Breaking News
Local News

A lot on the line: Ohio derailment raises concerns about local disaster preparedness

By William Kibler 7 min read

It hasn't been lost on local emergency management officials that the Feb. 3 derailment of Norfolk Southern rail cars carrying hazardous chemicals through East Palestine, Ohio, has implications for Blair County.

Because of the Ohio derailment and its subsequent "controlled" venting and burning of vinyl chloride to prevent an explosion, Blair officials are planning a meeting to go over emergency procedures -- and are rethinking the basis for an exercise scheduled for August, said county Emergency Management Director Mark Taylor.

"For all of us in emergency management, a light bulb (went) off," Taylor said, referring to the East Palestine incident. "Knowing that some of these same chemicals are likely coming through Altoona, we want to be sure plans are in place."

Accordingly, Taylor is organizing a meeting of emergency management coordinators and officials from fire departments, the county hazmat team, police departments and ambulance services to discuss the implications of East Palestine.

And while a Transportation Community Awareness and Community Response (TRANSCAER) exercise scheduled for August was potentially going to feature a simulated highway crash, the subject now will likely switch to a train derailment, Taylor said.

In recent times, there have been perhaps a dozen actual derailments in this area, with varying causes -- none resulting in anything like the disruption that happened in East Palestine.

"We have been very fortunate," said Logan Township Emergency Management Coordinator Jeff Blake.

One issue raised by the Ohio derailment, which occurred a quarter-mile from the Pennsylvania border, has been Norfolk Southern's potential role, should a similar incident happen in Blair County.

The company has taken criticism for its handling of the aftermath in East Palestine -- including from Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro.

There, the company failed "to implement unified command, creating confusion and resulting in a general lack of awareness for first responders and emergency management"; gave "inaccurate information and conflicting modeling about the impact of the controlled release that made protective action decision making more difficult"; and was unwilling "to explore or articulate alternate courses of action" to the vent and burn -- thus limiting "state and local leaders' ability to respond effectively," stated Shapiro in an open letter to NS CEO Alan Shaw.

Blair expectations

If a major derailment happens here, Norfolk representatives must be part of the "unified command" set up to handle it, according to Blake.

"Anything less than that would be unacceptable," Blake said.

Integration of company representatives into a command team during an emergency helps ensure that all key players have all pertinent information they need to make decisions, Blake said.

In the past in Blair County, the company has fallen short in sharing information on minor derailments, according to Blake and Taylor.

"A lot of times you knew before I did," Taylor said, speaking to a reporter.

Even minor derailments can trigger rumors and public alarm, especially when they occur in publicly visible places, and company notifications to local officials allow those officials to quell rumors, Blake said -- adding that Norfolk has done better on that score in recent times.

Norfolk can bring important resources when there's a major problem, according to Taylor.

Overall, the company has been "a good community partner" -- including by participating in the periodic TRANSCAER drills, Taylor said.

The company "has a safety culture," said Dave McFarland, Blair County planning director, one of whose responsibilities is hazard mitigation planning.

"The safety of our employees and the communities in which we operate is our number one priority," Norfolk stated in an email. "To prepare for the rare instance of a significant incident, we work with hundreds of first responders across our network every year."

The company participates in "tabletop training" for communities that ask for it and operates a program that uses a "train outfitted with rail cars converted into classrooms," along with retired tank cars that enable hands-on training for responders, the company stated.

The East Palestine incident will provide an opportunity to learn, but that learning will go better with Norfolk Southern participation and "coordination at the local level," Blake said.

Evacuation a big task

Following the East Palestine incident, residents within a mile of the derailment were told to shelter in place, and evacuations began the next day. The vent and burn three days later furthered the evacuations.

Should a similar incident occur in Altoona, it would require "all hands on deck" for responders, said Altoona Police Chief Joe Merrill.

For such an incident, police would play a supplementary role, in contrast to "law enforcement-driven" events involving active shooters, Merrill said.

Emergency managers would look at the overall picture, and move resources around like chess pieces, Merrill said.

"It would be a monumental effort," he said.

"A big task for everyone," said Adam Free, the city's fire chief and head of the county's hazmat team, which consists of Altoona Fire Department members.

Life safety always takes priority, according to Taylor.

Notifications would be sent to all cellphones in the evacuation area through the Integrated Public Alert & Warning System -- the same system that handles Amber Alerts -- according to Blake and Merrill.

People who have signed up for Blair County's Smart911 alerts would be notified also through that system, which enables registration of both cellphones and landlines, along with special needs connected with those phone numbers.

There would be a coordinated effort with the media, so those can provide instructions to the public, Merrill said.

And there would be notifications sent through social media, according to Blake.

Finally, there would be door-to-door efforts, with responders looking for people who hadn't gotten the message -- or who might be unable to comply with the evacuation order due to disability, Merrill said.

Neighbors of those people would likely help direct responders, he said.

One of the key responsibilities of police would be traffic control, Merrill said.

That could mean making changes to traffic patterns -- such as turning 17th Street into a one-way thoroughfare to expedite residents leaving town, he said.

It could mean changes or manual control at critical intersections.

Mass evacuation might also mean asking Amtran to provide buses for those who don't have their own vehicles, said Logan Township Police Chief Dave Hoover.

There would also likely be the need for shelters for people who don't have somewhere to go, Hoover said.

The Blair County Convention Center is one potential site, provided it was out of the evacuation zone, Hoover said.

The role of police in such an emergency is actually not much different from their role in normal times -- to protect life and property, Hoover said.

Individual responsibility

Preparedness actually starts with individuals and families, according to Blake.

People should sign up for "Smart911" on the county website, he said.

Residents should also create an evacuation plan, Blake said.

That should include preparation of a "go bag," he said.

The go bag should include a few changes of clothes, medications, personal care items, nonperishable food, water and special needs items like medical devices, Blake said.

The items may not all fit into a bag, but they should all be stored together so they can quickly be stowed in a vehicle to be used if authorities call for evacuation, according to Blake.

In case of evacuation, residents must pay attention to the details of instructions from authorities, such as which direction evacuees should go -- whether that is based on heading away from the problem area or based on not aggravating congestion or based on staying upwind of a plume of toxic smoke, according to Blake.

"Take preparedness seriously," Blake said. "Use this incident in East Palestine not to become panicked, but (as) a reminder that we all need to be better prepared at every level."

"There's something to learn from all of these (kinds of incidents)," Taylor said of the East Palestine derailment. "That's our job now."

Mirror Staff Writer William Kibler is at 814-949-7038.

Starting at /week.