New Hanover County LEPC Minutes 8.13.2014New Hanover County LEPC
Meeting Minutes - August 13th, 2014 @ NH Co EOC
The following persons signed the roster indicating they were in attendance:
NAME BUSINESS NAME BUSINESS
Kevin Cowan NC State Ports Gary Koster Red Cross
Mike Alexander VoPak Allan Turner Corning
Steven Still NH Co EM Mike Haley Rain for Rent
Lucious Rice Piedmont Natural Gas Mark Venters GEH
Frank Meyer NH Co Fire Heidi Cox NCDENR - PWSS
Tommy Grady NH Co Sheriff Brad Newland NCDENR - DAQ
Gary Hitt Thompson Ind Jason Hardin Colonial Terminals
Eric Hatcher CFPUA Gary Long Fortran Industries
Darnell Boyd NH Co HD James Janis Red Cross
Welcome and Introductions:
The 3rd quarter meeting, held at the NH Co EOC, was called to order at approximately 1210 hours starting with
introductions and followed by a thanks to Allen Turner and Corning for sponsoring lunch. After lunch, the agenda
included membership announcements and then the May 14th, 2014 meeting minutes were reviewed and approved.
Membership Announcements:
CFPUA
Eric Hatcher provided information and updates on the Toledo Algae bloom, the Elk River Chemical spill, the
Dan River Coal Ash spill and the drought in CA. Emphasis was placed on CFPUA being a supplier of water, but
not a guarantor of water. CFPUA monitors for algae blooms at normal and the 6 backup well water supply
locations, but do rely on the county & state for water quality.
In the event of an emergency, NH Co EM has a pod plan in place for food, water, ice, tarps, medication, etc.,
when there is a need.
Capability to transfer water supplies was identified at Brunswick Co exercise last year which included EPA, NC
DENR Water Quality, Wrightsville Beach, Figure 8 Island, Carolina Beach, and Brunswick County. While water
can be made available, key issue is logistics via NH Co Emergency Management through volunteers
Open Forum
NH Co EM
HMEP Grant application from State of NC was withdrawn again this year due to time conflicts between
completing application and obtaining NH Co commissioner approval. For early application next year, a
recommendation was heard to obtain application pre-approval from NH Co commissioners before obtaining
HMEP grant information
Update on State of NC Hazard Risk Assessment revealed that local facilities, the county planning committee,
members of regional Hazmat response met and identified that even with the MOU between NH Co & the city
of Wilmington, there is a need to speed up regional emergency response capability. One affected facility was
considering a product substitution to remove hazard risk
New Business
None
Lessons Learned
Red Cross
Kicking off nationwide campaign for fire prevention. Statistical indicators from zip code information reveal
that 37% of home fires lead to fatalities because of no smoke detection at affected home. NH Co received
grant for smoke detectors.
NC State Port
Described exercise where vessel from affected African Ebola nations came into port causing NH Co EM and
Coast Guard notifications and implementation of the communicable disease plan. Assessment revealed no
issues, no sickness, and persons on-board were symptom free, so determined all was OK. This exercise
followed closely after the port received CDC notification on Ebola specific to affected African nations including
estimated transition & incubation times.
NH Co EM
Provided summary of June 17th Smithfield Foods incident in Bladen County where 300K water tank
ruptured. Consequences included an 8 – 10 tidal wave that moved cars, pushed transformer off its
pedestal, sheared pipes, caused a structure collapse and a puncture of a 700 lbs anhydrous
ammonia tank. NH Co EM supported because Bladen Co EM Director and backup were both deep
sea fishing together and not available. Communication was not efficient as size of ammonia spill and
fatalities were initially reported incorrectly. Personnel evacuated into area of the plume on a 97 deg
F day. Majority of injuries were heat related with ~11 patients transferred to 3 hospitals.
LEPC
No additional lessons discussed; meeting was adjourned at 13:10
Next LEPC Meeting:
The next committee meeting will be held November 12, 2014, at 12:00 noon at the NH Co EOC. The proposed
agenda for this meeting includes subcommittee reviews and updates.
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