Office of Emergency Response 2016 Annual Report

Monitoring and Laboratory Division

I. Introduction During 2016, the Air Resources Board’s (ARB) Office of Emergency Response (OER) worked to strengthen its mission of providing emergency air monitoring support when local air districts have exhausted their resources to protect public health or the environment from a release of hazardous airborne contaminants. Concurrently, OER undertook efforts to improve interagency emergency response planning and coordination, conduct equipment and process evaluations, improve information management, and enhance overall OER program development. This report provides an overview of OER activities and accomplishments during 2016.

OER was formally established in 2009 to address concerns for public health and safety during wildfires and other major air emergencies in California. Since that time, OER has developed a nationally acclaimed wildfire smoke monitoring program to address the growing demand for this resource in California’s rural mountain counties. In recent years, OER’s capabilities have been requested by a growing number of local air district and public health agencies. Most recently, OER has begun to identify and pursue additional areas of opportunity to apply its resources, particularly with respect to industrial air release incidents and non regulatory instrument evaluations.

II. Emergency Response OER actively participated in response efforts for a number of incidents and accidental air releases during 2016. While the primary focus of OER’s response efforts in the past has been geared towards providing support to air districts for wildfire air monitoring, during 2016 OER also took a more proactive role in the coordination of support to the air districts for industrial incidents. The following narrative outlines the efforts undertaken by OER in 2016 to prepare for, respond to and monitor California wildfires, industrial related accidental air releases, and other emergency response-related incidents. Wildfire Response Wildfire Response Activities: Coordination - Throughout the wildfire season, OER staff actively monitored for wildfire status and responded to requests from air districts for monitoring support and services. A standard request procedure is posted on the OER and CARPA web pages and local air districts were trained on how to request air monitoring support from OER. Each air district that seeks OER for monitoring assistance is required to have a mission task assigned by CalOES in order to improve tracking of resources. The proper procedure is important because it enables ARB and local agencies to pursue disaster reimbursement in qualifying circumstances.

Upon identification of each new major wildfire, OER proactively contacted client agencies and air districts to coordinate response efforts and identify resources needed. Once OER resources were deployed to a fire, OER participated in the following coordination activities:

• Daily air response interagency conference calls o 1300 – ARB-led call to coordinate meteorology and forecasting for local

air districts o 1400 – OER-led call to coordinate air monitoring deployments and data

for wildfires • Weekly conference calls led by CalEPA with ERMaC representatives from each

Board, Department and Office under CalEPA Metrics - Over the past five years, the number of fires, and subsequent requests for assistance by local air districts, has steadily increased (Table A). During 2016, OER provided support to twelve major wildfires via eight formal mission tasks obtained through CalOES. Air district staff utilized OER’s cache directly to obtain support for four of the fires.

Photo 1: Deployed equipment to monitor the Soberanes Fire

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Table A.

OER Wildfire Response and Mission Requests

Year Number of Fires Number of Mission

Requests 2012 2 10 2013 6 7 2014 15 12 2015 21 20 2016 12 8

OER provided monitoring support to the following wildfires (county):

• Canyon (SLO) • Cedar (Kern) • Chimney (Inyo) • Cold (El Dorado) • Erskine (Kern) • Gap (Humboldt)

• Rey (Santa Barbara) • Sherpa (Santa Barbara) • Soberanes (Monterey) • Trailhead (El Dorado) • Tulley (Siskiyou) • Willard (Lassen)

Responding to more wildfires over the past several years, OER has increased its number of deployments, deployment sites, and hours of operation for its monitoring equipment, as outlined in Figure A. However during 2016, because a larger-than-usual proportion of the fires were located in Southern California districts that have more portable air monitoring resources, OER saw a decrease in deployments. During 2016, OER deployed E-BAMS to 21 sites, accumulating 23,237 hours of operation for all equipment deployed to wildfires. Several of these fires took longer to extinguish, resulting in a higher number of operating hours per site for 2016.

