An Example of a Local Time-Limited Acute Health Emergency

In 2009, an industrial factory had a nitric acid leak inside their facility. The facility manager notified the police and fire departments, the Cuyahoga County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) and Ohio State Emergency Response Commission (SERC).

The police saw an orange plume over the facility and the fire department responded. The source of the cloud was a tank truck unloading product into a storage tank. The fire department and facility personnel secured and evacuated the area.

Hazmat was contacted, a command structure was set up and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was notified. The rail lines were shut down. No personnel were injured.