I went to the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) meeting for Cleveland County last week to ask questions about what the local response would be if an explosive derailment of crude oil were to occur. George Maudlin, the Cleveland County Emergency Manager, was not too concerned over the possibility. He said the Bakken Shale oil shipments are over-hyped and said there are far more volatile chemicals being transported through Cleveland County by rail. I said that may be true, but the boom in domestic shale oil & gas production has put more dangerous tankers on the aging rail infrastructure. Recent explosive derailments have leveled city blocks and killed dozens of people. Wouldnt that warrant some additional planning? Maudlin also said that the committee didnt have access to the information on oil-by-rail shipments. Thats not true. Despite a federal emergency order issued by the USDOT intended to make it easier for LEPCs and first responders to access this information, Maudlin denied that the LEPC had access to the number and frequency of oil-by-rail shipments coming through Cleveland County. He was oppositional and dismissive. He didnt seem to notice or to care that the minutes from the last LEPC meeting in September (which he did attend) contradicted everything he was stating publicly. I pointed this out... no reaction. At least with people in positions of authority, there is a noticeable correlation between their level dismissiveness and professional competence. The LEPC, I quickly realized, is not in any overt way a policy-recommending body. Still, I encouraged those other committee members who might have concerns over the managers lack of awareness and accurate information to speak with fellow first responders and city leaders to address the issue. A couple of the City of Norman representatives who usually attend the quarterly meetings were not present. On a more positive note, the chairperson for the LEPC pointed me to some of the publicly available materials which the Emergency Manager claimed he did not have access to. Unfortunately, the representative from DEQ who usually attends and couldve answered some of the questions, was not in attendance. I also asked about what the plan would be should the new pipeline under Lake Thunderbird rupture. One City of Norman employee from the water treatment plant explained that representatives from Plains All American LP had come to Norman to conduct a emergency drill for such a scenario. The next meeting of LEPC meeting for Cleveland County is scheduled for the first Wednesday in March at Norman Regional Hospital Education Center.
Posted on: Tue, 09 Dec 2014 15:17:52 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015