Hazardous Substance Response

Hazardous Substance Response:

The National Response Center is the SOLE national point of contact for reporting Oil, Chemical, Radiological and Biological discharges.

Report Spills to the NRC at 1-800-424-8802

It is important to know what hazardous substances are stored in your community and what hazardous substances may travel through your community. Accidents involving chemicals or radioactive materials represent a significant threat to the environment, public health and safety, and community well-being. In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, no community is immune from the threat posed by environmental accidents and contamination. Even communities far removed from industrial production or storage facilities can still be at risk from accidents associated with the transport of hazardous materials.

Hazardous substances pose unique evacuation challenges because the type of material determines the appropriate response; however, many response plans do not account for this difference. For example chlorine gas sinks lower than air and concentrates in valleys; other gases rise to higher elevations. Response plans and training exercises need to include decision paths that consider the effects of materials and the most appropriate responses to protect the population.

Exposure to hazardous substances can exist on many levels - at home, as part of your work, or as a result of a major spill, leak or release that can affect a large geographical area. Learn what you can do to better safeguard your personal environment and how to respond if an incident does occur.

Containment and cleanup are your goal in a spill, however, the primary consideration is human safety. Emergency responders must understand the fundamental differences between safety considerations for petroleum product responses and those for other hazardous materials incidents.
See Hazardous Waste and Emergency Response Training Requirements