Hazardous Materials:Transportation *

Description:

Uncontrolled release of radiological or chemical hazardous materials during transport by rail, pipeline, ports, highway, or air.

Secondary Effects:

In the State of Maine several hundred chemical spills and thousands of petroleum spills occur each year. Although few injuries and remarkably no deaths have occurred over the last several years, the likelihood of injury and death remain a real possibility. Additionally, the loss of private and public property through contamination is a concern. The potential loss of public property and public safety resources, including Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) and mobile equipment and of hospitals through contamination remain critical as these resources are minimal at the municipal level and a lessening the availability of any of these resources may create an emergency. Beyond the loss of private and public property there are environmental effects that increase the possibility of the loss or reduced value of land thereby creating an economic loss or quality of life loss to the citizens affected. Economic losses may include loss of jobs either through temporary or permanent closures and reduced property values. Due to the varying nature of shipping, it is difficult to identify any one or two risks that may occur in a community and, therefore, makes the community vulnerability higher than for those communities containing fixed facilities.

Vulnerability:

Highway: Maine has about 22,715 miles of road with 2,447 miles of it classified as the Heavy Haul Network (HHN) over which the majority of hazardous materials is transported. This road network exists throughout Maine which extends the risk of a release to potentially any community in Maine. Principal roads over which the HHN is classified include the Maine Turnpike, Route 1, Route 2, Route 9, Route 201, Route 202 and Route 302. The risk of a spill is real and appears to be growing as more companies have reduced their chemical storage on site and have relied on more transportation for “just in time” deliveries. Maine continues to have several “major” events annually relating to a transportation spill that effectively shuts down a road network for several hours at a time. Based on a truck’s capacity and the rural nature of many of Maine’s roads the potential of a large spill is significant.

Rail: Maine has eight operating rail companies that travel over 1,200 miles of rail throughout the state. These railways carry approximately 8,000,000 tons of freight each year of which 16 to 18 percent may be classified as hazardous material. In addition, there are three intermodal facilities that operate in Maine where more than 30,000 lifts per year occur from rail to truck. Based on railcar capacity and the rural nature of where railways are, the potential of a large spill is significant.

Pipeline: Traversing Maine are four pipelines (two-petroleum, two-natural gas) and although figures are not readily available what can be accounted for is that through one pipeline/one product (crude oil) alone accounts for over 150,000,000 barrels per year. The potential for an economic and/or environmental catastrophic release is a real risk due to the rural nature of where these pipelines are located and the freezing-thawing process that occurs annually in Maine.

Port/Ports of Entry: There are two major ports in Maine from which hazardous materials are shipped. In addition, five other ports handle smaller amounts of hazardous products. Total barrels of products that flow through these ports are 205,000,000 of which the vast majority is in the form of petroleum products.

There are 15 identified Ports of Entry in Maine. Traffic through these may be by rail, highway, vessel or pipeline. Each of these areas has a concentration in tonnage and the variety of chemicals passing through at any given time which multiplies the risks associated with any one particular mode of transportation. There are about 25,000 shipments through these points of entry on an annual basis. As such each municipality in which a port of entry is located is at a greater risk then those communities that may have only a single transportation mode.

Air: Maine has four commercial airports which have been identified as having minor amounts of hazardous materials being transported by air. These are generally inorganic chemicals, pesticides or other agriculturally related material.

Mitigation:

Effective emergency planning at the local level coordinated through Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPCs) includes identifying problem areas such as high risk intersections, accident prone areas, and sensitive receptors. Once identification through the planning process, training and equipping first responders, and educating the public is done, effective road, port, air, and rail upgrades can be put in place to minimize the risks associated with any potential release.

* An occurrence of this hazard could possibly be initiated by a deliberate act.

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Hazardous Materials:Transportation *

Description:

Secondary Effects:

Vulnerability:

Mitigation:

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