Natrium, W.Va., emergency response drill receives ‘rave reviews’

This was one of several tugboats and barges involved in the exercise.

June 9, 2005 - A recent emergency response exercise co-hosted by PPG’s Natrium, W.Va., chemicals plant involved the FBI, included an element of terrorism and was deemed “one of our most successful post-9/11 exercises,” according to a federal coordinator.

During the drill, a terrorist rams a fishing boat into a towboat and 15 chemical barges moving along the Ohio River, rupturing a barge containing PPG solvent. Then the waterborne terrorist takes aim at barges down river. As part of the multi-scenario exercise, a short time later a train carrying another company’s chemical product derails in the Natrium plant’s wildlife habitat area. Several tank cars spill their contents.

“The exercise went very well and achieved its objectives,” said Coast Guard Lt. Commander Mike Evanish, an on-site federal coordinator of the training event.

“This was much more than a hazmat and pollution-control exercise. Emergency response to terrorism was a key component. Having the FBI involved was crucial. We’re very pleased with the results.”

In addition to testing the emergency response of manufacturing companies along the Ohio River, it also tested the Coast Guard’s maritime security plan for the Pittsburgh district, Evanish said.

The real-time, full-scale exercise tested emergency responders’ skill working under intense pressure with multiple incidents and multiple jurisdictions, according to Alice Johnson, senior supervisor, customer quality assurance, at Natrium and a coordinator of the event.

“It gave all of us the opportunity to experience how we would – and should – react under the worst of circumstances,” she said. “Everyone involved learned a lot. Overall, we were extremely pleased with the exercise and received rave reviews from the state and federal agencies involved.”

The voluntary, multifunctional emergency exercise involved more than 200 participants from more than two dozen organizations and companies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), FBI, Three Rivers Pollution Response Council, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, CSX Railroad, PPG Natrium and various state and local police and emergency response agencies.

The EPA, Johnson said, provided funds to videotape the exercise for use in training sessions.

This model of the Natrium plant and surrounding properties – where the simulation occurred – helped those at the emergency command center track events as they unfolded in the field.	Throughout the daylong exercise briefings were conducted on each response section’s activities and status.