Excerpt from a PREP report: DEQ supports cleanup of freight train collision
Two CSX trains, one northbound and one southbound, collided at approximately 3:15 a.m. on September 22, 2005, in Southampton County. Each train carried three crew members, an engineer, a conductor and a trainee. All six crew members were injured in the incident, and the wreck spilled over onto Route 671, requiring its closure.
There were four state and two federal agencies involved, including DEQ’s PREP coordinators from the Tidewater Regional Office. The National Transportation Safety Board and Federal Railroad Association approved a DEQ request that cleanup be initiated to minimize overall impact to the environment while the review of the accident was ongoing.
The trains contained diesel fuel, lube oil and battery acid that had leaked a large amount on the ground (totaling several thousand gallons). DEQ suggested that the cleanup be conducted in three phases to properly set priorities. All parties involved agreed to this action plan and began the cleanup. PREP conducted an additional site inspection on September 27, 2005, to confirm that no visible contaminates were present at the site.
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Pollution Response Program
Oil spills and fish kills are a few examples of the incidents reported to DEQ’s Pollution Response Program. Complaints also range from highway accidents to train derailments.
As a result, “PREP coordinators have to know a little about everything DEQ does,” said John Giese, PREP program manager.
DEQ’s responsibility in responding to pollution incidents is to ensure proper cleanup to protect the environment and human health.
The coordinators work closely with local governments and first responders to lessen environmental impacts and ensure cleanup according to Virginia’s air, water and waste laws and regulations. They also work with other state agencies and programs, such as permitting, to ensure a complete response and documentation of an event.
“PREP coordinators act as conduits of information,” Giese said.
Coordinators can receive reports of pollution incidents via phone, fax or email. They may respond by providing technical assistance to firefighters and police at a site of a pollution incident, reporting the incident to another agency if it isn’t handled by DEQ or following up with those responsible for the pollution incident to ensure that the cleanup was handled properly.
“First responders mitigate the immediate danger,” Giese said. “DEQ’s responsibilities begin at the end of the emergency.”
When cleanup is required, usually the company or person responsible for the incident hires a contractor to clean up the pollution release to the environment. If the company or person does not take responsibility, then DEQ can hire a contractor with money from either the Virginia Petroleum Tank Storage Fund for oil spills or the Virginia Environmental Emergency Response Fund for other incidents. After the cleanup is completed, the agency will seek recovery of the funds from the responsible party.
In other cases, pollution incident reports may not be what they seem, and explaining Virginia’s environmental laws and regulations are often part of the job.
“A lot of what I do is educational outreach with the public and local government,” said Patty Greek, PREP coordinator for the DEQ Northern Virginia Regional Office.
A citizen will see used oil being poured down a drain in an automotive repair shop and think it is being improperly disposed, for example. However, the investigation will reveal that the shop is following state regulations because the drain actually leads to an underground storage tank.
DEQ has PREP coordinators and staff on-call after hours in each of its seven regional offices. After normal work hours, environmental emergencies reported to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management are referred to on-call DEQ staff members.
Transportation-related pollution incidents can range from a tanker truck spill to abandoned containers of oil. For minor incidents, the local first responder, often with assistance from the Virginia Department of Transportation, will manage environmental concerns. For more significant pollution incidents or when requested by state agencies or the first responders, PREP coordinators provide assistance.
Since information is the program’s primary commodity, effective communication in the field and the office has been a hallmark of the program since it began under another title about 35 years ago. Then on-call personnel had to remain near a land line phone to wait for emergency calls. As technology has changed so have PREP’s communication tools.
Now a new statewide system is being distributed across Virginia that will help facilitate communication among state agencies, local governments and first responders, and DEQ will be able to utilize this system when responding to pollution incidents. Called STARS for Statewide Agencies Radio System, the digital communication system integrates radio and wireless data communications. The system will be rolled out on a regional basis, and DEQ’s Piedmont Regional Office PREP coordinators are scheduled to receive the agency’s first delivery this spring or summer. The program also plans to provide an online pollution complaint form that will be available via the agency’s web site.