Avagene Moore: Welcome to the EIIP Round Table! Avagene Moore: We are very pleased to have the Lake County (IN) LEPC with us today. The Lake County LEPC is a Partner in the EIIP. This is the LEPC's second time to host a Round Table discussion; we sincerely appreciate their active participation in the Partnership. Avagene Moore: Before introducing our speakers, please note that any URLs used in the dialogue become live links. If you click on one or more links, the page will come up in your browser window. For example, the Lake County LEPC page is http://www.lepc.co.lake.in.us . Avagene Moore: Please refrain from Direct Messaging to our Speakers or the Moderator during the discussion. It is very distracting and our focus must be on the overview and Q&A with the audience. Avagene Moore: Once our speakers have completed their overview, I will remind you of the protocol for letting us know that you want to ask a question or make a comment during the Q&A part of our session. Avagene Moore: And now to introduce our speakers.... Avagene Moore: We are very pleased that representatives of the Lake County LEPC are with us today. Chief William (Bill) Timmer, Highland (Indiana) Fire Department, is Chair of the Lake County LEPC and President of the Lake County Fire Chiefs Association. Bill's name is the one you see online with us, however .... Avagene Moore: Dean Larson is with Bill at his desktop. Dean Larson is the Manager of Safety and Industrial Hygiene for US Steel - Gary Works, and a member of the LEPC. As an aside, I must tell you I worked with Dean when I was the TRADE Occupational Safety Special Interest Group (OSSIG) Coordinator for 4 years at Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU). Avagene Moore: Today, Bill and Dean will be telling us about a very successful exercise that took place last month. The Lake County LEPC and US Department of Energy conducted the "POPEYE" (Preparedness Observation Planning EmergencY Exercise). The LEPC was in a leadership role in partnership with DOE's Transportation Emergency Preparedness Program (TEPP). Avagene Moore: Bill was the POPEYE Exercise Manager and Dean served as Co-Manager. Their latest project is developing emergency management curriculum for Purdue University - Calumet. Avagene Moore: Ella McNeil, DOE TEPP, was invited to be with us but I don't see her online yet. She may have had a conflict or an access problem. Avagene Moore: Please help me welcome Bill Timmer and Dean Larson, Lake County LEPC. Bill, I turn the floor to you. Bill Timmer: During early April 1999, the Lake County LEPC received information that the DOE Office of Transportation Emergency Preparedness (TEPP) was searching for a site to hold an exercise involving the transportation of radioactive materials. Bill Timmer: Further we learned that the desired site was "near the Indiana - Illinois border." Our LEPC expressed interest in hosting the exercise, supported by the Indiana State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA). Bill Timmer: The first exercise-planning meeting was held by our LEPC on April 23. An exercise date was selected and planning started with DOE contractor support. Bill Timmer: The planning sessions were held by our LEPC, first on a monthly, then BI-weekly and finally daily basis. The LEPC provided the leadership with strong support from Ella McNeil of TEPP, the DOE RAP Coordinator Chicago Dale Dietzel and Darrell Lankford of Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education's (ORISE) Emergency Management Laboratory. Bill Timmer: Planning was facilitated with several "template" documents provided by HAMMER (another DOE contractor). Bill Timmer: The scenario consisted of a stolen delivery truck involved in an accident after a high-speed (simulated) chase. Three injured and one fatality all contaminated. As the truck overturned several packages spilled from the back of the truck, some breaking upon impact. Bill Timmer: We had a mixture of radioactive and hazardous materials packages involved. The spilled cargo consisted of materials normally shipped by DOE by commercial carrier. Bill Timmer: We had twenty-seven responding agencies involving local (Highland, Indiana), county (Lake County), state (Indiana Departments of Health and SEMA) radiation incident response and federal (DOE RAP from Argonne National Laboratory). Bill Timmer: Over 250 people participated including fire, police, sheriff, EMS, hospitals and radioactive materials responders. USEPA responded with their mobile command post from Columbus, OH. Bill Timmer: One feature successfully demonstrated was our local industrial responders. Part of the Lake County Emergency Plan is the support from four local industries in sending trained personnel with radioactive monitoring equipment to respond. Bill Timmer: These industrial responders were praised as being an innovative, ready asset to local and county emergency responders. Over seventy personnel were involved in the Controller/Evaluator organization. Bill Timmer: ORISE provided the strong exercise support and leadership for control and evaluation. The final exercise report will be posted to the DOE TEPP website (http://www.em.doe.gov/otem/program.html). Bill Timmer: Lessons Learned: Bill Timmer: 3) Gathering Objectives from EACH Response Organization Works Bill Timmer: 6) Match Expertise of Controllers & Evaluation to the Task, Use Resumes to match people to functional areas. 