Emergency Planning and
response Program
Program Manager Contact Information:
Emergency Planning and Response
Program Manager | 252-466-3631
The intent of the Emergency Planning and Response Program is to prevent oil discharges and hazardous substance (HS) releases to the air, land, and water and provide proper training for response to such releases that cannot be prevented. In the event of a release, the goal of the Emergency Planning and Response Program is to control, contain, and remove the release while minimizing impacts to human health and the environment. In addition, the Emergency Planning and Response Program (also referred to as the Spill Response Program by the facility) oversees processes on the Air Station to ensure that implementation of these processes occurs with the least detrimental effects from pollution by inadvertent releases.
Marine Corps policy requires that all Marine Corps installations and activities comply with all applicable environmental requirements, which may include Federal, state, local, Department of Defense (DoD), Department of the Navy (DON), Marine Corps, and MCAS Cherry Point rules, regulations, and requirements. Legal and other environmental requirements related to the Emergency Planning and Response Program are maintained on the EM Portal.
MCAS Cherry Point’s Emergency Planning and Response Program involves the prevention of spills and releases of oils and HS. When a spill occurs, the Emergency Planning and Response Program provides personnel and resources to contain the spill and prevent adverse effects to human health and the environment. A complete description of the responsibilities of the Emergency Planning and Response Program is available on the EM Portal. Major components of the Emergency Planning and Response Program include:
Integrated Contingency Plan (ICP) Implementation
The ICP covers management of aboveground storage tanks (AST), underground storage tanks (UST), and pipelines used for the storage, transport, or dispensing of petroleum products regardless of size and petroleum type. The plan also covers HS storage and hazardous waste storage in quantities above their reporting thresholds. Finally, the ICP prescribes the procedures to follow in response to a release of petroleum product or HS.
Release Notification
The Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager maintains documentation on all oil discharges and HS releases that occur at the facility. Departments in which the spill occurred are required to prepare a spill report and submit it to the Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager. These spill reports are provided to the appropriate regulatory agency, if necessary. In addition, the Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager enters spill reports into a spill database and uses the reports to identify trends that may be occurring in spill frequency.
The Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager provides training to on-site personnel that manage fuel storage or transfer operations. This training includes general awareness on causes of spills and leaks as well as appropriate response procedures. Training is conducted on an annual basis or as needed. The Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager tracks all spills at the facility. If there is a trend in increase of spills associated with a certain storage area or operation, the Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager may provide additional training to address the observed trend.
The Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager also provides training for the facility spill response team. Open water and land-based spill response training is provided. Training also includes appropriate notification procedures in the event of a spill.
Specific emergency response training provided by the Air Station includes:
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Emergency communication procedures and alarm systems;
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Response to fires, explosions, toxic gas releases, and spills;
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Procedures for locating, inspecting, using, repairing, and replacing facility emergency and monitoring equipment;
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Response to surface water contamination incidents and procedures for containing, controlling, and mitigating spills;
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Response to potential groundwater contamination incidents; and
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Emergency evacuation procedures for the Air Station and local areas.
The risk of negative environmental impacts from MCAS Cherry Point operations may be assessed by analyzing the practices that occur at the facility. Aspects are the characteristics of these practices that can cause an impact to the environment or other resources. It is Marine Corps policy that all Marine Corps installations identify and assess the environmental risk of the practices and aspects associated with each environmental program. Significant practices and/or aspects associated with this program include:
When necessary, objectives and targets (O&T) are developed in order to minimize the environmental risks posed by the facility’s practices and to track progress towards achieving environmental goals. Any O&Ts related to the Emergency Planning and Response Program and their associated actions to improve performance are maintained on the EM Portal. The O&T currently developed for this program is:
Objective: Spill minimization, education, and reporting campaign.
Target: Conduct at least two annual spill drills with a randomly selected unit/department. Each scenario is to include the Fire Department, Safety Office, EAD, unit/department, etc.
The Emergency Planning and Response Program is evaluated under each annual internal Environmental Compliance Evaluation (ECE) and each triennial Benchmark ECE. Findings and corrective actions from these audits are maintained on the EM Portal.
Inspections of various equipment and operations are performed by the EAD environmental protection specialists and Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager on a routine basis. Equipment that is inspected includes fuel and hazardous material storage tanks as well as fire prevention, fire response, and fire alarm equipment. The EAD environmental protection specialists perform routine inspections of secondary containment and booms, weirs and spill gates. Inspection forms are presented in the ICP.
The Emergency Planning and Response Program Manager is responsible for ensuring that all booms, weirs and spill gates in the Air Station’s drainage system are inspected at least twice per week. Inspections are documented on forms presented in the facility ICP.
The fuels department manager is responsible for visually inspecting tank sites for overall conditions and evidence of spills during product transfers as described in AirStaO 5090.4.