Va. Hazmat Crash Illustrates Problems

It is 4 a.m., and a truck carrying 17 tons of explosives lies on its side at the edge of a freeway ramp. A local fire chief — most familiar with battling house fires — faces the difficult decision of whether to shut down the busy interchange and evacuate nearby residents.

The results of his decision: An East Coast Interstate highway and commuter route is closed for 16 hours (including two rush hours), snarling traffic throughout a major metropolitan area, and dozens of residents are required to leave their homes.

It’s easy to second-guess the fire official who was forced to make this potentially life-or-death decision, and many in Northern Virginia did just that when this incident occurred on Interstate 95 in suburban Washington, D.C., in early June. The disruption of lives and commerce that followed that decision spurred some in the transportation industry to question the preparedness and competency of the nation’s first line of defense when an accident involving hazardous materials occurs.

Critics claim emergency responders are poorly trained, inexperienced and under-funded when it comes to dealing with hazmat accidents. To make matters worse, some carriers claim emergency workers can be downright dishonest in seeking reimbursement for their services.

Each day, 800,000 hazardous materials shipments travel the water, air, rails and roads in the United States, according to the Department of Transportation’s Research and Special Programs Administration. Only 15,000 spills or accidents are reported each year.

Scott Turner, president of HTTMC Response Organization in Parsippany, N.J., said emergency response teams in heavily industrialized areas tend to be better trained and more experienced to handle emergencies, but many other fire departments — often volunteer units — are not.

For the full story, see the July 5 print edition of Transport Topics. Subscribe today.