April 23, 2013
Version 4
FINAL
RRT-8 Meeting Oct. 30-31, 2012
State, federal and tribal representatives of the Regional Response Team (RRT) met October 30-31,
2012, at EPA’s Region 8 headquarters in Denver. This was the inaugural meeting for co-chair Michael
Sams, U.S. Coast Guard District Incident Management and Preparedness Advisor. Sams recently retired
from the Coast Guard and will serve as the RRT-7 and RRT-8 co-chair and the RRT-6 alternate co-chair,
succeeding Edward J. Cubanski (still serving as alternate R8 co-chair).
David Ostrander, RRT-8 co-chair and Director of R8 Emergency Response and Preparedness Program,
welcomed attending guests and encouraged all the agencies represented to offer their thoughts and
ideas on how to elevate awareness of this organization at the highest levels of state and federal
government about what this organization can do in the event of a large scale disaster.These comments
generated much group discussion and suggestions were made to address such organization as the
National Governors Association and the National Council of State Legislators.
Ostrander also spoke to the RRT about the newly named Director of the Office of Emergency
Management at EPA, Larry Stanton, who is concerned that the Region be prepared especially for two
potential scenarios: the threat of a major bio-chemical event, such as anthrax, and to be prepared in
the event of a dirty-bomb radiological catastrophe. Stanton’s vision is that the nation prepare for such
an event by creating a High Hazard Team of skilled On-Scene Coordinators (OSCs) that would be
specifically trained to manage such a huge event. This concept presently is only in formative stages.
Also new to the RRT was Todd Peterson, U.S. Coast Guard District’s Environmental Protection
Specialist. He serves as the Regional Response Team Coordinator along with Gina Cristiano, Emergency
Response & Planning Coordinator for R8 EPA.
Sub ACP Update (Green River Plan Review)
Kerry Guy, OSC, gave an update on the Sub Area Contingency Plans for the Green River. EPA’s Region 8
produces about a fifth of the nation’s oil and, another 20% of the nation’s oil flows through the area
from Canada, he said. There are 8 to 12 major pipelines and 10 to 15,000 miles of pipe located in the
Region. The NCP requires that each region prepare for potential worst case scenario oil spills. As an
example of such, the Enbridge Oil Pipeline rupture on July of 2010 resulted in more than a million
gallons of crude oil spilled and, two years after the incident, cleanup continues.
Region 8, in developing their approach, has taken a watershed view of response plans to create a
model for pre-planned response strategies working with industry and local community resources and
identifying unusually sensitive ecologic areas that could sustain irreversible damage in the event of a
catastrophic spill. All of the plans have integrated ICS, guidance materials and points of contact.
Kerry uses DOT pipeline data base which tracks oil flow in the Region and also maps the areas with
threatened and endangered species. He has also worked with Fish & Wildlife maps that identify critical
habitat, with NatureServe ecosystem mapping and the Western Hemispheric Shorebird Reserve
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Network which identified two major areas of critical importance in Region 8. Such maps help to
indentify sensitive areas and to prioritize Regional response.
Much discussion followed the presentation concerning the lack of usefulness of the old plans, how
current the OSC guidebook was kept and whether the goal for the Region should be to create plans on
the ground level or at a watershed level. The RRT agreed to:
 Draft Sub Area Contingency Plan boundary designations, which will be sent out to the RRT in
advance of the next scheduled meeting for approval.
 Develop a written strategy, schedule and milestones (roadmap) to define Sub Area Contingency
Plan development. This will also include a broad description, identifying plan content.
Revised Hazard Communications Standards: Globally Harmonized System Alignment
Christine Lorenzo, OSHA Health and Safety Manger Region 8, outlined recent changes to OSHA
standards including adjustments that will make the U.S. system of classifying chemicals synchronized
with globally recognized standards.
The Globally Harmonized System helps enhance worker comprehension of hazards, provides workers
quicker and more efficient access to information, and reduces trade barriers by harmonizing the
system around the world, said Ms. Lorenzo. Major changes include:
 Chemical manufacturers and importers are required to determine the hazards of the chemicals
they produce or import and provide specific criteria addressing health and physical hazards as
well as the classification of chemical mixtures.
 Chemical manufacturers and importers must provide labels that include a signal word
(identifying the severity of the hazard), pictogram, hazard statement and precautionary
statement for each hazard class and category
 Safety Data Sheets (formerly MSDS sheets) contain 16 specific sections ensuring consistency in
presentation of important protection information
 To facilitate understanding of the new system, the new standard requires that workers be
trained by December 1, 2013, on the new label elements and safety data sheet format, in
addition to current training requirements.
GIUE Policy and Guidance
Melissa Payan, R8 Oil Program Coordinator, Craig Myers, R8 OSC, and Michael Sams, R8 Coast Guard
RRT co-chair, gave a presentation on Government Initiated Unannounced Exercises.
The program conducts surprise inspections on facilities that are required to develop and maintain a
Facility Response Plan to ensure that their plans are adequate.