28 41 57 21

12,301

21,616

40,434

23,237

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

05,000

10,00015,00020,00025,00030,00035,00040,00045,000

2013 2014 2015 2016

Num

ber o

f Site

s

E-B

AM H

ours

E-BAM Sites and Operating Hours

Total Number of Sites Operating Hours

Figure A.

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Fire Response Reports – OER staff prepared and submitted the following reports and information related to the 2016 wildfires and OER response efforts:

• Daily CalEOC situation reports ("sit-reps") were provided, as required by CalOES, during activation of the State Operations Center,

• Daily OER wildfire response cost estimates were provided to CalOES, as required by for State declarations of emergency cost recovery,

• Weekly fire summaries were provided to ARB management, • Public website blog daily updates, • Air monitoring and health advisory information was provided to local health

officials as requested. Wildfire Debris Removal Operations: OER staff was mission tasked by CalOES to assist in a CalEPA multi-agency cleanup effort directed by the Governor’s Office via Proclamation of State Emergency. This project required full time offsite staffing on a rotational basis. OER staff was tasked to respond to the Erskine Fire coordinated debris cleanup project for a total of 20 days during August and September, and to the Clayton Fire coordinated debris cleanup project for a total of 13 days during September and October. OER staff worked with CalEPA, CalOES and CalRecycle to secure cost reimbursement, via an Interagency Agreement contract, for expenses related to OER involvement in these debris removal operations. OER continued to work with ARB and CalOES administrative services staffs to develop a standard process for cost recovery of reimbursable monitoring expenses. Equipment Readiness: Air Monitoring Equipment - The primary type of air monitors used by OER during its 2016 wildfire deployments was the MetOne E-BAM. The E-BAM measures concentrations of particulate matter in the sampled air in micrograms per cubic meter and has proven to be the most robust and versatile unit to collect smoke data. As the program has grown, more instruments have been acquired to fulfill the growing requests from the air districts, as is shown in Table A. Table B.

From 2012 to 2015, the OER repository grew from four E-BAMs to twenty-five, and every unit was utilized during the extraordinarily dry 2015 wildfire season. During 2016, OER purchased and received four E-BAMs, replacing the oldest four units. OER also received a U.S. EPA grant for six additional E-BAMS and ordered accessories for its four remote automated weather stations (RAWS). In an effort to explore more innovative, low cost sensors, OER developed a PM instrument evaluation proposal and ordered five different types of lower cost PM monitors that it will utilize and evaluate

Equipment 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016OER Wildfire Equipment InventoryE-BAM 4 7 21 25 29Casella Microdust 4 4 4 4 4FTS RAWS 4 4 4 4CO Monitors 3 3

Total 8 15 29 36 40

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during the 2017 fire season in conjunction with MLD’s broader Next Generation Air Monitoring (NGAM) sensor evaluation project. Maintenance and Calibration - Prior to and throughout the fire season, OER staff performed routine maintenance to ensure readiness and full functionality of all air monitoring equipment. To reduce future costs, OER initiated a change of maintenance and certification of its RAWS from a private contract to the Bureau of Land Management’s RAWS Depot, as part of OER’s RAWS integration into the federal Resource Ordering and Status System. This change should take effect in 2017. Remote Equipment Caches – While the bulk of OER emergency response equipment is stored and deployed from ARB’s shop located at 13th and V Streets in downtown Sacramento, OER staff worked with air districts to establish remote air monitoring equipment reserves, or caches, in the following locations:

• Redding, Shasta County • Mariposa, Mariposa County • Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County

OER staff delivered air monitoring equipment to each of these locations prior to the fire season so that it would be easily accessible to trained air district staff and would ease the need for immediate deployment of air monitors by OER staff during the busy fire season.

Photo 2: OER assisting SLOAPCD with instrument set-up

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Contracts – OER maintains the following annual contracts related to emergency response equipment and field activities:

• Field communication (AIRSIS, Lifeline) • Equipment maintenance (MetOne) • DeltaCal calibrators are maintained under a blanket contract with AQSB.

