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County better prepared with hazmat team

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Janesville firefighter Kent Shea discusses the results of his chest xrays with nurse practitioner Sue Ipsen towards the end of a physical late last year. Shea and other members of Janesville's Haz-Mat team are required to get regular physicals due to their exposure to hazardous materials.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Janesviile firefighter and HazMat team member Kent Shea takes a deep breath as nurse practitioner Sue Ipsen listens. Shea and other team members are required to have regular check-ups due to their exposure to harmful substances.

Photo

Photo by Bill Olmsted

Mercy Health Systems xray technician Ted Heyel sets up Janesville firefighter Kent Shea during a mandated physical late last year. Shea, and other Haz-mat team members get regular physical due to their exposure to toxic elements.

JANESVILLE — Industrial solvent leaking from a semitrailer truck overturned on the Interstate near Marshall Middle School.

A toxic cloud of anhydrous ammonia drifting over Highway 59 east of Milton.

Drums containing an unknown substance found in a ditch near Clinton.

Those are a sampling of incidents handled by the Rock County hazardous materials response team, which will celebrate it’s fourth anniversary in March.

“It’s like an insurance policy you pay for, thinking it’s a waste until you need it,’’ said Jim Jensen, deputy chief at the Janesville Fire Department.

“We were vulnerable before, when we had a couple suspicious powder calls. Thankfully, they were not real terrorism incidents,” he said.

Although a hazardous materials response team was something county officials had talked about for 20 years, it was local anthrax scares in late 2001 that pushed agencies into action. Police and firefighters responded to several calls of suspicious white powder that people feared contained anthrax, but the emergency responders weren’t properly equipped.

Since its inception March 19, 2005, the team has responded to 13 incidents.

“I hope we never have to use the team to respond to a terrorism incident. But if we do, we are better prepared today than 10 years ago,” Jensen said.

The team of 36 Janesville firefighters covers the entire county.

A hazmat team leader and six to eight team members are on duty every day at the Janesville Fire Department.

Equipment is stored in a trailer, but the Milton and city of Beloit fire departments have decontamination trailers used on hazmat calls throughout the county.

“It’s a nice resource to have,” said Kent Shea, a Janesville Fire Department paramedic/firefighter and a member of the hazmat committee.

“A company can call through the shift commander and talk to a hazmat team leader, 24/7 and get information. We get a lot of calls where we don’t want to send a lot of people and equipment out if we don’t need to,” he said.

Hazmat training carries over to day-to-day operations, Jensen said.

“On a number of calls, we’ve saved environmental damage with the equipment and expertise. We’ve also assisted the Department of Natural Resources a couple times,” he said. “So we’re improving our quality of life with the training and equipment we have access to.”

Level of need

Jensen said 13 incidents handled by the team in four years is not a surprise.

“They’re right about where I expected them to be,” he said.

“If our hazmat team responds on a couple significant calls per year, I’d think that’d be normal,” Jensen said.

The Level B team can handle all but the most serious hazardous materials incidents. For those, the Level A team in Madison would be called. The local hazmat team, however, has some Level A training and some Level A suits.

Starting the local team cost about $125,000. Funding came from donations from the public, local industry, chemical companies and county tax dollars. A Homeland Security grant was used to buy a van and trailer, Jensen said.

The Janesville Fire Department works with the county to pay for 24 hours of training per year for each hazmat team member.

The team’s 2008 budget was less than $30,000. This year’s budget is $48,000 but includes team member training and physicals plus equipment maintenance, Jensen said.

Annual grants help replace equipment, Jensen said.

The Janesville Fire Department is reimbursed for costs.

“We supply the personnel and equipment. It is an additional responsibility of the firefighters tacked on as part of the Janesville Fire Department. It’s another thing we do like divers and tech rescue,” Jensen said.

Rock County residents do not pay extra for the team.

The fire department bills the county for firefighter overtime, supplies and equipment used at a hazardous materials incident. The county, in turn, bills the person who created the spill at a rate of $350 an hour plus costs for disposable supplies, Jensen said.

HAZMAT CALLS

Since it went into service March 19, 2005, the Rock County hazardous materials response team has responded to several incidents. Some of the 13 incidents below were handled by fire department personnel that included hazmat technicians:

April 5, 2005—A semitrailer truck carrying trichloroethylene, a chemical commonly used as an industrial solvent, overturns on Interstate 90/39 near Marshall Middle School, 25 S. Pontiac Drive, Janesville. Fire department and hazmat personnel help secure the scene, extricate the driver, contain the spill and monitor the removal of the truck and hazardous chemical.

April 26, 2005—A punctured 150-gallon fuel tank on a semitrailer truck leaks diesel fuel near a storm sewer at 2020 Milton Ave., Janesville. Firefighters used special hazmat equipment to contain the leaking fuel and prevent it from entering the storm sewer.

Jan. 17, 2006—An overturned semitrailer truck on Interstate 90/39 at Highway 26 in Janesville leaks diesel fuel while the driver is trapped in the cab. Firefighters stabilize the truck, extricate the driver, control the leak and contain the fuel spill to minimize ground contamination before monitoring the safe removal of the vehicle and hazardous waste.

March 18, 2006—A gasoline tanker driver tries to fill an underground storage tank that already is full, resulting in a spill of 50 to 60 gallons of gasoline at Lions Quick Mart, 1620 W. Highway 14, Janesville.

April 19, 2006—Gasoline overflows from a vehicle when the driver leaves it unattended while fueling at Stop-N-Go, 1604 E. Racine St., Janesville. The gasoline runs into a storm sewer, causing danger of explosion and an environmental concern. Team members use absorbents and petroleum booms at two locations in the sewer to capture the escaping gasoline while monitoring and ventilating the dangerous vapors.

April 21, 2006—Liquid fertilizer leaks from a damaged hose and faulty valve on a field sprayer at Beloit Avenue and Delavan Drive, Janesville. Team members help secure the area, contain the chemicals and prevent it from draining into the storm sewer.

May 1, 2006—Several hundred gallons of diesel fuel leaks from a train locomotive near North Academy Street in Janesville during a rainstorm. Firefighters use absorbents and sand to minimize the hazard and environmental damage.

Sept. 8, 2006—A fuel tank on a semitrailer truck leaks diesel fuel on Milton Avenue in Janesville. Firefighters plug the leak and prevent further environmental damage.

June 30, 2007— A leaking anhydrous ammonia tank at a farm at 8201 E. Highway 59, Milton, creates a slow-moving, toxic cloud that drifts over Highway 59 east of Milton. Several homes are evacuated, and the highway is shut down while team members attach an additional valve to stop the leak.

July 13, 2007—Several drums of an unknown substance are found illegally dumped in the ditch at Highway 140 and Tighe Road near Clinton. The DNR is called to investigate and handle the cleanup.

Nov. 13, 2007—Ethylene oxide leaks from sterilizing equipment at Beloit Memorial Hospital, 1969 W. Hart Road, Beloit. Team members go inside and monitor air quality to determine when the area was safe for others to enter.

June 15, 2008—Anhydrous ammonia leaks from a broken pipe at City Ice Co., 475 N. Main St., Janesville, where the chemical was being used as a refrigerant. Team members go inside, fix the leak, monitor the air and help ventilate the building.

July 16, 2008—Mercury spills from a broken vacuum/pressure gauge at the Janesville city transit garage at Highway 51 and East Memorial Drive. The hazmat team leader accompanies a fire department engine crew. A spill kit is used to help pick up the mercury, and a waste disposal company is called to haul it away.