Residents of Deer Park may see more emergency response personnel and vehicles than normal next week, but it’s only a drill hosted by Deer Park’s Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to test and practice the coordination and response needed to mitigate large-scale incidents. The drill is scheduled from 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 7 through 2 p.m. Friday, Sept. 9.
The full-scale exercise will simulate a hypothetical oil spill from a ruptured pipeline.
In the drill scenario, oil will flow through the streets of Deer Park and into the Houston Ship Channel. The drill will test the ability of multiple agencies and organizations to stop and clean up the spill. No actual oil will be spilled during the drill, but emergency responders will be on-scene and drill activities may be visible to passing motorists and community residents.
“Drills and exercises are important tools to test the ability of the city and industry to work together,” said Deer Park City Manager and LEPC Chairman Jay Stokes. “Drills allow us to evaluate our emergency response plans, personnel, and equipment, and be better prepared to respond to any real incident in the future.”
The city of Deer Park will activate its Emergency Operations Center to test communications and coordination between emergency responders on-scene and city management in the EOC. “We must be able to react quickly and communicate effectively with one another,” said Sam Pipkin, emergency management coordinator for the city of Deer Park. “We will also establish a Joint Information Center to simulate communications with our community residents, neighboring cities, and local news media.”
More than 100 responders from several different organizations plan to participate in the 3-day exercise, including Deer Park Emergency Management, Deer Park Volunteer Fire Department, Deer Park Police Department, Harris County, Texas General Land Office, U.S. Coast Guard, Channel Industries Mutual Aid and area industry representatives.
Deer Park LEPC is composed of community, government and industry representatives who develop an Emergency Response Plan in case of a chemical release impacts the city of Deer Park. The LEPC has developed community education and warning systems such as the AM 530 radio station, telephone notification systems, and outside alarms or sirens throughout the city. The Deer Park LEPC also developed the Wally Wise Guy turtle mascot to teach school children and their parents how to Shelter In Place during a chemical emergency.
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