Wildfire Outreach, Coordination and Training:

OER routinely participates in and provides training on procedures related to emergency air monitoring through forums hosted by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), CARPA, and CAPCOA. Through a combination of instruction, group discussions, workshops, symposia, and hands-on exercises, OER reviewed and provided training in the practice and procedure of measuring and messaging smoke data during air emergency incidents. During 2016, OER staff participated in the following coordination and training events/activities:

• Wildfire Smoke Guide 2017 Update, A Guide for Public Health Officials –

OER collaborated with ARB’s Research Division, US EPA and USFS to revise the Wildfire Smoke Guide for local public health officials. OER posted the revised version on relevant websites and distributed it through the OER list serve.

• OER Fire Season Preparedness and Training Workshops – Working with the

CAPCOA Rural Districts Committee, OER staff provided training on emergency air response coordination, air monitoring, data gathering and management to local air quality, public health and emergency services representatives from the following counties:

o Northern Sierra AQMD o Yolo-Solano AQMD o Colusa County APCD o Colusa County Sheriff's Department o Colusa County Public Health Department o Butte County AQMD o Feather River AQMD o Yuba County Health and Human Services Department o El Dorado County AQMD o Amador County APCD o CalFire

• National Wildfire Coordinating Group– International Smoke Symposium – OER

staff presented an overview of California wildfire air monitoring response coordination.

• Wildland Fire Management Information (WFMI) System Workgroup – OER staff

attended the required training and is now a member of the WFMI workgroup.

• Oregon Pre-Season Wildfire Smoke Preparedness Coordination Call and 2016 National Weather Service Wildfire Season Planning Call – OER staff provided an update on California’s response coordination, tools, air monitoring data gathering and management practices.

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• U.S. EPA Wildfire Smoke Risk Communication Workshop – OER presented on the California integrated smoke management program at this national workshop of foresters, health officials and academics in September.

• Air and Land Managers Meetings – OER staff provided an update on California’s

response coordination, air monitoring data gathering and management practices, and 2017 PM Monitor Evaluation Study.

• CAPCOA Rural Section Meeting – OER staff provided training to air districts on

FEMA and CalOES reimbursement and cost recovery.

• CARPA Committee Meeting – OER discussed priorities for 2016 and joint efforts for a CARPA/IASC smoke response coordination training seminar.

Wildfire Situational Awareness: During fire season (typically beginning in June and ending in October), OER staff monitored for fire activity on a daily basis primarily through the following websites: Fire Activity:

• CalFire Incident Information web page – A continuously updated log of nonstructural fires in State and local contracted jurisdictions http://www.fire.ca.gov/current_incidents

• USFS Incident Information web page - USFS interagency all-risk incident web information management system https://inciweb.nwcg.gov/state/5/

• Fire Tracker - Tool for following and researching California wildfire activity http://firetracker.scpr.org/

• The National Interagency Coordination Center (NICC)-fire potential and predictive services tool which gauges potential fire activity https://www.predictiveservices.nifc.gov/

Modeling: • USFS BlueSky- links a variety of independent models of fire information, fuel

loading, fire consumption and emissions to produce smoke dispersion estimates http://smoke.airfire.org/websky/v1/

Public Messaging: • California Smoke Information Blog- a website with voluntary effort by city, county,

state, tribal and/or federal agencies to coordinate and aggregate information for California communities affected by wildfire smoke http://californiasmokeinfo.blogspot.com/

Air Quality: • EPA AirNow Wildfire Page - displays AQI and PM concentration values for

permanent and temporary PM monitors https://airnow.gov/index.cfm?action=topics.smoke_wildfires

• USFS AirFire Monitoring- webpage that provides graphs and displays AQI for permanent and temporary monitors http://www1.tools.airfire.org/monitoring/v3/

Industrial Response: During 2016, OER took a more proactive role in the coordination of support to the air districts for industrial incidents.

