Emerging Technologies in STC

General Session: The reality of planning for disasters: I-35 bridge collapse and southeast Minnesota's floods. This was the introductory address for the conference, and the first half concerned the City of Minneapolis' disaster planning and how it affected the response to the I-35W bridge collapse. Since 2002 (essentially, in the wake of the 9/11 attacks), Minneapolis has been taking action to ensure the best possible response to any catastrophic event. The foundation of this process was attendance by planners at an Integrated Emergency Management Course in Mount Weather, Virginia. During this course, numerous disaster scenarios were practiced including chemical release,
terrorist attack, structure collapse, and others. A major part of the course involved identifying shortcomings, and for Minneapolis these were Communications, Dispatch, Structure Collapse & Hazardous Materials readiness, Water Infrastructure security, discontinuous local planning, shortage of PPE (personal protective equipment) for responders, and City Hall security. Having identified these, the City was able to address each of them by creating new plans and using federal grants and other resources for the material needs. An important part of this planning was clarification (and in some cases new development) of a regional system of Local Aid Partners - responders from surrounding communities who could coordinate rapidly and know when to stage resources locally versus rush to the scene of any event. The full presentation includes many additional details.

These plans were called in to action in August 2007 with the collapse of the I-35W bridge. The federal government made a Category B Disaster Declaration, freeing some resources and enabling enhanced coordination (I'm not clear on the specifics of this). The presentation identified the major successes derived from the preplanning efforts as the immediate opening of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) in coordination with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), and the efficient, coordinated, informed response of Mutual Aid Partners. The presenter made it very clear that although this precise scenario was not among those practiced at Mount Weather, the response was dramatically more effective as a result of that course of assessment and subsequent planning. A City official later in the day referred to the entire cooperative operation as "a jewel of a response".

Emergency response: Lessons learned from the bridge collapse and floods. Presented by Steve Levy, MPCA. This was the second session, and the bridge portion ("Sampling & Monitoring in Emergencies & Disasters") was focused on MPCA efforts rather than the general response and planning. The MPCA's initial involvement was focused on a few primary concerns: Activating the state's EOC, the crushed rail car on the north bank, hazards from that or other vehicles including some in the water, and both providing and managing information for the public in the face of political pressures and information coming from other sources.

The EOC was established downriver at dawn on Friday, and petroleum recon was immediately conducted, with nothing more than trace quantities found. The crushed tanker under the bridge turned out to be filled with harmless plastic pellets, and no tanker or other vehicles containing large quantities of hazardous materials were in the water, damaged, or otherwise a cause for concern. The federal EPA's regional director was already in place for a previously scheduled meeting, and immediately implemented air quality monitoring (going from another "lesson learned" after 9/11) in coordination with the MPCA. Two upstream and four downstream air monitoring stations were set up immediately, checking especially for asbestos, VOCs (volatile organic chemicals), heavy metals, and general particulates. Higher than usual particulate levels where detected for 1-2 days after the collapse, but subsequently no further pollutants or causes for concern outside normal urban ambient air conditions.

Water quality monitoring was already underway as part of the normal operations of the Mississippi River Watershed Organization, with two upstream and three downstream stations. The normal sampling was continued, and enhanced with extra testing and shorter intervals. The MPCA coordinated with MRWO for this enhanced monitoring, and the Hennepin County Sheriff's Department provided on-river support (ie, boat transport) for some of the downstream sampling. Sedimentation and many possible pollutants were monitored, with no new impacts identified as a result of the bridge collapse. The NTSB controlled the site itself, and was responsible for the physical materials and demolition. They tested for asbestos and monitored concerns about sedimentation and runoff from the brownfields sites (the old industrial lands on both banks under the bridge), again with no problems detected.

All of these "safe" results were able to be effectively provided to the public/media, assuaging some of the immediate public fears and without getting tied up in the politics at play following the collapse.

In conclusion, Mr. Levy also offered the following:
Advice taken from NYC and Oklahoma City: Coordinate with investigators (NTSB, FBI, etc), public sensitivity (especially regarding bodies), document everything before moving anything, carefully select sorting/staging areas, plan routes, minimize double- or multiple-handling of materials, and public access (to site) issues.
Lessons from the I-35W bridge response:
1. Prepare.
2. Activate the response, and organize the response.
3. Managers and Supervisors must allow the work to go on and support it.
4. Handoffs (partnerships, allowing others to be responsible) and Follow-up (long-term programs, affiliations, etc).
And: Stay prepared, nimble, and flexible.

I was unable to attend the third session related to the bridge, as it was concurrent with the second session. Hopefully the Power Point presentation will be posted soon. This is the description from the conference website:

Minnesota's disaster debris recap 2007
"As Minnesotans, we have had some tragic events in 2007 that will continue to shape waste generation, recycling and material handling for our state in years to come. Join in to listen about the events that were nationally recognized as disasters very close to home. There will be presentations on the 35W bridge collapse and the southern Minnesota flood, both events have affected many lives around the state. Discussion will center around what is involved with the handling of a disaster event, emergency site permitting, how is waste handled appropriately, and were we adequately prepared. Join us to listen to the stories of how we took the first steps to ensure public health and safety is managed appropriately in the face of disaster."