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New Hanover County LEPC Minutes 5.14.2014New Hanover County LEPC Meeting Minutes May 14th, 2014 @ NH Co EOC The following persons were in attendance: NAME BUSINESS NAME BUSINESS Dianne Harvell NH Co Health Matt Pollman Red Cross Kevin Cowan NC State Ports Thomas Johnson USCG Darnell Boyd NH Co Health Elizabeth Meyer Invista Teresa Smith NH Co EM Mark Venters GEH Heidi Cox NCDENR Allan Turner Corning Jeffrey Klein Piedmont Natural Gas Patrick Lake NCEM Ryan Gay NCDOT Eric Hatcher CFPUA Nancy McMillan NCDOT Steven Still NH Co EM Steve Mason WFD Charles Smith NH Co PIO Brad Newland NCDENR Tom Sosebge NH Co Fire Frank Meyer NH Co Fire Linda Willis NCDENR Warren Lee NH Co EM Welcome and Introductions: The May meeting, held at the NH Co EOC, followed the LEPC Executive Meeting, and was called to order at approximately 1200 hours starting with introductions and followed by a stop for lunch. After lunch and membership announcements, the October 13th, 2013 meeting minutes were reviewed and approved before nominating officers for election/re-election prior to initiating an open forum. Membership Announcements: NC DOT  Ryan Gay mentioned upcoming professional golf tournament to be hosted in Porter’s Neck area NH Co EM  Annual Hurricane exercise at EOC is set for 6/3/14 with all ESFs expected to participate  Community Safety Expo is planned for 6/20/14, which is a collaboration between city & county resources INVISTA  Mike Bruton is new site safety leader USCG  About 6 new personnel will be involved in upcoming LEPC meetings. Announcements to come later Nomination of Executive Committee Officers for Election/Re-Election  Kevin Cowan, NC State Ports, was re-elected as LEPC Chair  Ryan Gay, NC DOT, was nominated and elected as LEPC Vice-Chair. Elizabeth Meyer, Invista, & Mark Venters, GEH, declined nominations for this position due to work loads  Mark Venters, GEH, was re-elected as LEPC Secretary Open Forum NH Co EM  HME Grant from State of NC allows early application this year. Application requires pre-approval from NH Co commissioners. Funding amounts won’t be known until the fall of 2014. LEPC  Due to complexities associated with arranging LEPC meeting locations, it was decided by the Executive Committee to host all LEPC meetings in the NH Co EOC moving forward. Requests will still be made for organizations to sponsor lunch.  Vopak volunteered to sponsor an upcoming meeting lunch New Business LEPC  Because the state of NC is now the 3rd largest producer of chemicals behind TX & LA, a Hazard Risk Assessment is to be performed for NH Co sponsored by the State of NC. A pilot assessment was completed for Wake County and the NH Co assessment is to include RMP and high quantity generator facilities. A letter from NH Co EM and LEPC will go out to applicable stakeholders explaining assessment scope and provide an invite to facility technical experts for participation on 7/16/14. Zoning personnel will also be invited so as to educate and protect industry currently in place. The high level goal is for better emergency response and planning.  Funding for E-Plan at federal EPA level no longer exists and a bill is to be presented to the NC legislature for state to stay with E-Plan. State of NC funded $100K w/U of TX for E-Plan thru fiscal year ending 10/1/14. NOAA-NWS  Steve Pfaff introduced the Weather Ready Now Ambassador Program and informed any interested parties to contact him directly concerning participation,  This year is the 60th anniversary of Hurricane Hazel with a presentation at the museum June 21st.  Presentation of hurricane predictions for this year was provided. Even though the official NOAA hurricane prediction is expected later, it is currently estimated to be 13 named storms with only 2 hurricanes. The reminder was that even though this appears to be a year of less frequency, it only takes one to produce damage, so preparedness is still a very important element. Lessons Learned No lessons discussed; meeting was adjourned Next LEPC Meeting: The next committee meeting will be held August 13, 2014, at 12:00 noon at the NH Co EOC. The proposed agenda for this meeting includes the following: 1) Subcommittee of E-Plan & Response to report on ESF-10 review 2) Update on NH Co Hazard Risk Assessment 3) Determination of meeting lunch sponsors for the upcoming LEPC meetings: a. November 12, 2014 LEPC COMMITTEES Executive Committee  Chairman – Kevin Cowan  Vice-Chairman – Ryan Gay  Secretary – Mark Venters Emergency Planning & Response Sub-committee  Chairman – Elizabeth Meyer  Members - Eric Hatcher, Mike Alexander, Allen Turner, Mike Thompson, Jim Weaver, Frank Meyer Community Education & Public Response sub-committee  Chairman – Diane Harvell  Members - Charles Smith, Justin West, Eric Griffin, Teresa Smith, Eric Hatcher