Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Study for California Routes 127

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Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Study for
California Routes 127 178

• September 2006

Study and presentation by HOME Healing Ourselves
Mother Earth Jennifer Olaranna Viereck,
Director www.h-o-m-e.org
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Scope of Study

• Define risks to the public and Emergency
  Responders from the transportation of hazardous
  materials through the Southern Inyo Fire
  Protection District.
• 2 main commercial routes CA 127 178
• No other railway, pipeline, waterway.

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Key Findings of the Study

• Hazardous waste 65 of all placards documented.
• For every placarded hazmat truck, at least 3
  unplacarded were identified. Together, all hazmat
  30 of all truck traffic combined.
• 78 of all placarded vehicles traveled north or
  south on SR 127, 73 north and 5 south. 15
  carried fuels and 85 carried hazardous waste.
• Only 22 of placarded trucks also traveled to or
  from Pahrump on SR 178 from Shoshone. These
  carried fuels, carbon dioxide and fireworks.

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The Southern Inyo Fire Protection District
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The Study Area
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Study Methodology

• There was no opportunity or location to stop
  vehicles, survey drivers or examine documents.
• Survey techniques were developed to record 14
  different facts from moving vehicles.
• We collected 175 hours of hard data over a 3
  month period, April-June, all times of day, 7
  days a week.
• Initially, we photographed all trucks, to
  identify truck body types, frequent carriers and
  convoy buddies, with Internet follow-up to verify
  hazmat carriers.

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Known HazMat Origins and Destinations

• Major HazMat sources or destinations
• Nevada Nuclear Test Site
• US Ecology Nevada
• Pahrump Fireworks Vendors
• Minor HazMat sources or destinations
• Pahrump construction, auto, retail businesses
• Local fuel deliveries gas, diesel, propane

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Nevada Nuclear Test Site

• Nevada Test Site Low Level Radioactive
  Transuranic Waste Shipments on CA SR 127, 2000 -
  Sept. 2006

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US Ecology Nevada HazMat Disposal

• Chemical Name, based on EPA RCRA Category

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2002 Toxic Release Inventory Data- 6,201,699
Pounds Total (source EPA)

• RCRA Subtitle C Landfill 4,879,573 lb.
• Treated On-Site 1,256,496 lb, resulting in
• Treatment Stack Air Releases 65,541 lb and
  solids added to landfill amounts.
• Treated Off-Site 527 pounds of PCBs.
• Fugitive Air Releases 362 lb.

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Health Effects from US Ecology Air Pollution
Releases from Waste Treatment

• Recognized Suspected Carcinogens
• Suspected Cardiovascular or Blood Toxicants
• Recognized Suspected Developmental Toxicants
• Suspected Endocrine Toxicants
• Suspected Immunotoxicants
• Suspected Kidney Toxicants
• Suspected Gastrointestinal or Liver Toxicants
• Suspected Neurotoxicants
• Recognized Suspected Reproductive Toxicants
• Suspected Respiratory Toxicants
• Suspected Skin or Sense Organ Toxicants

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Illegal Fireworks Shipments

• In 2006, 46,000 lb were confiscated through July.
• 90 separate seizures
• Estimated purchase cost 200,000
• Estimated street value 1,000,000
• 25 of response incidents and 75 hours for SIFPD
  through July, to confiscate and transport
  fireworks.
• Additional SIFPD time transfers to other
  agencies, storing, or disposing of inventory.

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• Fireworks are shipped from southern California
  ports placarded as Class C Explosives, 1.4G.

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SIFPD Disposal of about 1 of 2006 Confiscated
Fireworks
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General Traffic Characteristics
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Semi Truck Survey Categories

• Placarded All classes of identified hazardous
  materials shipments.
• Identified Hazardous Waste (IHW) All
  non-placarded shipments by carriers with obvious
  hazardous cleanup names, frequently seen
  carriers traveling in convoys with placarded
  vehicles, and all transfer box shipments No
  overlap with placarded shipments. It is likely
  that only northbound shipments actually carried
  waste, but impossible to discern from appearance.
• Milk Tankers Jim Aartman Trucking is the single
  carrier with greatest volume of shipments by far,
  and runs 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
• All Other Trucks.

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Composition of Truck Traffic
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Placarded Hazardous Materials Traffic

• 78 of all hazardous placarded vehicles traveled
  exclusively north or south on SR 127.
• Only 22 of placarded trucks also traveled to or
  from Pahrump.
• Hazardous waste comprised 65 of all placards
  documented in the study, and almost 90 of all
  placarded loads traveling north on SR 127.
• Total numbers of placards will not be identical
  to total number of placarded trucks reported, due
  to the fact that some trucks displayed more than
  one placard at a time.

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Placarded Vehicles by Route Direction

• North on SR 127 95 of 130 placards recorded, or
  73. 2 propane deliveries to Shoshone, 8 gasoline
  deliveries to Shoshone and 85 trucks carrying
  various types of hazardous waste to US Ecology.
• South on SR 127 7, or 5. 5 were returning
  fuel deliveries, and two were likely returning
  from US Ecology with liquid tanks that had not
  yet been cleaned.
• North on SR 127 and North on SR 178 18, or 14.
  8 Fireworks, 6 were propane trucks, and 2 were
  carbon dioxide refrigerated gas tankers.
• South on SR 178 and South on SR 127 10, or 8.
  8 were propane trucks. 2 were either diesel or
  fuel oil tankers.

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Summary of Placards Hazmat Classes
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Placarding Problems for First Responders

• Always Placarded any quantity of explosives 1.1,
  1.2, or 1.3, Poison Gas 2.3, Dangerous When Wet
  4.3, Organic Peroxide 5.2, Poison Inhalation
  Hazard 6.1 or Radioactive Materials III.
• Dangerous Placard- If two or more different
  hazard classes are on the same truck in amounts
  each totaling more than 1,000 pounds but less
  than 5,000 pounds, may be used instead of the
  specific hazard class placards also used for
  Explosives C or Irritants.
• No placard is required on shipments of
  radioactive materials, combustible liquids in
  containers of less than 110 gallons, etiological
  agents, Otherwise Regulated Materials (ORM) and
  small hazardous loads which total less than
  1,000, excepting those specifically listed above
  under Always Placarded.

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Problems for First Responders, cont.

• A majority of the hazardous waste shipments to
  the US Ecology facility were placarded with a
  very broad category or not placarded at all.
• Products to resupply large supermarkets, garden
  centers and hardware and automotive stores in
  Pahrump may be on the same truck. Solvents,
  cleansers, pesticides, herbicides and other
  chemicals could be dangerous if combined in an
  accident scenario.

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Next Steps for the SIFPD

• A total of fourteen different response protocols,
  as detailed in the 2004 Emergency Response Guide,
  are recommended for the placards recorded in the
  survey or DOE reports.
• Further study of these response guides may be
  helpful in evaluating SIFPD response capacity for
  potential hazardous material accidents in the
  future.

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Next Steps for the SIFPD, cont.

• Documented hazmat materials were primarily wastes
  being transported to US Ecology Nevada and the
  Nevada Test Site. The chemical content of US
  Ecology wastes are on record with the EPA.
• The more dangerous of these chemicals should be
  evaluated further to determine what protocols,
  equipment and training would be required to
  handle potential accidents.

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Needs Assessment for the SIFPD

• Finally, equipment and skills inventories should
  be completed by the SIFPD agency in a future
  needs assessment, to address these unusually high
  levels of hazardous materials transportation in
  the district.
• Funding and resource providers should be secured
  in the future for this assessment, and to secure
  the needed equipment and training when the
  assessment is complete.