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Situational Awareness: On a daily basis, OER staff monitored for industrial related incidents via several methods of notification. In some cases OER staff was notified of accidental industrial air releases via phone or email, although most notifications were received via subscription to emergency systems, such as CalOES daily situation reports, State Warning Center notifications, local alert subscriptions, and industry sponsored alert systems. Outreach and Training: Upon receiving notification of an industrial incident/air release with potential community impacts, OER staff contacted the effected local air district to offer OER resources, as needed. OER staff also initiated meetings with CalEPA and U.S. EPA to discuss opportunities for OER assistance during future accidental industrial releases. Response Activities: During 2016, OER received and reviewed over 1,000 CalOES reports of accidental air contaminant releases. Of those, OER contacted and referred 50 via phone and email to local air districts for coordination and follow-up. OER offered technical assistance to local air districts on nine incidents:

• Monterey explosives warehouse • Fruitland magnesium fire • Ventura County oil pipeline spill • Ventura County oil tank fire • Lodi gas leak • San Pablo Bay oil spill • Yuba County odor complaints • Ventura County gas well leak • Richmond auto salvage yard fire

More information on OER monitoring and involvement in industrial air releases is provided in Appendix A.

Photo 3: Tesoro Carson sulfur tank breach and fire

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III. Emergency Preparedness/Response Planning and Coordination To ensure proper preparedness and coordination of ARB resources, OER participated in the following interagency emergency preparedness and coordination efforts: Interagency Collaboration: OER staff actively collaborated with various partner agencies at the federal, state, regional and local levels to ensure proper emergency preparedness and response in the following areas. Below lists these efforts with more detail available in Appendix B. Overall Emergency Preparedness:

• California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Emergency Response Management Committee (ERMaC)

• California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) • California Air and Land Managers (ALM) • California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) • California Air Response Planning Alliance (CARPA)

Wildfires:

• National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) • Interagency Air and Smoke Council (IASC) • Interagency Wildfire Monitoring Response Team • State of Oregon, Department of Environmental Quality • State of Nevada, Division of Environmental Protection

Industrial Incidents:

• Interagency Refinery Task Force (IRTF) • Contra Costa Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) Group • Refinery Industrial Hygienists Group (IHG)

Plan and Report Review: OER staff reviewed and provided input on the following plans and reports:

• California Statewide Emergency Response Plan • California Oil Spill Contingency Plan • California Accidental Release Program Regulations Amendment • Northern California Catastrophic Flood Plan • Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment/State Preparedness

Report • Sacramento County Area Plan Revision • US EPA Wildfire Smoke and Health Risk Communication Report • OEHHA Analysis of Refinery Air Emissions and Health Effects

Exercises and Drills: OER staff participated in the following coordinated, interagency emergency response exercises:

• Cascadia Rising (State exercise) • Vigilant Guard (State-coordinated national exercise) • Phillips 66 Oil Spill exercise (private)

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IV. Equipment and Process Evaluations In addition to routine OER emergency preparedness and response activities, OER actively participated in several efforts geared to assess and evaluate both processes and equipment related to air monitoring, primarily in response to unanticipated air releases, as well as nonemergency related projects.

• Refinery Assessment Report – OER staff continued to refine its development of the Refinery Emergency Air Monitoring Assessment Report. During 2016, drafting of the report was completed and the report was circulated for review by ARB management and air district staff. ARB staff held several conference calls with the affected air districts to discuss the report, make recommended changes, and collaborate on the public distribution process, which is anticipated for early 2017. ARB also developed a draft implementation work plan based on the report’s recommendations and key tasks needed to initiate the program.

• Next Generation Air Monitoring (NGAM) Instrument Evaluation Workgroup –

OER staff led a division-level technical team charged with assessing innovative and low cost sensor technology for air monitoring. The team participated in a Board-wide strategic planning process involving multiple divisions to guide ARB’s roles, responsibilities, and actions in support of next generation air monitoring programs, particularly community air monitoring and environmental justice programs.

• Laboratory and Field Evaluation of Real-Time and Near Real-Time PM 2.5

Smoke Monitors – OER staff laid the ground work for a study to identify potential candidate monitors for measuring PM 2.5 mass over wide concentration ranges from biomass burning. This study will utilize both an environmental chamber as well as field tests. Initially, the study was planned to be completed during the 2106 fire season; however, due to limited funding was delayed to the 2017 fire season. OER staff is currently procuring contract services and instruments for this study.