Region 8 has an active program and performs 10 to 12 unannounced inspections per year. Ms. Payan
stated that the Region targets high risk facilities, new facilities that have never had a GIUE, and
facilities that have had a recent discharge or have persistent problems with their plans.
The drills are mandated by OPA 90, Myers said. Some of the goals of the exercise are to ensure that
the facility has enough boom for containment, can produce recovery equipment within two hours and
can achieve on-water containment in less than four hours. Failure to comply has resulted in fines as
high as $1.5M in Region 8.
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Sams said that the Coast Guard District 8 is currently developing a GIUE policy outlining clear
expectations, expects to discuss these with Area Committees and has a goal of having that policy in
place by December 2012.
Silvertip Oil Spill Lessons Learned
Bonnie Lovelace, Montana DEQ Regulatory Affairs Manager, outlined her organization’s in houseassessment of preparedness and provided lessons learned from the agency’s involvement in the
Montana ExxonMobil Silvertip Oil Spill that occurred July 1, 2011, which resulted in 63,000 gallons of
crude oil spilled into the Yellowstone River.
Montana DEQ used a number of tools to review their processes including root cause analysis, a
modified ishikawa (fishbone) diagram, and identifying opportunities for improvement. They solicited
comments from DEQ incident participants and received more than 300 entries from 33 participants.
All comments were reviewed, the facts verified and follow-up interviews were held for clarification and
further fact finding.
They divided opportunities for improvement into three levels including organizational, programmatic
and ICS Specific. The next steps at the time of completion were for upper management to read the
report and to determine DEQ’s future role in incident response. To date, DEQ has agreed to primary
roles in ESF 10 and 12; they are active participants in SERC and RRT, have begun ICS training and are
developing in-house plans for implementation of their lessons learned.
Chemical Countermeasures
Region 8 EPA presented changes proposed to Subpart J Annex, currently about 50 pages in length. Gina
Cristiano, RRT coordinator, said the document in its original form was difficult to read and, in the field,
not being used due to its length. In the new language, though only a little more than three pages, EPA
attempts to retain the purpose and intent of the original document, while creating a concise, easy-touse version that succinctly relates the same message.
RRT suggestions included identifying what changed and what went away, possibly formalizing the
state’s representatives to the RRT and stating terms of office (possibly two years), outlining the line of
succession (3 deep in every jurisdiction), clarify the language specific in situ burn piece in the RCP and
to add records retention requirements. RRT members suggested that the regions should try to capture
and share information across regions on chemical countermeasures.
It was also suggested that the Regional Contingency Plan be reformatted to follow the NCP (similar to
Region 7). A proposal was suggested to update the RCP in sections, outlining for reviewers the
importance of each modification.
Three Hot Sites
OSCs gave presentations on three hot sites in Region 8 : Colorado Precision Plating (Craig Myers), Box
Elder, Montana, Gasoline Spill (Marty McComb) and Pine Ridge, South Dakota, Asbestos and Lead
Paint (Paul Peronard). A hands-on presentation was also given of the new Viewer technology which
enables an OSC to analyze a site using layers of data, such as street names, pipeline, rivers and water
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bodies, etc. The RRT was able to access maps, zoom into site specific information and experience firsthand the capabilities using Viewer technology.
McComb said he uses Viewers as a management tool for logistics, and can help responders know
where to go and what to do, and the tool can help identify where to stage people as they are coming
in. The system is also capable of pulling in real time information.
A Few Agency Updates:
Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment: Greg Stasinos reported that wildfire was the
key word this last summer and has been their focus for the last three months. CDPHE also participated
in a major training event, VORTEX –EMS System Training, in which they performed simulated
responses to a series of tornadoes that, as a part of the exercise, ravaged the Denver area.
Three Affiliated Tribes representative Jessica NumKena said the oil and gas industry has had a major
impact in North Dakota in the last year and that, as a result, they have experienced several fires, dealt
with fracking, and worked spills related to that industry. Her organization has been working with
county and state governments to collaborate and build relationships and recently also with FEMA.
Williston recently experienced an earthquake, that some feel could be related to fracking. She
mentioned that Steve Way, OSC, has assisted them with developing an Area Plan.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: The coordination between USACE and the RRT is normally at the USACE
division level. However, the Northwestern Division is located in Portland, OR, and covers three EPA
regions. The division Environmental Compliance Coordinator (Tim Dykstra) will continue to coordinate
with EPA Region 10 in Seattle, Jeremy Szynskie (Omaha District) will be the point of contact with EPA
Region 8 in Denver, and Charles Hall (Kansas City District) will be the point of contact for EPA Region 7.
Szynskie reported that in 2012 his agency had been working on levee repairs and dam projects in
response to 2011 flooding events. The levee work is nearly complete, but the dam projects are
ongoing. The Omaha District has been impacted by oil and gas development in North Dakota. There
are no hydrofracking operations started on project lands, but there are some shallow wells that were
installed in the early 1980's. There is directional drilling (and hydrofracking) from wells on adjacent
lands that extend under USACE property. We have reviewed numerous requests for oil and gas
pipelines to be bored under project lands, including Lake Sakakawea.
