2004 marked 20-year anniversary of Bhopal disaster - Wyoming ...

Resource directory to benefit state’s search, rescue effortsBy Ashley ArnesonThe Wyoming Search and Rescue Association(WYSAR) is on its way to accomplishingwhat association member CarolIverson said is the association’s biggestgoal: establishing an online resource directory.With everyone’s help in working toward ourcommon goal of getting resource lists completed,I am confident we can achieve a successfuloutcome — Henry Schmidt“Most sheriffs have a good idea of the equipment andpeople available in their county and a neighboring county,”Iverson said, “but the directory would be able to provideinformation on what the county’s neighbor’s neighborshave.”For example, say Teton County was on a prolonged caverescue mission; eventually, resources-including rescuersthemselves-would begin to dwindle. Teton County couldaccess the resource directory and use the system to find acounty with a cave team they could call in for assistance.Although Iverson said the process to getting the resourcedirectory established has had many false starts, this timearound Big Horn Marketing was called in to assist the associationin getting things up and running.WYSAR Chairman Henry Schmidt said although thedirectory is off to a good start, input is still needed. “Thedirectory will be a very valuable resource upon its completion,”Schmidt said. “With everyone’s help in working towardour common goal of getting resource lists completed, Iam confident we can achieve a successful outcome.”WYSAR’s biggest accomplishmentto date was the association’straining of eight people to teach atthe standard for the National Associationof Search and Rescue’s(NASAR) SARTECH II class.Iverson said SARTECH II is a basic skills class offered twicea year to 30 students. The education gained from the classsaves time in on-the-job training.5 The Briefing Board — Winter 2005

Iverson said she also hopes to put together astatewide exercise, which she said would definitelybe possible if more volunteers were onboard. The issue of having volunteers availableis WYSAR’s biggest obstacle.As WYSAR is an association of volunteers,finding people with both time and interest todevote to the association to make endeavorshappen can be difficult at times. Although it issometimes difficult to find help for the inside ofthe organization, plenty of help from the outsidein the form of donations is readily availablethrough the state’s “Donate a Dollar” program.Iverson said the primary purpose of the donationsis to provide a fund from which the WyomingSearch and Rescue Council can reimbursesheriffs for operational expenses. The donationscan also go toward paying for any trainingbenefiting the state as a whole.As a member of the public making a dollardonation, one may wonder how exactly theirdonation may benefit them directly. Iverson saida good example of this was when, during arecent search and rescue mission, search dogswere needed to aid rescuers in finding a victim.Because of dollar donations, Search and Rescuewas able to bring in search dogs and accomplishthe search in a timely manner. As the state’ssearch and rescue campaign says, “You could benext.”For more information on the resource directory,contact Henry Schmidt at (307) 367-4370, ext. 290, oremail him at hschmidt@subso.com.State conference slated for MayThe Wyoming Search and Rescue Association(WYSAR) will be holding its 2005 state conferenceMay 13-15 in Torrington, Wyo. The conference will beheld at Torrington Middle School, 626 W. 25th Ave, withparking available on the north end of the school.Registration is $50 a person before April 15 and $60after that date and at registration.The conference will focus on water/rope rescue, heloops and canine certification.Check-in and registration begins at 5 p.m. on Friday,May 13, and will last until 9 p.m. Classes will run from 8a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and Mission Sunday willbegin at 8 a.m. the following day.For more information contact Lorrie Wnuk as 307-472-5177.Search and rescue personnel practice their skills during a2004 training event in Newcastle, Wyo.The Briefing Board — Winter 20056

