Report: Georgia has problems with chemical accident planning

<p>There are flaws in Georgia's oversight of emergency planning for chemical accidents, according to a report by the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board.</p><p>Among the findings, the report cited problems with the handling of a 2004 chemical accident in Dalton, which prompted an evacuation and sent 154 to the hospital.</p><p>The board, an independent agency that investigates chemical accidents, made 16 recommendations to Gov. Sonny Perdue, the companies involved and local governments.</p><p>The board recommended that 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 emergencies, no state agency checks to make sure those plans include key components such as evacuation methods, said the report, which was issued Tuesday.</p><p>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 cloud, but they were sent in to evacuate residents. The officers were forced to retreat _ some injured _ until firefighters with special breathing equipment were called in.</p><p>Under federal law, the state must review local emergency plans, potentially preventing such injuries, said John Vorderbrueggen, a senior chemical safety board investigator.</p><p>"The flaw we see in the state is that the plan gets submitted to the state and it sits on the shelf," Vorderbrueggen said.</p><p>The board recommended that the state develop a system to provide local authorities with information about chemical risks at nearby plants.</p><p>According to federal law, all communities should be covered by a local emergency planning committee that keeps track of plans and the chemicals used in the community. But Whitfield County _ along with most other counties _ did not have one of these committees, which could have prevented many of the problems involving evacuation and coordination during the 2004 accident, the report said.</p><p>"The primary purpose of the risk management plan was to get that information to communities, and in Georgia, that's not happening," Vorderbrueggen said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cd9ecc)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2006/4/126123