The Omaha District was impacted extensively with the second order effects of the oil and gas
development, specifically the population growth in Williston, ND. This has impacted the city of
Williston's wastewater treatment facility (which is located on USACE property), and USACE is working
with the City on plans for expansion of the plant.
Nancy Hauter, OSHA, said they had worked to develop an OSHA class for oil and gas workers now
offered at Red Rocks Community College. She said that normally in North Dakota there are 10-12 work
related fatalities in a year, but this year a total of 27 have been reported as a result of the oil and gas
boom, making that state first in the nation in work place fatalities. They are planning a Safety StandDown exercise in North Dakota, patterned off a similar exercise that occurred in Oklahoma in July of
this year.
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Montana Department of Environmental Quality: Bonnie Lovelace said that her state created an
emergency response framework signed by the governor. All Hazard Incident Management Assistance
Teams have to be ready to go by year-end, under the auspices of SERC. Wildfires have been a major
problem this year, but she said that she takes great pride in observed professionalism of the fire
fighters. A nuclear training exercise is being planned at Malmstrom AFB.
FEMA: Mary Beth Vasco reported that FEMA Region 8 deployed Thursday in response to Superstorm
Sandy. Most federal offices were shut down and eight states had already received Stafford Act
declarations. Her agency has been requesting that all federal agencies have a plan in the event of an
anthrax attack. Ostrander responded that OSCs already have antibiotic prescriptions and are able to
respond to such an emergency.
Kathy Atencio, EPA Preparedness Unit Chief, spoke about the many outreach programs that EPA was
involved in, including attending SERC and LEPC meetings and starting an initiative to visit all 27 tribes in
the Region (10 last year and 10 in FY 2011). This past summer in June they held an oil and gas
workshop especially for tribes and assisted with 43 exercises in the Region including three major ones:
"Eagle Horizon" (the Devolution National Level Exercise), the "Utah Shakeout" (FEMA-sponsored Utah
Earthquake Exercise) and the Wide Area Recovery & Resiliency Program (WARRP, DHS-sponsored
Chemical, Biological and Radiological incident recovery exercise). They assisted with a simulated
anhydrous ammonia spill exercise with the Turtle Mountain Tribe in Belcourt, ND, and also helped the
Ute Mountain Tribe in, Towaoc, CO, plan for how to deal with potential H2S explosions.
Robert Stewart, Department of Interior, said that his agency was involved with the many spring
wildfires in relation to cultural and historical sites.
Department of Agriculture, Beth O’Brien, said that USDA put together a White Paper outlining disaster
response and recovery leads for each agency involved. They also recently went through desk officer
training walking participants through the correct procedures on how to cover phones. USDA recently
completed a Strategic National Stockpile exercise involving agency veterinarians as key players dealing
with live animal movement.
Utah Department of Environmental Quality, Ty Bailey, said the next legislative session will involve a
revamping of the emergency management code involving interstate emergency mutual aid and an allhazards approach to response.
Michael Riley, Utah Department of Public Safety, said the Utah ShakeOut exercise was a major event
that involved a lot of EPA partners. He said it was a good learning experience and that they would be
gearing up for a similar exercise this spring. On a local level, they are planning a biological/dirty-bomb
radiological preparedness event in the northern part of the state on the weekend of Nov. 10.
ATSDR: David Dorian said that his organization continues to address health issues with the oil and gas
industry and recently added a toxicologist, Scot Sudweeks. He mentioned that the CDC has recently
changed the blood-lead level of concern for children from 10 to 5 micrograms per deciliter, stating that
there really is no safe level for lead in the blood of children.
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ATTENDING: Bethany O’Brien, APHIS; David Dorian, ATSDR; Greg Stasinos, CDPHE; Kerry Kimble,
Colorado DEM; Robert F. Stewart, DOI; Jonathan Tatlock, DOI/BLM; Gina Cristiano, EPA; John Goodrick,
EPA; David Ostrander, EPA; Craig Myers, EPA; Kerry Guy, EPA; Mark Wullstein, EPA; Martin McComb,
EPA; Paul Peronard, EPA; Barbara Nisley, EPA; Kathie Atencio, EPA; Melissa Payan, EPA; Joyce
Ackerman, EPA; Bradley Miller, EPA; Joyel Dhieux, EPA; MaryBeth Vasco, FEMA; Dennis Killinger, GSA;
Donna Vallejos, GSA; Vickie Deal, GSA; Bonnie Lovelace, MTDEQ; Corey Campbell, NIOSH; Bruce Young,
ANL/AMC; Pete Cooper, ANL/AMC; Ray Ledbetter, ERT; Ty Bailey, UTDEM; Michael Riley, UTDPS;
Michael Sams, USCG; Todd Petrson, USCG; Leigh Van Lear, USCG; CarneLee Gagnon, USCG; Jeremy
Szynskie, USACE; Dave Anderson, NPS; Nancy Hauten, OSHA; Jessica NumKena, TAT Homeland
Security.
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