• Imperial Valley Monitor Study (non-emergency) – OER staff collaborated with

other MLD sections to provide instruments and services for a study that collected data for three months beginning in March 2016, comparing monitoring data of the modified Dylos sensor instrument with the Met One E-BAM at six sites in Imperial Valley.

• Argonaut Mine Site Stabilization and Remediation Project - OER was tasked by

CalOES to deploy a remote automated weather station (RAWS) to the Argonaut Mine in Amador County for monitoring of meteorological conditions. The hourly averaged RAWS data is being evaluated by U.S EPA Region IX in a multi-agency toxic site stabilization and remediation project. The concern is that higher-than-average precipitation anticipated for the 2016/17 winter season may lead to a failure of aging retention dams that protect the residential and commercial communities in the City of Jackson from exposure to toxic metals in mine tailings.

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• Integration of OER RAWS into Federal Resource Ordering and Status System (ROSS) – OER staff evaluated and initiated integration of OER’s inventory of RAWS into the Federal ROSS network. OER will continue efforts to fully equip its four weather stations so they can be fully integrated to the NWS-certified data management system. OER staff also switched maintenance agreements from a private contractor to the BLM ROSS Depot, via a pending interagency agreement. Once this agreement is fully executed, OER staff can work with CalFire to collaborate on maintenance, acquisitions and cooperative uses.

V. Information Technology and Management OER Resource Tracking: OER staff identified the need for improved tracking of OER resources and initiated development of an internal Access database, which is used to store information on mission task requests, OER resource deployment and demobilization, equipment maintenance, labor and costs. This database has proven valuable in not only enabling OER to better account for equipment and maintenance, but also in assisting OER and Budgets Office staff in tracking costs eligible for reimbursement. Website Maintenance and Improvements: OER staff oversees development and maintenance of content for ARB web pages including the Refinery Air Monitoring and California Air Resources Planning Alliance (CARPA) web pages. During 2016, OER staff revised OER web pages to be consistent with ARB’s new format and updated content on these pages. Additional website upgrades are scheduled through 2018.

Photo 4: Imperial Valley Monitor Study

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VI. OER Program Development Strategic Plan: In an effort to further develop OER capabilities, OER staff initiated a strategic planning process. Staff conducted several meetings to identify core roles, responsibilities, and opportunities for growth and improvement. This plan will be finalized in early 2017 and reviewed/revised annually, as part of an annual review and report process. Staff Training: OER staff participated in the following emergency response related training:

• CalOES cost recovery • Air monitoring equipment setup and maintenance • Annual CUPA Forum • Annual HAZWOPER refresher • Remote automated weather stations network administration • Annual Continuing Challenge hazmat response training and instrument expo

To better ensure cross-training and full capability of all OER staff to perform essential OER functions, OER staff initiated development of comprehensive internal staff guidance manual. While OER already had developed several guidance components (i.e., wildfire guidance and procedures, contact lists, equipment setup and maintenance guidance and forms), OER staff developed the following additional guidelines for incorporation into the overall staff guidance manual:

• OER strategic plan (basic OER staff responsibilities and functions) • AirFire & AirNow data collection and evaluation guidelines

OER staff also began preparation of a guidance document for all ARB employees to provide information on the State’s disaster service worker policy, as all state employees may be called to serve outside ARB during a state emergency or disaster. This guidance document will be posted to the ARB Inside pages in 2017, in support of the ARB Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) that is scheduled for update in 2017 under OER’s leadership. Cost Recovery: OER staff participated in a cost recovery training/workshop held by CalOES and learned of potential opportunities to recover wildfire disaster response related expenses. OER staff coordinated a follow-up meeting with CalOES and submitted grant applications for qualified expenses incurred by OER. These grants were approved and OER staff is working to provide required documentation. It’s anticipated that OER will recover approximately $95K in air monitoring response costs incurred during the 2016 wildfire season. OER staff also worked to develop an Interagency Agreement with CalRecycle for cost recovery of OER staff work on the Governor mandated wildfire debris removal.

