Published: February 04, 2009 11:00 pm      

Consultants finish study on hazmat traffic in Garrett

OAKLAND — The results are in from the Emergency Management Hazardous Materials Commodity Flow Study, which observed a sample trucks entering Garrett County to determine the types of hazardous materials crossing the county.

“The Local Emergency Planning Commission had been concerned about the hazardous materials flowing through Garrett County,” Ben Sansom, consultant with S&S Planning and Design, said at the county commissioners public meeting Tuesday. “I think part of your LEPC concerns was the number of placards they were seeing on the trucks”

Sansom said they initially expected a lot of gasoline trucks to pass through the county, but that he was surprised by the quantities of materials he saw, including those that are hazardous to humans.

Each data collection site was studied for a total of 30 hours that fell between 7 a.m. and 2 p.m. and a total of 20 hours from 2 to 7 p.m.

The westbound Interstate 68 site at Keysers Ridge showed 234 hazmat trucks passed that location through the course of the study and of those, 10 trucks had contents that were toxic to humans.

The results showed that on eastbound I-68 near Friendsville, 11 out of 166 trucks carried substances considered toxic to humans.

The study also looked at state Route 135 at state Route 560, where 111 trucks displaying hazmat placards were observed and of those, only two were toxic to humans.

The final site, U.S. Route 219 at Sand Flat Road, had 83 hazmat trucks, with only one truck carrying a toxic substance — chlorine — which was found at every other site.

“I’m not sure what the LEPC will recommend,” Sansom said. “They are concerned whether (the county) will have the ability to respond.”

Brad Frantz, director of emergency management, said there are a number of public buildings that could be affected by chemical spills. He added that there are a number of training initiatives that are a result of the study.

The county does not, however, have its own hazmat team.

Denny Glotfelty, county commissioner, questioned whether or not the county is still last out of 23 counties and three jurisdictions in receiving homeland security funding.

Frantz confirmed it was and said he doesn’t see it moving up on the list anytime soon. The state homeland security director had come up to the county and said that in times of an emergency in the eastern part of the state, residents would be likely to go west.

Overall, Frantz said, the study has been beneficial and shows the need for more hazmat plans.

“This study is good,” Frantz said. “It’s going to be a living document as long as we continue to get grant funding to continue to do this.”

Contact Sarah Moses at smoses@times-news.com.