Watercraft critical in prevention, response activitiesBy Ashley ArnesonThe Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGF) received funds from the Wyoming Office ofHomeland Security in December to assist in the purchase of a watercraft to be used for preventionand response activities on inland waterways, specifically the protection of criticalwaterways, lakes, reservoirs and associated dams and power plants.Warden Bill Brinegar takes the boatthrough its paces at Flaming GorgeReservoir.“We’re all very excited about the new watercraft, and look forwardto using it to better serve Wyoming in our role,” DeCecco said.The WGF is responsible for maintaining an ongoing, appropriatepresence on Wyoming’s large bodies of water, particularly thosesusceptible to domestic terrorism such as the bodies of water featuringpower plants and dams. Included within the scope of the WGF’swatchful eye are all reservoirs on the North Platte River system;Boysen reservoir; Buffalo Bill reservoir; and Keyhole reservoir. Thenew watercraft will greatly benefit the WGF in their continuingwatch over these bodies, particularly in its stationed point at FlamingGorge Reservoir in southwest Wyoming.“The watercraft will provide first responders a critical piece ofequipment to more effectively conduct vulnerability assessments onour many waterways and dams, and also a way to respond quickly toany natural man-made accidents to include terrorist attacks,” JoeMoore, director of the Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, said.Although the WGF has other watercraft available, Steve DeCecco,Regional Wildlife Supervisor, said the new watercraft is equippedwith features uncommon to the others on hand, such as radar, aglobal positioning sonar and emergency lighting. These new featureswill be a tremendous help when the Game and Fish is called to assistlaw enforcement with water-related emergencies, such as in the caseof a drowning or severe storm.The boat is constructed in a heavy-duty design similar to that of apatrol boat, and features a deep hull and welded aluminum hull foruse on deep and open waters. The watercraft is also equipped with afull complement of law enforcement and safety equipment.In agreement with the Office of Homeland Security, the Game andFish will use the boat to conduct assessments and identify vulnerabilitiesfor possible terrorist actions related to waterways, dams,and/or adjacent power plants; make the watercraft available to otherlaw enforcement agencies; and conduct annual terrorism-relatedexercises with the watercraft. In addition to domestic preparednessapplications, the new boat will greatly assist WGF in its primarymission of watercraft and fishery enforcement.The new boat will be on the water at least four days every week,primarily on the weekends when water traffic is at its highest.DeCecco said WGF anticipates the boat hitting the water full-time inspring 2005.“I appreciate the WGF staff for bringing the innovative idea firstto our attention and now to full implementation,” Moore said.7The Briefing Board — Winter 2005

Laramie County exercise evaluates procedures, respondersBy Ashley ArnesonAtrain derailed on a side spur of the Union Pacific Railroad, causing the attachedrail cars to burst into a cacophony of flames. In the midst of the blaze, a tank carbegan to leak an unidentified gas, forming a cloud above the wreckage. Nearby, avehicle accident has resulted due to motorists stopping to observe the derailment. Whilenearby businesses are evacuated in response to the gas cloud, a multi-vehicle accidentoccurs as hordes of workers scramble to leave the area.A situation like this would be high on any emergencyresponder’s list of nightmare events—luckily,November’s series of unfortunate events was onlythe Laramie County Emergency ManagementAgency Full-Scale Disaster Preparedness TrainingExercise, sponsored by the Department of HomelandSecurity, the Office for Domestic Preparedness andthe Wyoming Office of Homeland Security.“It was a good exercise,” Laramie County EmergencyManagement Coordinator Robert Clevelandcommented. “All departments learned what areasthey need to work on.”The exercise was the first major full-scale disasterpreparedness exercise conducted in Cheyenne andLaramie County. Its aims were to:• Provide a challenge for emergency responseagencies in dealing with a major disaster;• Task the resources of emergency responseagencies;• Solidify the partnership between city, county andstate disaster support agencies;• Provide an opportunity for individual training andagency/individual action to achieve a high levelof collective preparedness, and;• Encourage key personnel to evaluate theirindividual agency procedures and actions tosupport and maintain operations in the event ofa disaster.November’s exercise employed 15 “victim” roleplayers, 200 participants from various emergencyresponse agencies and 22 evaluators. The basic taskof the emergency response agencies involved was tocontain the situation; rescue the victims affected bythe incident; determine and contain the chemical gasleak; and protect the public at large.Responders transfer a victim to thedecontamination tent .Key strengths during the exercise included:Participants of all agencies involved demonstratedteamwork in reacting to and dealing withthe scenario; and better understanding of the needfor preparedness in the event of a major disasterby all agencies.At the end of the eight-hour exercise, evaluatorsreleased their observations for each agencydetailing the strengths and weaknesses they saw.Cleveland said the exercise was an overall success.“It proved the capabilities, or lack of, when itcomes to emergency response,” he said.The The Briefing Board — Winter Fall 2004 20058