VII. Future Objectives OER has identified several opportunities and assignments to enhance capabilities and provide more robust emergency response, particularly related to industrial incidents. OER envisions creating a stronger network of well-coordinated and prepared response

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entities, and working to incorporate use of innovative technologies. Below are areas of focus and projects anticipated for 2017 to help OER achieve these objectives:

• Enhanced industrial air monitoring program, • Expanded interagency coordination for refinery and industrial preparedness, • Further evaluation of next generation air monitoring sensors, • Update of OER’s instrument longevity/replacement plan, • Integration/expansion of innovative air monitoring capabilities to non-emergency

sector, • Web-based portal for improved communications during incidents, • Operational data tracking platform development for field inputs, • Update of the ARB COOP.

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Appendix A

2016 OER Industrial Responses

Air Release Notification Summary

Month

Reports (Non Refinery)

Reports (Refinery)

Reports (NH3 - Ventura

Foods)

Total Read Receipts

Report Referrals

Responses1

Jan 65 13 5 83 24 3 0 Feb 64 7 5 76 19 3 0 Mar 83 26 9 118 38 7 0 Apr 50 13 5 68 15 2 1 May 74 8 7 89 23 3 0 Jun 73 22 13 108 48 7 2 Jul 92 6 11 109 23 1 0 Aug 74 10 7 91 29 4 2 Sep 74 8 7 89 22 5 0 Oct 40 6 2 48 7 5 2 Nov 43 7 0 50 9 6 1 Dec 72 10 2 84 22 4 1 Total 804 136 73 1013 279 50 9

Response Summary Date Incident Air District Description

4/13/16 Monterey Explosives Warehouse

MBUAPCD Provided information and procedural guidance to Monterey Bay Unified APCD and APCO Richard Stedman regarding a proposed explosives detonation event at an abandoned low-grade munitions plant in Hollister, CA.

6/14/16 Fruitland Magnesium Fire

SCAQMD Contact SCAQMD and US EPA for coordination and to offer assistance.

6/23/16 Ventura County Oil Pipeline Spill

VCAPCD Provided guidance to VCAPCD on ICS coordination.

8/5/16 Ventura County Oil Tank Fire

VCAPCD Offered monitoring support via Santa Barbara E-Bam cache and provided guidance on ICS coordination.

8/15/16 Lodi Gas Leak SJVAPCD Offered monitoring support to district. 9/20/16 San Pablo Bay Oil Spill BAAQMD Notified air district of spill and provided modeling

support to Solano County Environmental Health. 10/7/16 Yuba County Odor

Complaints FRAQMD Assisted district in identifying source of unknown

odors. 11/3/16 Ventura County Gas

Well Leak VCAPCD Offered monitoring support to district.

12/16/16 Richmond Auto Dismantler Fire

BAAQMD Coordinated with EPA Region IX and BAAQMD. Provided monitoring guidance.

