Guilford County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
Annual Report for 2004
Submitted by Clarice Garrett, CHMM, LEPC Chairperson

The Guilford County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) consists of Emergency Responders from Guilford County and the cities of Greensboro and High Point. This includes representatives from the Fire and Police/Sheriff Departments and Guilford County Emergency Management. Members and attendees include representatives from local industries, private citizens, and Officials from local government, such as the City Councils and County Commissioners.

Meetings are held on the second Thursday of each month from 9:00 am to 12 noon. Various industries and agencies volunteered to host the meetings by providing the meeting locations. These included EcoFlo, American Red Cross Chapter in High Point, Greensboro Fire Department Training Center, Ciba Specialty Chemicals Corporation, Tyco Electronics, Dow Corning, Konica Minolta, DaimlerChrysler Commercial Buses, News & Record, High Point Fire Department Training Center, KAO Specialties and degussa.Stockhausen.

Program topics in 2004 included the following:

• "Roles of Guilford County Emergency Management and LEPC Working Together" provided by Ron Campbell, Guilford County Emergency Management Coordinator

• "Radon, Food Safety, Water Quality, Soil and a Variety of Informational Topics" provided by Pam Spence, Health Educator with the Guilford County Health Department

• "Stress Management" provided by Laura Herring, Health Psychologist

• "Amateur Radio and Our Part in the County Emergency Response" provided by Dave Collins with ARES

• "Tier II Reporting" provided by Anthony Bonapart, NC Division of Emergency Management

• "Right-to-Know Compliance as it Relates to Tier II" provided by Ed Lewis, Outreach Coordinator for NCDOL

• "Injury Prevention Strategies" provided by Ms. Daean Menke, MS, CVE, CRC, Regional Work Strategies Coordinator with Pro Active Therapy

• "Update on Triad Early Action Compact" provided by Hoy Bohanon, Jr.

• "NC Hazardous Mitigation Plan" provided by Toni Plummer

• "NCDOL Carolina STAR Program" provided by H. Leonard Mangum, STAR Program Consultant

• "Programs that HERA is Responsible for Implementing in Guilford County" provided by John Nantz, Supervisor of the HERA (Health & Environmental Risk Assessment) Team of the Division of Environmental Health

• "Guilford County Emergency Operations Plan" provided by Ron Campbell, Guilford County Emergency Management Coordinator and Don Campbell, Guilford County Office of Emergency Management

• "Lab Safety Standards" provided by Steve Preissler, Occupational Health Specialist with NCOSH

• "The History and Role of the Red Cross in the Community" provided by Amy Stanley Stroud, Director of Programs and Services

Other Sub-Committees have been busy in various projects throughout the year. These consist of the Executive Board, TERG (Training, Equipment and Resources Group), Regulatory Review, Citizen Corps, Outreach and Education, By-Laws, Website, Program, and Historical Committees.

The Guilford County LEPC Executive Board, consisting of the LEPC elected officers and the Chairs of each committee, worked

• to provide an understanding of requirements for voting membership into the LEPC

• to refine the LEPC mission statement

• to develop a better understanding of LEPC's requirements with Tier II and NC Hazardous Substances Right-to-Know regulations

• to provide assistance to industry with their reporting requirements

• to develop "invitation cards" for providing LEPC meeting information to prospective new attendees

• to understand LEPC's responsibility in developing the "Guilford County LEPC Community Hazardous Materials Contingency Guide" which is referenced in the Guilford County Emergency Operations Plan.

TERG, chaired by High Point Fire Chief Barry Tilley, received the laptop computers that were purchased by the Guilford County LEPC in 2003 for Emergency Services. They stressed the responsibility of industry to invite their local fire department into their facilities for tours and an exchange of information. Homeland security grants were obtained to assist in providing training and equipment as needed.

The Regulatory Review Committee, chaired by Alice Rimmer/Billy Cobb, was reorganized and began to update the "Useful Tips" sheet that was first developed in 2003. This information is provided to all LEPC members and attendees, as well as provided on the LEPC website. The committee also monitors regulations to provide pertinent information to the LEPC when there are changes to regulations or new regulations being considered at local, state or federal levels.

The Citizen Corps Committee, chaired by Jennie Hege, received training and applied for grants to be used for providing information, training and materials to neighborhood groups in the county in preparing for emergency responses. CERT (citizen's emergency response team) organizations were developed in a few areas with good responses from the citizens. Captain Joel Wood has been very beneficial in assisting with providing programs and developing neighborhood CERTs.

The Outreach and Education Committee, chaired by Debbie Meurs, did their usual splendid job with developing and scheduling the 2004 Business and Industry Safety and Environmental Conference. This conference is provided free to all industries, students, and responders. There were approximately 353 attendees in 2004. "Classes" to provide information to the attendees included:

• OSHA Regulatory Update

• New Stormwater Rules and SPCC Update

• Terrorism - North Carolina Impact

• Environmental Law, Hot Cases

• Emergency Plans

• NCDENR Hazardous Waste Update

• EHS Training - What, Who, When?

• Clandestine Drug Labs

• Workplace Violence - It Could Happen to You

Click here to view the conference details. There were many vendors and sponsors who participated and made our conference a success. The Outreach and Education committee also kept everyone attending LEPC meetings informed of other training and conferences throughout the state.

The By-Laws Committee, co-chaired by Charles Mortimore and Steve Earp, assisted in determining the LEPC responsibilities toward Tier II reporting. They also provided direction if required changes were needed to the by-laws, or if we were violating the by-laws requirements by our actions. Their guidance was much appreciated.

With a new webmaster, Dorothy Vannoy, the Guilford County LEPC website has flourished. Information is readily available and kept up to date. There are many useful links listed to easily find a site with the relevant information being sought. It was with Dorothy's help that much of the registrations for the 2004 conference were managed from our website. Please look at the Guilford County LEPC website for further information.

The Program Committee, chaired by Kirk Weil, has worked very hard in finding speakers to provide programs relevant to our jobs and responsibilities. The list of programs provided for LEPC in 2004 was listed earlier in this report. With Kirk's work on setting up these programs, LEPC attendees are more knowledgeable concerning emergency response, environmental, health and safety issues relating to our community.

The Historical Committee, chaired by Kevin Cowan, was a newly developed committee during 2004. Kevin has been challenged with the task of maintaining records of our activities and successes for future reviewing and remembering. We hope this will help the LEPC rise to higher, better and more efficient levels of accomplishment in future years.

The LEPC Secretary, Penny Partido, maintains the help line telephone number (570-8085) as an additional means for informing members, the public and all interested parties of our meetings, events and contact information.

The financial report, provided by LEPC Treasurer, Bill Nieland, for the 2004 year of LEPC can be viewed here. Most of the income was from sponsors and vendors for the 2004 conference. Expenditures were to complete equipment purchases through TERG from 2003, expenses from the conference, the LEPC post office box rental, voice mailbox, and website fees. If there are any questions concerning this report or anything else concerning LEPC activities, please contact one of the officers.

Fire departments, County Commissioners, City Council and Town Representatives, Emergency Management and Emergency Services are always invited to the LEPC meetings and requested to provide information concerning their agency's activities that may be relevant to the LEPC. In this way, we can better understand our responsibilities and how we can help toward better emergency responses within our county.

In 2005, we will work to complete projects begun in 2004. We will also continue our support to and request of SERC and NC Emergency Management toward electronically reporting Tier II data. Guilford County LEPC is advancing to a new level with the work and support of industries and agencies to help our County be a better and safer place to live.

Clarice N. Garrett, CHMM
Guilford County LEPC Chairperson
February 2005