2005 grant funding reduced by 26 percentBy Ashley ArnesonThe saying “what goes up must come down”certainly rings true in 2005 in relation tomonies dispensed for grants. The moniesavailable in 2004, $18.809 million, amounted to 26percent more than 2005’stotal of $13,933,869 million.Grants are distributedbased on population.Wyoming’s 2005 grantreduction will not only affectWyoming residents, but alsoput an undetermined amount of projects behind withthe state homeland security strategy, though it has yetto be determined which projects will be affectedspecifically.Although the amount of grants dispensed inWyoming decreased, other areas are still growing; forexample, three new categories were added to autho-Grant TipThere are significant changes in the FY2005grant award. Please read the Grant AwardAgreements and the FY2005 Grant Guidance.Future funding may depend on it.rized purchases. These include power equipment;inspection and screening systems; and interventionequipment.Inspection equipment includes Gamma-Rayvehicle and cargo inspection;X-ray mobile searchand inspection; and groundand wall-penetrating radar.Intervention equipmentincludes tactical entryequipment; multiple integratedlaser engagement system (MILES); andfingerprint processing equipment.Growing along with the authorized purchases isthe Office of Domestic Preparedness, which willalso be expanding in technical assistance. This willhelp states to better plan and identify needs forFirst Responders.Lee receives recognition for years of serviceBy WAshley Arnesonearing a deep red and golden yellow striped “fireman” tie,Wyoming Office of Homeland Security, Regional ResponseTeam Division Chief Kim Lee spoke humbly of hisrecent recognition for ten years of service as Riverton’s firecommissioner.Lee is no stranger to the world of gleaming fire poles, brightred trucks and trusty yellow protective helmets. His 30 combinedyears of experience in fire service are comprised of 20years as a volunteer fireman and ten years as Riverton’s firecommissioner.“Old firefighters never die,” Lee said, “they just become firecommissioners.”The Riverton Fire Protection District Commissioners’ plaquewas presented to Lee during the annual firemen’s award banquetheld Feb. 5 in Riverton. Lee said all retired fire commissionersare presented with a plaque similar to the one he received as aform of compensation for the time spent serving the communityas a public servant.“I felt very thankful my fellow fire fighters recognized me,”Lee said of his recognition. “Public service is all about people,and when people recognize you [for it], it’s a good feeling.”Kim Lee stands with the RivertonFIre Protection District Commissioners’plaque.9The Briefing Board — Winter 2005

2004 marked 20-year anniversary of Bhopal disasterThe sky gleamed inky black above the residents ofBhopal on the evening of December 2, 1984.Mothers rocked their children to sleep beforetucking them securely into their beds, couples exchangedwhispers about their day as they readiedthemselves for sleep and little girls gazing into the skymade their nightly wish on the first star they saw.All was at peace – or so it seemed. None of themcould have possibly predicted the nightmare about tobefall them as a result of the abandoned factory nearby,teeming with fatal amounts of deadly chemicals and noway to stop theirrelease.The BhopalUnion Carbidefactory had beenabandoned almostas quickly as ithad been constructedin the1970s. The company believed India tobe an invaluable, untapped resourcefor pesticide products, and immediatelybegan construction on the Bhopal factory. Notanticipating the fact Indian farmers were unable toafford pesticides, the plant struggled until the 1980s,when all active production was ceased.Union Carbide left Bhopal not only with the skeletonof what was supposed to be an insurmountable financialsuccess but also with more than 60 tons of methylisocyanate, a lethal gas. When the plant was still operating,safety systems stood guard over the tanks containingthe gas, ensuring their deadly fumes would staylocked away. However, after 1980, the plant slowlybegan to fall apart in its abandoned state, taking thesafety system with it.Dec. 2, 1984, a corroded pipe within the UnionCarbide plant was flushed. When stopcocks in the pipefailed, the water rushed violently into the largest tank ofmethyl isocyanate. The sudden exposure of water to thegas resulted in the explosion of the tank, emitting atoxic chemical cocktail of methyl isocyanate, hydrogencyanide, mono methyl amine into the air in the form of acloud, which quickly made its way towards the sleepingcity of Bhopal.Bags of chemicals are still present. (Photocourtesy of Maud Dorr www.bhopal.net)12:30 a.m. on Dec. 3, children woke to a stranglingcloud that wound its way into their bodiesand sent their systems into a frenzy. Terrifiedparents awoke to the screams of their children andhouses filled with chemical cloud particles thatinched into their respiratory systems and floodedtheir mouths with froth as their eyes teared uncontrollably.Everyone fled from their homes, now turned intoa veritable valley of death from the toxic chemicalsdestroying any and all that dared take a breath. TheBhopalMedicalAppealreported in1984, “Thepoisoncloud wasso dense and searingpeople were reduced tonear blindness. Thegases burned the tissuesof their eyes and lungsand attacked their nervoussystems.”The residents of Bhopal, India, hadno idea something as close to home asthe Union Carbide plant could possess the power tomercilessly steal the lives of thousands in onenight. Not even in their worst nightmares, however,could they have imagined the noxious fingers ofthe lethal cloud would continue to reach well pastthe fateful evening in December 1984.As a result of this incident, in November of1986, the United States Congress passed theSuperfund Amendment and Reauthorization Act,commonly referred to as the Community Right-toknowAct, in order to encourage and supportemergency planning for responding to chemicalaccidents.People of Bhopal continue to suffer today.Women give birth to babies referred to by medicalprofessionals as “gruesomely” deformed, and manyof those who survived the leak are incapacitated.Dec. 3, 2004, marked the 20-year anniversary ofthe disaster in Bhopal.The Briefing Board — Winter 2005 10

Wyoming Office of Homeland Security122 West 25th StreetCheyenne, Wyo. 82002