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HomeMy WebLinkAbout13 - Hazardous Materials Emergency Response SystemApril 25, 2000 Council Agenda Item No. 13 To: Mayor and Members of the City Council From: Timothy Riley, Fire and Marine Chief Subject: Revision to Our Hazardous Materials Emergency Response System RECOMMENDATION Discontinue the Newport Beach type II hazardous material team operations. Contract with the Orange County Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Authority (OCHMERA) for type I hazardous material team response. Maintain 3 certified hazardous materials specialists at the captain rank and one in the fire prevention division to provide expertise on hazardous material incidents and issues and assist with the hazardous materials disclosure program. BACKGROUND Over the past ten years, we have reduced the budgetary support for our hazardous materials response unit. This has proven to be an effective way to meet our budget guidelines without impacting public safety. It is now time to take a new look at how we provide these services and decide whether we should renew our fiscal and administrative support for this service or find a new way to ensure we can respond to hazardous materials emergencies. The Operations Division of the Fire and Marine Department has completed a comprehensive review of our current hazardous materials response capabilities and has documented their findings in the attached report. We believe we can maintain the level of service provided to the citizens of Newport Beach by taking the actions identified above while reducing our budget and administrative demands. This report addresses our current situation, outlines our recommended action and provides options for City Council consideration. FISCAL IMPACT The recommended action will save $557,921 as opposed to option 1, and $242,487 as opposed to option 2, over the next three years. Newport Beach. Fire and Marine Department Operations Division City of Newport Beach Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 Executive Summary Recommendation: Discontinue the Newport Beach type II hazardous material team operations. Contract with the Orange County Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Authority (OCHMERA) for type I hazardous material team response. Maintain three haz mat specialists at the captain rank and one in the fire prevention division to assist with the disclosure program and provide expertise on hazardous material incidents and issues. Discussion The City of Newport Beach is home to many environmentally sensitive areas. The citizens are interested in diligently protecting these areas and have supported the programs necessary to do so. One of these programs is a city hazardous materials response team. At the time it was developed, it was felt that having our own response team would ensure a rapid response to an incident that might result in the contamination of our precious natural resources. In the years since the team's inception there have been improvements in prevention measures, firefighter first responder capabilities and other agency responses. In addition there has been a severe reduction of incidents requiring a response. While the city needs to continue to put a high priority on protecting our citizens and environment from harmful pollutants, we must continue to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of our methods. It is our opinion that the value of maintaining our own hazardous materials response team no longer justifies the cost of maintaining it. There are better ways to utilize these resources and maintain the high level of protection we currently enjoy. Fiscal Impact The recommended action will save $557,921 as opposed to option 1, and $242,487 as opposed to option 2, over the next three years. Page 1 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 Report Background The Newport Fire Department Hazardous Materials Response Team entered service as a Type II team in 1986. At that time, three Type I response teams served the County of Orange from Anaheim, Orange County and Santa Ana Fire Departments. The team was organized to respond to the potential threat to city residents from three semiconductor manufacturing plants, an active metal plating operation and concern for the extensive waterfront and sensitive natural habitats within the city. Prior to commencing service, the Newport Beach Fire Department entered into a unique agreement with the Huntington Beach Fire Department to jointly staff the county's fourth type I team. Each agency agreed to provide a type II unit with three trained members on a daily basis to meet the county-wide requirement of six state certified Hazardous Materials Technicians per Type I unit. Each agency also provided a response vehicle equipped with all the tools, instruments and entry equipment necessary to provide for the three assigned personnel. All personnel selected as members of the Hazardous Materials Response Team have completed a hazardous materials academy lasting six weeks and met California State Fire Marshal requirements. In addition, all equipment carried on the response vehicle is in accordance with a predetermined inventory which has been standardized for all county haz -mat teams. Vehicle inventory, as well as training, continuing education and certification requirements, are administered by the Hazardous Materials Tecluiical Advisory Committee under the authority of the Orange County Fire Chiefs Hazardous Materials Emergency Response Plan. Newport Beach Hazardous Materials Response personnel are assigned to Station Two at 475 32nd Street, where their primary function is to respond to fire emergencies as crew members on Newport Truck 62. In the event of a request for response to a hazardous materials incident, truck personnel staff the department's hazardous materials vehicle and are dispatched to the emergency as Newport Haz -Mat 62. Upon arriving at the incident, both Newport and Huntington Beach Haz -Mat personnel assemble and operate as a single Type I team until the incident is concluded. In addition to their truck and haz -mat duties, Newport Haz -Mat personnel are also responsible for all annual fire safety inspections at occupancies that fall within the fire department's Hazardous Materials Disclosure Program. Page 2 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 In 1990 a countywide joint powers authority ( OCHMERA) was established to equalize the financial responsibility of responding to hazardous materials emergencies. All municipalities and the County of Orange were invited to join the authority, which established billing for Haz -Mat response on a pro rata basis. Four agencies were defined as service providers, Anaheim, the County of Orange, Santa Ana and the joint team of Newport Beach/ Huntington Beach. This arrangement has helped to defer some of the costs, which prior to the agreement were borne almost exclusively by each response team. The Newport Beach Hazardous Materials Team has responded to several major incidents throughout Orange County, including the Hixson Plating plant fire in 1987. This incident, which occurred in Newport Beach, continued for several days and required the assistance of city, county and federal agencies to bring to successful conclusion. Recommendation Rationale Hazardous material responses have declined dramatically as a result of several factors: • There are fewer high -risk hazardous material businesses in the city than when the team was established. • There are fewer responses to hazardous material releases as a result of a better regulated and prepared business