Fort Bend County Local Emergency Planning Committee - Ron Drachenberg, FBC Engineering

Fort Bend County Local Emergency Planning

CommitteePresented by

Ronald Drachenberg, P.E., R.P.L.S.

and Raymond Engelhardt

Chairman – Fort Bend LEPC

Fort Bend County LEPC

• The Fort Bend County LEPC was established to meet the requirements of the federal Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (or EPCRA, also known as the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act (SARA), Title III) for emergency response planning.

Fort Bend County LEPC

• The Fort Bend County LEPC was formed in the summer of 1987 under the Federal Guidelines of SARA Title III and the Texas Hazard Communications Act of 1986.

• These legislations were passed as a result of a tragedy where an accidental chemical (pesticide) was released from a plant.

• 2,500 people were killed initially

• 15,000 people were dead within the first month

• 500,000 people were exposed

• 120,000 plus people have suffered the effects of the disaster, such as breathing difficulties, cancer, serious birth-defects, blindness, and other related problems

Objectives of the Fort Bend County LEPC

• LEPCs are required to receive the annual Texas Tier Two (Chemical Inventory) Reports from facilities in their jurisdictions.

• LEPCs use this information to perform hazard assessments for their communities. In addition, the LEPCs must make information from these reports available to the public, upon request.

Objectives of the Fort Bend County LEPC (cont.)

• Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) work to understand chemical hazards in the community, develop emergency plans in case of an accidental release, and look for ways to prevent chemical accidents.

Membership in the Fort Bend County LEPC

• Membership in the Fort Bend County LEPC comes from different agencies throughout the county such as industry, area Fire Departments, Emergency Medical Services, Fort Bend County agencies, local merchants, and county residents.

Membership in the Fort Bend County LEPC (cont.)

• This sharing of knowledge and resources maximizes the coordination of the LEPC.


• The Chairman, Vice Chairman, and Secretary are all elected by the members of the LEPC and serve a two year term.

LEPC Officers

• Chairman – Raymond Engelhardt, NRG Texas Power LLC, W. A. Parish Generating Station in Thompsons, Texas, Safety Specialist/Emergency Response

• Vice Chairman – Shane Carter, Fluor Corporation

• Secretary/Treasurer – Kevin Kress, Fort Bend County EMS

Membership in the Fort Bend County LEPC

Andy Slater Nalco Company

Aubrey Campbell US DOT

Bill Davidson Exxon Mobil Pipeline

Blain Nix Garner Environmental

Brock Bowers Texas Instruments

Bruce McFarland Nalco Company

Charles King FBC IT

Charles Schneider Lyondell / EHCMA

Courtney Smith Fort Bend Office of Emergency Mng.

Danny Jan FBC OEM

Darrell G. Denison Conoco Phillips Pipeline

David Corona Champion Technologies

David Olinger FBC HHS

Dexter Littlefield Triumph Hospital-Southwest


Don Hoffman Seminole Pipeline

Donald Lawson Fort Bend County Constable Pct. 1

Donny Guebara Richmond FD

Eric B Volkman Sugar Land Fire Department

Frank Lerch Union Pacific Rail Road

Gilbert Guajardo Central Unit

Jason Vaughn FBC Engineering

Jeff Braun Fort Bend Office of Emergency Mng.

Jennifer Ross TDCJ Jestor III Unit

John Hollemon Homeland Preparedness Project

Kevin Kress Fort Bend County EMS

Kevin Turner TDCJ Jestor III Unit

Larry Perry Pecan Grove FD


Laureen Bayer TDCJ Jester IV Unit

Leon Sanchez TDJC Jester IV Unit

Marci Perry Sugar Land Fire Department

Mason Mills Stafford FD

Matt Whiteside Champion Technologies

Mike Hafer Richmond FD

Neil Campbell Schlumberger

Nick J. Guillen Greater Houston LEPC

Pat Hughes Sugar Land OEM

Pat O'Conner Akzo Nobel

Patrick Mullens Sugar Land Fire Department

Raymond Engelhardt NRG Texas Power LLC

Ron Dille Fort Bend County EMS


Ronald Drachenberg Fort Bend County Engineering

Ross Gonzales Techradium

Roy Mercer Sugar Land

Ruth Hearne TDCJ Jester III Unit

Sean Gutierrez Sugar Land Fire Department

Shayne Carter Fluor Corporation

Shelby Startz O’Rourke Petroleum

Stephen Noto Richmond FD

Wilbur Miller Miller Safety Consultants

William Turner Nalco Company

A Non-profit Agency

• The LEPC program was passed as an unfunded mandate, meaning that no Federal or State operational funding has been designated for LEPCs to complete their mission.

A Non-profit Agency (cont.)

• Therefore, the LEPC functions as a Non-profit organizations (501-C3) independent of Federal, State, or local government.

• The LEPC relies mainly on donations of cost and materials from industries and grants from the Texas Department of Health and Governor's Division of Emergency Management.

Activities of the Fort Bend County LEPC

• The Fort Bend County LEPC is active in many aspects of Hazardous Materials Planning, Mitigation, Response, and Recovery.

• The LEPC has developed data collection projects to determine the magnitude of risks and vulnerabilities to HazMat events, as a result of grant funding from the Governor's Division of Emergency Management.

Activities of the Fort Bend County LEPC (cont.)

• Examples of these projects include a Highway Commodity Flow Survey, a Railroad Transport Risk Analysis, a Demographical Risk and Vulnerability Analysis, a Telephone Citizen Attitudinal Survey, a Warning and Alert Analysis, and an LEPC Hazardous Material Awareness Training.


• The LEPC completed a full scale drill in 2007 that involved many county and city agencies.

• These agencies included local Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, Hospitals, Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management, Schools, and other county and city personnel.


• The LEPC received grant funding for a table top drill in 2008.

• The drill was completed before the end of August, 2008.

LEPC Meetings

• The Fort Bend County LEPC meets every third Thursday of the month at 3:00 p.m.

• These meetings are mostly held at the Fort Bend County Office of Emergency Management located at 307 Fort Street, Richmond Texas.

LEPC Meetings (cont.)

• Some of the meetings during the year are hosted by one of the industrial members of the LEPC at their location.

• This is beneficial for the LEPC members to become familiar with what different types of industry are located in the county.

Thank You!

Education

Fort Bend County Local Emergency Planning Committee - Ron Drachenberg, FBC Engineering