7) Train Controllers & Evaluators 8) Keep EVERYONE Informed by distributing the Management Plan Bill Timmer: 9) Job Titles Not Required (We made up job titles AFTER the exercise for purposes of the AFTER action Report. 10) Feed the Troops 11) Use Safety Professionals for Exercise Safety Bill Timmer: Lake County LEPC is proud to be the site and host for this exercise. The overall effect of this exercise will be felt for years. Importantly, we were able to support the DOE TEPP objective of "passing the baton" to local leadership for exercises involving transportation of radioactive materials. Bill Timmer: Probably best endorsement of the exercise came two weeks later. Headlines of a local paper proclaimed that plutonium would be shipped through our area. At the end of the article our LEPC Chair cites the excellent cooperation from local, county, state and federal in demonstrating we are ready for the unexpected with radioactive materials in transport." Bill Timmer: That is our prepared remarks. Ready for questions. Avagene Moore: Thank you, gentlemen. If you have a question for Bill or Dean, please submit a question mark (?) to the screen. Compose your question but hold it until you are recognized. Then hit 'Send' or 'Enter' to send your question or comments to the chat screen. Avagene Moore: First question of our Lake County LEPC representatives. Amy Sebring: ? Avagene Moore: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: This was a full scale exercise? Avagene Moore: ? Bill Timmer: Yes, involving 250 people and 27 response organizations, local, county, state and federal. Kevin Farrell: ? Avagene Moore: I noticed one of your lessons learned was "Feed the troops." How long was the exercise? Were you able to get food for them on the spot? Bill Timmer: Four hours beginning to end. We fed on the exercise site (coffee and doughnuts) and a full meal after at the Central Fire Station.... Bill Timmer: Northwest Indiana Red Cross provided the meals, etc. Daryl Spiewak: ? Avagene Moore: Kevin, your question please. Amy Sebring: ? Christine Van Horn: When will the final report be posted on the DOE web site and do you have the website address for it as of yet? Bill Timmer: Our timeline calls for mid January. Avagene Moore: Christine, please input a ? to indicate you have further questions. Kevin? you are next. Avagene Moore: Daryl S, while waiting for Kevin (we may have lost him) please send in your question. Kevin Farrell: Were the first responders (fire/police/EMS) prepared to deal with the nuclear hazard, or did they rely on DOE for that and support their effort? Daryl Spiewak: Did you plan for feeding and rotating the responders in the contaminated site? And what about disposal of contaminated clothing and equipment? Avagene Moore: (Sorry, Kevin.) Bill Timmer: We trained all responders using DOE materials. Our LEPC started training in 1998 .... Kevin Farrell: 's OK... there was a delay. Bill Timmer: Christine Van Horn was our lead trainer .... Bill Timmer: All responders also used DOE prepared materials prepared by HAMMER Bill Timmer: No plan for rotating responders. The scenario was short enough that it was not necessary ... Bill Timmer: Disposal of contaminated clothing was part of remediation plan that was prepared as part of the exercise. Daryl Spiewak: If the temperatures were high even four hours is a long time in protective clothing and masks. Avagene Moore: Bill, before taking Amy's question .... Bill Timmer: Actually, the temperatures were low enough. Most operations conducted in Level B or C. Avagene Moore: There were some of the lessons learned missing, 1 & 2, maybe 4 & 5. Was that intentional? Or did your copy/paste not pick them up? Would you mind repeating them for all of us? Bill Timmer: Lessons Learned: Bill Timmer: 1) E-Mail Works Bill Timmer: 2) Face Time During the Planning Process Translates into Exercise Success Bill Timmer: 3) Gathering Objectives from EACH Response Organization Works Bill Timmer: 3) Gathering Objectives from EACH Response Organization Works Bill Timmer: 4) No Detail is Too Small to be Managed, Use a DETAILED management plan Bill Timmer: 5) Local Management of Major Exercise Can Work Bill Timmer: 6) Match Expertise of Controllers & Evaluation to the Task, Use Resumes to match people to functional areas. Bill Timmer: 7) Train Controllers & Evaluators Bill Timmer: 8) Keep EVERYONE Informed by distributing the Management Plan Avagene Moore: Thank you Bill. That is better. Amy, your question please. Amy Sebring: Did you involve the media as role players? And/or did you get good actual media coverage of the exercise itself? Bill Timmer: Yes, both as actors and actual media ... Avagene Moore: ? Bill Timmer: Super support from Brian Quirke from the DOE Chicago Operations Office Avagene Moore: I like your wording, Bill. I assume 'Face Time' means real people in real meetings face-to-face? Did you have trouble involving so many organizations? Bill Timmer: Excellent media coverage. Brian worked with our local PIO, Ken Mika. Avagene Moore: (Please submit your ? if you have a question of Bill and Dean.) Amy