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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via NH Co Emergency Management through volunteers Open Forum NH Co EM  HMEP Grant application from State of NC was withdrawn again this year due to time conflicts between completing application and obtaining NH Co commissioner approval.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