Establish a restricted zone of 500 feet.

·         Evacuate the immediate area of civilian personnel.

·         Establish a limited access zone if necessary.

·         If water flow cannot be maintained and the tank is still impinged and venting, evacuate all personnel to a safe distance.

 

Managing

·         Maintain evacuation and safety zones.

·         Develop Plan B if the tank is involved in a fire.

·         Establish an incident management system.  Designating a water supply officer should be considered.

·         Call for specialized response units – Union Pacific Emergency Team.

 

Assistance

·         Emergency Response Team – Union Pacific Railroad.

·         Law enforcement to assist in traffic control.

·         Technical specialist such as the local product distributor will be helpful in assessing the damage to the tank and off-loading the remaining contents.

 

Termination

·         Decontamination.

·         Rehabilitation.

·         Medical screening.

·         Exposure reporting.

·         Post-incident analysis

·         Since it is an extremely hot day, evaluate personnel before they are reassigned to other duties.

Warning

If a real emergency occurs during the exercise, Controllers or the Incident Commander will immediately suspend the exercise and evaluate the situation.  The coordinators will then decide if the exercise can be safely resumed.  The real emergency code word will be:

 

                        This exercise is suspended, until further notice.