Sebring: ? Bill Timmer: Yes. Real people in real meetings. Actually, we repeatedly remarked that "NO one said NO to us." Christine Van Horn: ? Avagene Moore: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: Do you feel that media involvement with the exercise had an impact on the subsequent story you mentioned? Bill Timmer: Yes, we allowed our media and VIPs total access to the exercise site ... Isabel McCurdy: ? Bill Timmer: This paid great dividends from all involved including our Congressman Peter Visclosky. Avagene Moore: Christine, you are next, please. Christine Van Horn: Has HAMMER released the plans as of yet for the release of the video - and do you know the plans for distribution? Bill Timmer: No, we are still awaiting the video. No dates set. Avagene Moore: Isabel, your question, please. Isabel McCurdy: Bill, You highlighted the word 'detailed' in your management plan. Could you provide some examples as to what small details were missing? Christine Van Horn: ? Amy Sebring: ? Bill Timmer: Barrier tape for the exercise site, moulage for the actors, transportation of actors back to the exercise from the hospitals. That is a few details ... Bill Timmer: If you are interested in receiving a copy of our exercise management plan, contact me at drlarson@uss.com. Avagene Moore: Christine, please. Christine Van Horn: I would like to submit a comment. The Lake County LEPC has been extremely pro-active in planning for potential incidents involving the transportation of radioactive materials. The success of the exercise is largely due to Bill Timmer, Dean Larson and Christine Van Horn: .... the entire LEPC who for years have planned for this type of scenario roger kershaw: ? Bill Timmer: Thanks, Christine. You said that just we wrote it. Avagene Moore: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: You mentioned a Congressman and VIP's. Did you have elected officials role playing? Do you think this was a good learning opportunity for them? Avagene Moore: ? Bill Timmer: Yes, we used a Town Council representative from the Town of Highland, the site of the exercise. Avagene Moore: Roger, your question, please. roger kershaw: I may have missed this info, but, were the responders all local firefighters? If so, are they all certified for haz-mat technician level? Or did you have a haz-mat team, using a volunteer team? Secondly, couldn't the DOE mitigate the hazard using their own people? Bill Timmer: The best learning experience was the access to the exercise site and the explanations by our narrator. Christine Van Horn: ? Bill Timmer: The local responders were from three fire departments. We have a count hazmat team. Most members of the team are technician level, some at Operations level. Bill Timmer: Our narrator was Ken Niles from the Oregon Department of Nuclear Safety. Avagene Moore: Aside from excellent leadership, is there one other major thing you can attribute to the Lake County LEPC success and growth? As you know, this is not true all over the country. Some LEPCs have not fared so well. Bill Timmer: We have several members who have been part of the committee since it inception in 1986 ... Bill Timmer: we have a strong working relationship with the heavy industry in the area ... Bill Timmer: we have representation from ALL stakeholders groups and we stress open communication in our meetings ... Bill Timmer: we try to leave the egos outside the door! Avagene Moore: Christine, your question, please. Christine Van Horn: What I mean is that several years ago, the Lake Co. LEPC could see the potential for incidents involving the transport of radioactive materials and began to prepare for them via training and the plan revisions... excellent foresight..... Blythe Cozza: I think our strength lies in the mix of people, i.e. industry, environmentalists, medical, etc. Bill Timmer: Blythe is one of our members. Avagene Moore: (If you have a question, please submit a ?) Amy Sebring: ? Avagene Moore: Christine, have you completed your comment? Don't want to run over you. Avagene Moore: Amy, your question, please. Amy Sebring: Did you activate a County EOC and test coordination with the site? If so, how did that go? roger kershaw: ? Bill Timmer: Yes, we did activate the county EOC ... Bill Timmer: using the mobile EOC. Some simulation because we wanted our key players (county officials) to be able to move through the site and observe first-hand. Bill Timmer: The activation went very well. Avagene Moore: Roger, please submit your question. roger kershaw: I had a second part to my question. It was, couldn't the DOE respond and mitigate radiation hazards? Darryl E Parker TFT: ? Dan Stowers: ? Bill Timmer: Sorry, Roger. Yes, DOE could respond alone but we were more interested in the integration of local, county, state and federal (DOE and EPA) to respond together ... Bill Timmer: Part of the simulation was compressing the response times (from two to five hours under normal conditions.) Amy Sebring: ? Avagene Moore: Darryl Parker, please. Darryl E Parker TFT: Did they test their public warning system? Bill Timmer: Yes, we tested CAN which is our county system paid for by local industries and public utility. Avagene Moore: Dan, you are next, please. Dan Stowers: Did the EOC staff work from the