Emergency Support Function 9: Hazardous Materials Response
PURPOSE
ESF-10: Hazardous Materials Response coordinates the hazardous materials containment, control, and cleanup services needed for response to and recovery from an actual or potential spill or release of hazardous materials including chemical, biological, and radiological materials.
CONCEPT OF OPERATIONS
Coordinating Unit: Cornell University Environment, Health and Safety
Environment, Health and Safety has primary responsibility for hazardous materials response for the Cornell campus. Additional support is provided by the local fire department responsible for fire services at the incident location, the Ithaca Fire Department functioning as the Tompkins County Hazardous Materials Team, and outside hazardous materials spill and waste disposal vendors.
ESF ACTIONS
Environment, Health and Safety
- Level B, C, and D personal protective equipment response to incidents involving chemical, biological, and radiological materials
- Spill control and cleanup of incidents involving laboratory scale spills, a single 55 gallon drum, or numerous smaller size containers.
- Stabilized incidents requiring less than 3 hours of cleanup operations are normally handled by EHS. Incidents requiring more time or involve significant disassembly of equipment, furnishings, or facilities are normally outsourced to a cleanup vendor.
Local Fire Departments
- Capabilities vary from department to department but most are capable of providing initial defensive and rescue operations at hazardous materials incidents including:
- Limited rescue based on the characteristics of the hazardous materials
- Gross decontamination
- Emergency medical services
- Evacuation of unaffected areas
Tompkins County Hazardous Materials Team (provided by the Ithaca Fire Department)
- Available on an on-call basis with expected response time of 30 to 60 minutes
- Member of a regional hazardous materials response consortium that includes the Auburn and Elmira fire departments
- Level A, B, C, and D personal protective equipment response to incidents involving chemical, biological, and radiological materials
- Offensive response actions including spill containment and control, rescue, and personal decontamination actions
- The team may contain, control, and stabilize spills but will not provide cleanup or remediation