Letter to the editor: Westmoreland unprepared for hazardous incidents

At a recent meeting addressing concerns about a possible train derailment in Westmoreland County, Chris Tantlinger, Westmoreland County deputy emergency management coordinator, assured residents of an adequate response. Actually, Westmoreland County does not have equipment to provide comprehensive monitoring during incidents that contaminate air.

In 2017, Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group began discussing with hazmat and county commissioners the need for equipment and procedures that speciate the specific chemicals present and detect levels potentially harmful to health, not just life-threatening or explosive levels of a few chemicals.

This was a problem in East Palestine, Ohio. Testing did not comprehensively analyze a wide range of toxic chemicals. For example, handheld detectors used to screen homes were not sensitive enough to detect butyl acrylate at low levels. If you don’t test for it, it cannot be determined what people are being exposed to or at what levels, and consequently, information about health risks or appropriate evacuation measures is lacking. In the recent mercaptan incident in the Delmont area, after exhaustive conversations with various agencies, residents could not learn what level their families were exposed to or if levels exceeded permissible exposure limits.

Recently, nine organizations signed a letter to commissioners requesting that summa canisters be on hand to utilize during incidents affecting air quality. Again, the county has taken no action. Shame. There have already been several county air incidents from gas operations, and, unfortunately, there will be more. The deleterious health effects are well established, yet county officials shirk their responsibility to protect public health.

Jan Milburn

Ligonier Township

The writer is president of the Westmoreland Marcellus Citizens’ Group.