EOC or Mobile ops and how many requests were sent through them? Bill Timmer: CAN is the Community Alert Network, allowing to make 400 calls per minute. Bill Timmer: Worked through mobile command post and 12 requests .... Bill Timmer: activation of CAN was one of the requests processed. Avagene Moore: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: Did you use a "Unified Command" structure to coordinate the levels? If so, how did that work? Does DOE use the Incident Command System (ICS)? Bill Timmer: YES, worked great. DOE and EPA integrated with no problems ... Bill Timmer: we strongly believe the face time made it work ... Avagene Moore: ? Bill Timmer: when our Congressman asked for a briefing one month in advance, he was most interested in the integration through Unified Command. Don Hartley: ? Avagene Moore: You listed your lessons learned. What type of shortfalls did you find? Bill Timmer: Strong local commitment to the fire ground command system assisted to a large degree in the successful integration. Darryl E Parker TFT: ? Bill Timmer: Some issues involving exercise conduct, such as bringing together 70 evaluators and controllers from twelve different organizations ... Bill Timmer: firefighters responded as hazmat trained instead of radtrained .... Bill Timmer: this caused delay in triage and treatment of victims .... Bill Timmer: it was our first time to exercise our industrial rad responders ... we need more training!! Avagene Moore: Darryl P, your question please. Darryl E Parker TFT: Do you depend totally upon CAN for public alerting? Bill Timmer: The industrial responders response was considered a success. Bill Timmer: No, we have siren systems, local radio and TV and EAS. Avagene Moore: Don Hartley, sorry I overlooked your question, please input now. Don Hartley: You may have already covered this before I joined. How about a Joint Information Center? That is a key element. Bill Timmer: Strong leadership and advice from a PIO professional in Brian Quirke from DOE. Bill Timmer: The JIC worked. Amy Sebring: ? Avagene Moore: Amy, please. Amy Sebring: Do you have pre-written public warning messages? Avagene Moore: (Time for one more question, folks. Input your ? please.) Bill Timmer: Some, but not for radiation emergencies. Lesson learned for us. We will program them in within the next few weeks. Don Hartley: ? Avagene Moore: Don, please. Don Hartley: What are the biggest do's and don'ts we should know for exercise like this? Bill Timmer: Work with EVERYBODY, GET help early, team effort made the difference ... Bill Timmer: use Email and meet frequently and KEEP meetings short by working out the details in advance ... Bill Timmer: Don'ts ... Don't assume you can do it yourself (alone). ... Bill Timmer: Don't exclude ANYBODY who wants to play ... Bill Timmer: Do's ... local leadership will work if properly supported. USE OBJECTIVES ... Bill Timmer: We would be remiss to not mention the superb support provided to us by Ella McNeil and Daile Dietzel from DOE - Chicago Operations and Darrell Lankford from ORISE. Avagene Moore: Thank you, Bill and Dean ... The EIIP Round Table hour is about up. If you did not get to ask your question, please hang around for a few minutes after we officially close the session. If Bill and Dean can do likewise, you can ask your question and also thank them for sharing their experiences with us. Avagene Moore: Amy, would you please give us a few words about tomorrow's session and what coming next week? Please tell us about the Virtual Fire & Rescue Expo (ongoing) and WEBEX II, scheduled for this coming Friday night. Amy Sebring: Thanks Avagene. Tomorrow in our Classroom, we are pleased to present Sandy Eslinger, Coastal Hazards Specialist with NOAA's Coastal Services Center. Amy Sebring: They have developed a new community vulnerability assessment tool that was just yesterday made available on the Internet and Sandy will provide an overview. Amy Sebring: This methodology can be adapted for all hazards and in all locations, not just the coast, and I believe it is one of the most comprehensive approaches I have seen. Amy Sebring: Next week our Round Table features a new partner, HELPU Advocacy & Consulting Fire and Life Safety, represented by Leslie Little, its Director. Amy Sebring: Also, we are pleased to be hosting the Virtual Fire & Rescue Exposition Workshop chats this week. These take place primarily during the evening hours. For the complete schedule, see http://www.vfre.com/chatprogram.asp Amy Sebring: Speaking of exercises, we can also use some role players for Friday night's WEBEX. If you would like to participate in a major role, please come to our orientation session this evening at 7:00 PM EST in the EOC room. The password to the room is webex. Amy Sebring: Ok, that's it Avagene. Avagene Moore: Thank you, Amy. Bill, Dean -- any closing remarks? Avagene Moore: Thank you for taking the time to be with us today. Excellent session, Bill and Dean! Audience, we appreciate you as well. Avagene Moore: Bill and Dean -- final remarks? Bill Timmer: Thank you for honoring our LEPC and we thank DOE for the opportunity to exercise the leadership role in a major exercise. Avagene Moore: The EIIP Round Table is officially adjourned for November 30, 1999.