LOCAL EMERGENCY PLANNING COMMITTEE

SANTA CRUZ COUNTY

Chairman Vice-Chairman

Chief Les Caid Louie Chaboya

2150 N. Congress Drive, Suite 110

Nogales, Arizona 85621

April 17, 2014 Minutes

LEPC Voting Members Present:

Chief Les Caid, ChairmanLouie Chaboya, Vice-ChairmanRay Sayre, SCCOEMChief Kevin Keeley, TFDChief John Ashcraft, PFDChief Carlos Parra, NSFDChief Derek Arnson, NPD

Non-Voting Participants:

Frank Granados, SCC PlannerAdela Carrillo, SCC School Supt.Augustin Huerta, SCCSOJerry Castro, NFDWilliam Sanchez, NFDJesus Gomez, NFDGenaro Rivera, TFDTroy Totty, USBPRichard Hidalgo, Unisource GasSgt. Diana Mondragon, AZDPSGerardo Catillo, SCCSOMireya Velasco, American Red CrossSandra Eriksen, SCCOEM

Item 1. Call to Order

Meeting called to order at 10:06 AM by Chairman Les Caid.

Item 2. Welcome and Introductions

Item 3. Approval of Minutes from February 20, 2014

Chief Kevin Keeley motioned to approve minutes Chief John Ashcraft seconded the motion. Motion carried.

Item 4. New Business

a. Abandoned Dental X-Ray Emitter found in Nogales, Sonora, Mexico – Ray Sayre

Informed the group that about 40 days ago he got a call from his counterpart in Mexico that theyhad found an X-Ray machine abandoned in a backyard and was concern about what to do.Within 30 minutes he had pictures of the machine, and figuring what to do to support them.Fortunately they have basic monitoring devices. Gave them a kind of show and tell on what todo,and they got zero counts per minute. Since there was no immediate threat to health and safety,he advised them it was their problem. He reported it to the AZ Emergency and ResponseCommission and the outcome of that is that they donated 17 kits of Civil Defense detection gearand he suggested to Louie Chaboya that maybe they could be delivered at the next Border 2020meeting.

Louie Chaboya stated that he had talked to the State Emergency Manager in Mexico and headvised that they would be distributed to the cities that have HazMat technicians. That theywould be dispersed in the State of Sonora pending the process with Mexico Customs.

b. Update on Designated Agent for Governor’s Emergency Response Fund – Ray Sayre

Reported to the group that at the last meeting on doing some research found it’s important thatwe have a designated agent and he was nominated. He went to ADEM to do research the files tosee if there was a designated agent on file, and he found out it’s the County Manager. Stated wehave that in place already.

c. Emergency Manager Updates – Ray Sayre

Advised the group that Mark Howard, from AZSERC had some interesting reading on fracking.It is not done in this State. What they are finding out is that when they do that, radioactivematerials are captured at the surface during the process. Finding out that all over the East coastthey are finding discarded piles of the fracking materials and they are radioactive.

Stated that he received a memo from Mark Howard on the political stands of the Texas Fertilizerexplosion, and that it does not appear that there will be new regulatory requirements from thegovernment about the storage of ammonia nitrate.

Reported that Mark Howard had also sent him an article on the railroad derailment on the Eastcoast near a small town. The Emergency Manager, the Fire Chief and the City Manager went toinvestigate and they were arrested by Union Pacific for trespassing on their property since it wastheir domain. We cannot trespass on Union Pacific property without specific permission. It’s avery interesting article.

Informed the group that we have a Memorandum of Understanding from ADEM for initial reviewfor a TOAD. He went on to explain what it is, and how it operates. Gila County gave up theirs,and he is trying to get it to Santa Cruz County. It’s about half a million dollar asset. If the MOU issigned that will mean training components and will a deployable resource. If we get it, MikeLindsey is willing to help out and we can get money from ADEM to get it up to speed.

Chief Keeley advised the group that at the last RAC meeting he asked questions oncommunications that are critical for all fire departments. He gave a lengthy explanation on whatwas discussed in the meeting.

Chief Caid informed the group that both he and Ray had gotten an email from Karen Allen, fromthe AZ First Net Project Manager, for broadband planning and public safety communicationsgroup from the ADOA AZ Strategic Enterprise Technology Office. They want to have a meeting(and he does not know how this will be tied to the TICP) in the next 90 days. He indicated we willget that out to the group, and that it is imperative for all of us to be able to start to identify ourcommunications needs as one voice.

Chief Keeley and Ray Sayre gave a brief update on the AIRS status.

Reported on what someone called an “explosion” in Nogales and that it is under investigation.Chief William Sanchez gave a detailed report of the event in which a produce drum was involved.Chief Caid suggested that after all the facts are in, the LEPC should get together with the FreshProduce Association to inform them of our concern in regards to the chemicals and the reportingto Tier II. Should be on the agenda for our next meeting. Ray indicated we have $6,000.00 LEPCfunds that can be used for a conference and this is the perfect opportunity to bring the lay publicand industry up on what the LEPC requirements are on the Tier II reporting.

d. Wildland Update – Ray Sayre

Informed the group that we are looking at a pretty rough season. The total fuel moistures are thelowest it’s ever been reported, our flash fuels, our grasses and the ignition fuels are ready to go.It’s a bad situation and the best we can do is advice the public. The Air Resource Assets for thiswhole region have been doubled. It has never happened before. The Brown Fire in Cochise hasbeen transitioned to an Incident Management Team. If anything happens, the 3 counties,Cochise,Santa Cruz and Pima will immediately start an incident on WebEOC. We are on the radar for thewhole state. Yesterday morning ADEM sent a state liaison to the Brown Fire. We are trying towork as a whole regional statewide team. Red Cross is working hard on getting the shelters footprinted and MOU’s done. The Southern Baptism has moved in. In Phoenix they have feedingtrailers and they are moving one to Tucson. They can serve up to 5,000 meals a day. If thisseason is anything like the indicator going to be, we will be in the shelter option, evacuation models, etc. He will be going to Sierra Vista this afternoon to see what they are doing.

