Earth Hub: Healing the Hazards

Minimize the Impact of Toxic Events

Healing the Hazards

Narrative

This narrative explains the legislative proposal provided for consideration and passage into law by both houses of the United States Congress. It is the result of an in-depth and exhaustive analysis of the problem posed by the transport of hazardous materials by the petroleum industry. Guidelines for design were to ensure accountability and security for Americans from operations moving toxic substances through pipes and other forms of transport. Also, to provide a viable avenue to rapidly exact accountability for damage done to people and their property.

Within the last five years multiple Toxic Events caused by corporations moving highly hazardous materials have focused attention on the need to ensure Americans are secure in their health and their property. The petroleum industry cannot be trusted to monitor their own transport system.

The tactics adopted in the wake of these toxic events result in lingering litigation, further losses to those harmed, and lasting damage to private and public property. They have instead adopted a strategy of denial coupled with a build out to protect themselves from liability using our system of law and courts.

Since the petroleum industry lacks the motivation to carry out the needed monitoring themselves it is incumbent on us to ensure monitoring takes place and cannot be manipulated.

This is especially urgent because recent Toxic Events, especially those involving Tar Sands, require knowledge of the exact chemical make-up of the material released immediately to determine the scope and intensity for an effective and immediate response by HazMat units. We can, and must, have this information reach local HazMat units as an instant response alarm because of the material the petroleum industry has chosen to use to make transport by pipes possible for Tar Sands.

The chemicals used to move Tar Sands through corporations which deal routinely in such poisons as Benzene, Toluene, and Hydrogen Sulfide while transporting their raw materials for processing. These toxic chemicals, highly carcinogenic, neurotoxic, or poisonous, exit the pipe in gaseous form. The pressure in the pipe, then released ejects them into the air where they disperse widely, depending on the direction of the wind and other prevailing conditions. We call this the Primary Release Period and it lasts about an hour. 'Monitoring' by the responsible petroleum company never starts until this period has ended.

This intense period of exposure renders impacted victims sensitized to later exposure.

We believe these facts are known to the those in the petroleum industry.

The potential liabilities for the subject corporation are substantial. This is why this critical information is never made available in a timely manner.

In this case, timely means instantly, with projections for the range impacted so people can be evacuated immediately.

Lacking this information, it has proven impossible to provide adequate medical intervention for people who are affected by Toxic Events or to reduce the long term effects on victims and their property.

While the petroleum industry would have us believe this is not possible the fact is the means for ensuring both reliable monitoring and rapid response exist now. No new technology is needed.

To protect the health and property rights of people to be secure we propose the following system to be made available online so each HazMat unit can know immediately, instead of hours later, the actual gravity of any Toxic Event.

ALOHA is a Software Suite of programs designed and provided for public use by the U.S. Office of Response and Restoration which is used in this application. The system provides essential information on hazards to local communities for Toxic Events which are not caused by material stored within the community. Pipelines, transport by rail, and truck are not stored within the community.

If this had been available on March 29^th last year, 2013, in Mayflower, Arkansas the town could be well on its way to recovery instead of bogged down in a struggle against the lies told by Exxon and those who the company has paid to carry out the present PR campaign asserting they are 'moving on' and all is well.

Many individuals are experiencing growing health problems, the land and water remain impacted, and the area impacted is growing as time passes.

The failure to provide immediate monitoring has also allowed the petroleum industry to perpetuate fallacies which must be overcome. One of these is outlined above. But there are others.

These two different forms of damage we identify as First Level (Release of material – 3 Hours) and Second Level ( Three Hours – Finish of Comprehensive Clean-Up) We defined Comprehensive Clean-Up as the return to conditions existing before the Toxic Event occurred.

All people and animals must be evacuated out of the critical radius for damage within scant minutes to avoid First Level damage. Individuals and animals who remain within the Impacted Radius throughout this initial period (First Level), should not return to the area until they have been medically evaluated for toxic overexposure.

This proposal provides a decentralized system using already existing software obtainable, as stated above, from the Office of Response and Restoration which would then be available, with a system to alert local First Responders, informing them of the areas which must be evacuated, what toxic chemicals were released, and other time critical information.

Local residents will be urged to organize to ensure their own safety and that of their community.

Alerts would be available to local residents who sign up to receive them. In this way if a need for evacuations becomes necessary to local First Responders will know who to go to to ensure all residents are notified.

This critical information will also be available for viewing via the Internet by the public so the content of materials being transported is immediately available.

Furthermore, potential preliminary air dispersion models of various scenarios should be made available at critical facilities so that nearby residents can be prepared and know how to respond in an emergency in advance.

Using these already existing technologies and agency models this can be put into place rapidly.

The system, which we are calling Healing the Hazards, would provide a series of models immediately following a release using a specific analysis of the materials involved. For a pipeline, the model would be positioned at the closest point from where the rupture occurred, factoring, if necessary the two closest points between the rupture.

The ALOHA system takes into account the direction of the wind, producing a map to facilitate evacuation which would take place using phone and volunteers who would inform those within the First Level Area. These maps would be distributed to all first responders and anyone remaining in the area so they could make informed decisions.

The chemical analysis of the substance at its point of origin would then be published to make it available for future use in litigation, if necessary.

Instead of litigation we propose the immediate formation of a Trust to be funded by the corporation involved. Establishing a Trust, funded automatically through the Oil Spill

Liability Trust Fund.

The legislative proposal includes oversight and management by a Healing Hazards Oversight Committee made up of three individuals who have the requisite management skills and ethical qualifications to ensure the process is not suborned. Given the past record of the petroleum companies involved we can assume attempts to accomplish this will begin immediately.

Minimize the Impact of Toxic Events

Healing the Hazards
Narrative