1 See response summary and detailed description on following page.

OER 2016 Annual Report

Monterey Explosives Warehouse, Hollister CA - 04/13/16 Cal OES was informed of an incident in Hollister, Monterey County where Monterey County Sheriff (MCSO), US EPA and CA Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) located 15 tons of explosive materials on the property and in the residence of a business that used to produce less lethal munitions for law enforcement and the military. The subject allowed his permits to expire, and due to a lack of money, was unable to move the explosives to another location. EPA and DTSC considered the explosives abandoned and MCSO determined the safest way to mitigate the hazard was through controlled detonations. The incident garnered local media attention. Upon daily review of the CalOES situation report, OER performed internal agency notification and provided information and procedural guidance to Monterey Bay Unified APCD APCO Richard Stedman. U.S. EPA and DTSC oversaw the disposal operation and public health messaging, and ARB had no further role. Fruitvale Magnesium Fire/Gemini Plastics Incident, Maywood CA -June, 2016 - The three-alarm fire in the 3500 block of Fruitland Avenue ripped through a pair of commercial buildings early June 14th, sparking a series of strong explosions and sending a thick plume of noxious smoke over the region. Dangerous conditions imposed by “tons” of chemicals at the site hampered firefighters’ efforts to douse the flames, authorities said. Firefighters were ordered to use breathing apparatus because of the fumes from the magnesium and a number of other substances at the business, officials said. OER reached out to SCAQMD to offer support, SCAQMD notified state support was not warranted. OER also reached out to USEPA Region 9 contact, Harry Allen, via email to discuss role of EPA in response and how EPA is requested; however, no response was received. Ventura Oil Spill June, 2016 – OER contacted Ventura County APCD to notify them of spill, discussed options for deployment and created plan to put them in contact with Incident Commander and environmental unit. Ventura County APCD coordinated monitoring with the other environmental responders, USEPA, RP contractor, and issued air advisories to citizens in the oil spill vicinity and also gathered air samples using summa canisters as a precaution. Oil Tank Fire, Ojai, CA – August 5, 2016 The Ventura County Fire Department responded to a fire at a 2,000 gallon petroleum oil tank near Highway 150 and Topa Road. Fire officials estimated the burning tank contained approximately 42 barrels of oil and let it burn our while ensuring it did not spread to brush in the area. The tank exploded before it eventually burned out. OER responded to the CalOES spill report notification of the incident by conducting internal notification and reaching out to Ventura County APCD staff. OER advised district staff to work within the local response agency ICS and discussed lending portable E-Bam equipment from the Santa Barbara cache to supplemental monitoring already underway; however, the fire was not of long enough duration to warrant the extra monitoring.

OER 2016 Annual Report

Lodi Gas Leak- August, 2016 - OER responded to a phone call warning notification at 2100hrs on August 15th from the California Office of Emergency Services informing that there is a size-able unknown gas leak near Lodi, California. The leak was estimated to be releasing at 600 psi and had been releasing for approximately 4 hrs. CHP, PG&E and hazmat arrived on scene. The incident number is 16-4980. San Joaquin Valley ACPD responded by phone to acknowledge receipt of the notification. By 0400hrs the next morning the leak was fixed and the incident was deemed under control and no longer posed a threat. Oil Spill, San Pablo Bay, CA – September 20, 2016 The California State Warning Center (CSWC) received a report of a pungent odor in Contra Costa County that resulted in a shelter-in-place advisory. Subsequent overflights of the area by the United States Coast Guard (USCG) identified two oil sheens on San Pablo Bay believed to be from a tanker at the Phillips 66, Rodeo refinery as the likely odor source. USCG and California Department of Fish and Wildlife Office of Oil Spill Prevention and Response (OSPR) established a unified command and Joint Information Center with the refinery, with joint press releases made by OSPR and the USCG. The Bay Area Air Quality Board responded and tested the air around tanks with infra-red sensors and did find one tank that had been being filled with crude, at the time of, which was possibly leaking fumes. The refinery fence line monitors showed no significant levels of pollutants. OER notified the BAAQMD of the incident as a result of routine monitoring of CalOES spill reports, conducted internal notifications, and later notified U.S. EPA Region 9. OER also coordinated ARB modeling support for Solano County upon their request to estimate the source of the odor complaints. Yuba County Odor Complaint- October, 2016 - A flurry of odor complaints had been received from Feather River APCD. Mysterious odors in different parts of the county were reported to the air district and public health departments. The odor was very strong at points and believed to have been emanating from drainage ditches. The APCO checked traditional sources and found no evidence of fertilized or disrupted soil, checked manure and poultry farms, fertilizer storage, septic ponds, and farming facilities and could not find anything that may be the culprit. He contacted the local ag commissioner, health officer, Water Board and spoke with Fish and Game about what could be the source. OER was going to be requested to collect and analyze air samples using summa canisters when it was determined the culprit was a fertilizer farm that had a miscommunication with their employees and applied fertilizer. The farm was legally permitted to apply the fertilizer. Gas Well Leak, Ventura, CA – November 3, 2016 Cal OES reported a gas leak is from a 2" 800 psi line at the Aera Energy facility on the northern edge of the City. The local fire department was on scene and monitored the perimeter of the facility for LEL as the leak continued unchecked. Ventura County APCD also established monitoring and collected canister sampling as a result of a complaint. OER reached out to the district during routine review of CalOES spill reports and conducted internal notifications. The district declined OER’s offer for the use of two "ppbRAE" handheld VOC analyzers.