Louie Chaboya suggested to Ray that after he comes back from Sierra Vista he can get togetherwith the SO and PD to see how they are doing in the pre-evacuation. To relay the information tothem just in case. Troy Toddy, Border Patrol suggested they be included.

Ray stated he can’t stress enough that when we get into an emergency we have to speak as onevoice. That’s what the Joint Information Center and the EOC do.

Item 5. Old Business

a. SCC Planner Update – Frank Granados

Reported that he was able to secure a couple of training for Law Enforcement. ERA 8 hour class. May 13th, 14th, & 15th.

Tactical Operation class. June 2th-6th. This is the takeoff for the Active Shooter class.

Got pretty good feedback from the Active Shooter class.

Thanked Chief Keeley for securing $81,000.00 at the RAC meeting for the Regional HazMatTeam.

He picked up a $20,000.00 box from Fred Leahy, Tucson Fire Dept. that contained a CHEMPRO.He gave a detailed explanation of how it works. It will be at the Rio Rico Fire Dept. so it can go

North, South, and East for responses.

He also took possession of a bunch of DECON equipment.

Picked up over pack barrels with drums and pumps that can off load 18 wheelers.

We now have a CONNEX box that is full of equipment; not just equipment that needs to be outthere, but equipment that will need to be used in case of running out.

Informed the group that the reason for getting all this equipment is because through the LEPC wehave moved from number 15 to number 3. We are up in the food chain and we are getting thismoney. By the members being in the LEPC meetings it counts as points for our LEPC. Themore we do, the better we will do. Gave kudos to Ray for sending monthly reports to ADEM andtaking over where Louie left off and getting us up there again.

Chief Caid thanked Frank, Ray and Sandra for their efforts in keeping us moving forward.

Announced that RRFD has donated a utility truck that will be stocked with a bunch of differentequipment that can go to HazMat situations. It has lights and a generator and will be able to takeout and be self-supportive. He thanked Chief Caid.

Informed the group that Ray has ordered a bunch of stuff through the grants. We have some levelB suits coming. Chief Caid stated that for the record since this is a public meeting, it will beassigned to the Regional HazMat, but RRFD will still be the owner, have control, and pay for themaintenance.

Ordered cal-gases for the Nogales, Tubac and Rio Rico Fire Depts. Have picked up more Micro-Blaze, and an adapter for the fit tester that is going to Sonoita.

Currently have some HazMat 8 Step classes that are going on this month that are being held atthe Nogales Fire Station #2. Getting good feedback.

Ray Sayre informed the group that the University of Arizona have been working on a databaseproject to find out what are all of our resources It’s 80%complete, and looks like we may get thatproject back for coming school year.

Chief Caid asked if there was an update on the response sets that were talked about in the past.Ray Sayre answered that there are two steps to that. He stated it has been adopted andexplained in detailed what needs to be done. He stated right now we are in agreement that if wehave a HazMat incident, we need to bring the team in.

Chief Caid asked where we at are with the SCC MYTEP. Ray Sayre stated that everything hasbeen posted on to it. He explained in detail the forecasts for the trainings and exercises and whatthey will entailed. Chief Caid stated that the intent of all this is not only to train together and knowthe Incident Command System, but that we need to understand how to coordinate events. Hesuggested to all the agencies to let the Emergency Management know of any upcoming events.Ray Sayre and Chief Keeley talked about the importance and benefits of having an IAP for anytype of event.

Item 6. Call to the Public

Mireya Velasco, from the Red Cross, informed the group of the new technology changes for theRed Cross documentation. With this new system it will make it easier for the volunteers to beable to assist the agencies and the community.

Troy Totty, USBP, informed the group that on April 30th a movie will be filmed in Nogales alongInterstate 19. There will be 1 camera and they will try to do it in one take.

Louie Chaboya talked about the last minute IAP for the Catholic Mass at the Port of Entry. Heinformed that it went perfect, and that this was due to the coordination of the existing planningthathas been done. He said “hats off” to all those involved. Also announced the Table Top thatwould take place in Yuma, AZ on May 21st and the Border 2020 meeting that would take place onMay 22nd in San Luis.

Frank Granados stated that he forgot to mention that last month there was a propane class inTucson and with Mark Howard’s help the Nogales, Sonora Bomberos were allowed to attend the2 day event. He informed the group that what this training does is help to protect us, by trainingthem so that they can take care of the incidents across the border.

Item 7. Next Meeting: Thursday, July 17, 2014 at 10:00 am

Item 8. Adjournment

Chief Derek Arnson motioned to adjourn. Chief Parra seconded the motion. Meeting adjourned.

Following the meeting:

SCC Hazardous Materials Transportation Overview Training Part 2 – BLEVE and NAERG Table Top by Ray Sayre