community. • A very effective inspection program identifies potential problems and prevents releases. Most hazardous material team responses are not in the City of Newport Beach. As a provider agency with the OCHMERA we are required to respond anywhere in the county. When this happens, one of our fire companies is taken out of service and is not available to serve our needs. This can result in delayed responses in some cases. Even with this expanded response area, the number of incidents are low. The team rarely uses the skills they are capable of and maintaining proficiency is a challenge. There is minimal training available for haz mat team members. When activity is low, training must be increased to maintain skills and safety. At one point the revenue received from OCHMERA helped to offset the operating costs to a larger degree. Because of the reduced level of activity, these revenues have diminished greatly. So while the costs continue to increase, the revenues to support the team are declining. Page 3 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 The number of trained haz mat technicians has declined due to promotions and assignments. The recent recession forced us to reduce our operating costs over a five year period and funds to replace technicians were not available. Haz mat technician training has not always been available, so replacing members of the team can take a while. Therefore, we have fallen below the number necessary to maintain our share of the staffing. The Newport and Huntington teams do not spend enough time training together as a unit. This renders the joint team less safe and effective than fire managers are comfortable with. The Huntington Beach Fire Department intends to train the additional personnel required to maintain a haz mat team on their own and we anticipate they will operate more cohesively. There will still be four teams in the county that will be available to respond to Newport Beach, one of which is in a city adjacent to us. In conclusion, the fire operations managers believe the effort and cost needed to maintain an effective, efficient and safe hazardous material team is out of proportion to the benefit derived. Operational Impacts Response - The difference in response time will not have a negative impact on haz mat responses. Haz mat teams move slowly and deliberately. The same number of haz mat teams from OCHMERA will continue to be available for response in Newport Beach. They are located in Huntington Beach, Irvine, Santa Ana and Anaheim. Newport Beach is ideally located for a timely response from 3 of these teams. When one of our four haz mat specialists is not available for consultation, we will contact one of the four OCHMERA teams. Haz mat releases in the harbor or bay will be handled by existing firefighters who are trained haz mat first responders, just as it is today. In fact, it is the Coast Guard and State Fish & Game who are responsible for managing environmental protection of our waterways. That will not change. Inspections - Appropriate haz mat disclosure inspections will be assigned to the haz mat specialists to maintain their effectiveness. Public Relations - On occasion we send the haz mat unit to community functions involving environmental protection issues. In the future we will send one of our specialists with the display when available. Management - A reduction in management support will result since the need for specialized training, equipment, supplies and a vehicle would be reduced. Much Page 4 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 needed flexibility in assigning personnel to stations will result when there is no longer a need to keep the haz mat team members together. Personnel - Haz mat team members feel they are not totally supported by administration in funding, training, nor leadership. Most feel we should do it right or not at all. Those members who are no longer serving as technicians will lose their pay bonus and will most likely be unhappy with the loss of income. The relationship between haz mat personnel and other suppression personnel at times is strained. Suppression personnel feel that haz mat teams are getting paid extra for doing very little. Reassigned personnel will no longer need to split their time between haz mat duties and regular duties. Fiscal Impacts The first year cost of a type I OCHMERA team and maintaining a department staff of specialists is $50,431 with continuing costs of $79,585 over the next two years. This is a very cost effective way of providing basically the same service we have today. Page 5 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 Other Options Not Recommended: Option 1- Newport Type I Team Develop our own type I team and provide the recommended funding and support. Rationale This option is not recommended because of the cost and negative operational impacts it would create. The start up costs for training alone would be nearly $240,000. The need to train many more firefighters is expensive and requires a great deal of personnel movement. We believe the firefighter's interest in this specialty training does not exist in the numbers that would be necessary. The need to maintain the technical skills necessary to operate safely would overwhelm our abilities and budget. In summary, the low level of activity is not worth the expense and effort, and. there are other satisfactory ways to get the service. Operational Impacts A Newport type I team would ensure a well- coordinated team that works and trains together. It would not require the assistance of another unit in certain circumstances. However, if personnel are required to make a Level I entry, another team would still be necessary. Both of these situations are rare and therefore there is little gained in developing a type I team. Fiscal Impact The first year cost of a type I Newport Beach team is $354,909 with continuing costs of $333,028 over the next two years. Page 6 Hazardous Materials Team Operations April 6, 2000 Option 2 - Newport Type II Team Continue the current level of operation and increase funding and support to maintain a safe and effective operation. Rationale The current level of operation is not acceptable. The number of members has declined and more firefighters need to be certified. The vehicle is old and needs to be replaced with a more appropriate one. The training necessary to maintain skills that are rarely utilized needs to be improved and is difficult to obtain locally. This will require us to spend much more money ($40,000) than we are now. There is concern that we are not as safe or prepared as we need to be if we are to provide this service. This option is not recommended because of the cost and negative operational impacts it would create. The need to train more firefighters is expensive and requires personnel movement that sometimes conflict with other operational and training needs. In summary, the low level of activity is not worth the expense and effort, and there are other satisfactory ways to get the service. Operational Impacts There will be improvements in the safety and reliability of our current operation. Fiscal Impact The first year cost of a type II Newport Beach team is $120,955 with continuing costs of $251,547 over the next two years. Cost Summary Fiscal Year 99/00 00/01 01/02 02/03 3 yr. Total OCHMERA Type I Team 50,431 39,369 40,216 130,016 Option 1 - Newport Type I Team 354,909 164,705 168,323 687,937 Option 2 - Newport Type II Team 82,228 120,955 124,225 127,322 372,502 OCHMERA savings over Option 1 304,477 125,336 128,108 557,921 OCHMERA savings over Option 2 70,524 84,856 87,106 242,487 Page 7