OER 2016 Annual Report

Auto Dismantler Fire, Richmond, CA – December 16, 2016 Richmond Fire responded to a fire at the Deal auto Wrecking Yard at 400 W Gertrude Ave, and Chevron Fire assisted with its foam unit. OER responded to the resulting Contra Costa County community warning service shelter in place advisory by working with Cal OES, ARB public information staff, U.S EPA Region 9 and BAAQMD to coordinate response to the incident. OER was able to determine that Chevron’s community monitoring stations provided information on the community impacts of the incident.

OER 2016 Annual Report

Appendix B

Office of Emergency Response Interagency Collaboration

Overall Emergency Preparedness: California Environmental Protection Agency (CalEPA) Emergency Response Management Committee (ERMaC) – representatives from each of the CalEPA boards, departments and offices that coordinate preparedness for and respond to environmental emergencies in California under assigned statutory authorities. ERMaC meets bi-monthly to discuss preparedness activities, and more frequently for response coordination during wildfire season and other incidents/disasters. OER staff serves as ARB’s liaison to the ERMaC. California Office of Emergency Services (CalOES) – state agency within the Governor’s Office that oversees and coordinates emergency preparedness, response, recovery and homeland security activities within California. OER coordinates with CalOES daily during response to wildfire impacts. California Air and Land Managers (ALM) –various air quality and land management agencies at federal, state, and local government levels that meet quarterly to discuss air and land management issues. OER participates as an ARB liaison to this group. California Air Pollution Control Officers Association (CAPCOA) - association of the air pollution control officers from all 35 local air quality agencies within California. OER collaborates with CAPCOA by providing information and training on ways ARB can support air districts during unanticipated air quality related emergencies. California Air Response Planning Alliance (CARPA) - collaboration of federal/state/local/tribal agencies that aim to provide a forum for air quality professionals, environmental and public health departments, and public information officers, to facilitate response coordination and agency capabilities for responding to hazardous air release incidents and protecting the public’s health in California. CARPA meets annually to discuss direction and strategies to improve incident preparedness capability and response activities.

2016 OER Annual Report

Wildfires: National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) - representatives from the United States Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and other federal and tribal land representatives and is responsible for establishing a national set of training and equipment standards across the different wildfire response agencies. OER coordinates with this group on training for wildfire response. Interagency Air and Smoke Council (IASC) - forum for air regulators, land managers, and fire managers to discuss air quality and smoke management issues in California. IASC meets bi-annually and OER participates in matters relating to wild fire and prescribed landscape burning which have large impacts to air quality in California. Interagency Wildfire Monitoring Response Team –representatives from OER, local air districts, county health officials, and USFS that collaborate daily during wildfire incidents on air monitoring response and dissemination of health-related air quality information to the public. Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Program (Oregon DEQ) and Nevada Division of Environmental Protection (NDEP) – collaboration with adjoining state environmental partners. OER participates on pre-fire season preparedness discussions, collaborates on program updates, and coordinates monitoring activities during incidents when both states are experiencing air quality impacts from a specific fire. Industrial Incidents: Interagency Refinery Task Force (IRTF) – representatives from various state and local agencies, including ARB’s OER, that collaborate on better coordination of refinery safety and compliance, as well as improved preparedness for future refinery related incidents. Community Awareness and Emergency Response (CAER) – local and regional non-profit public benefit corporations of public emergency response agencies, local government officials and facilities and businesses that use, store, handle, produce or transport hazardous materials. OER attends quarterly meetings as a representative of ARB. Refinery Industrial Hygienists Group (IHG) – collaboration of Bay Area industrial hygienists on refinery health and safety issues. OER attends quarterly meetings as part of its work on the Refinery Emergency Response Assessment Report.

2016 OER Annual Report