ERAC
Q3 Newsletter

Volume V Issue III
September 2017
Message from ERAC President,  
Spencer Buckland 
       
 ERAC Rail Emergency Training Exercise  
 
As fall approaches, I trust all of you had a safe and enjoyable summer. Here at ERAC, we continue to manage ongoing change to ensure we are supporting our Plan Participant members, ERAC responders and first responders from coast to coast.
 
Recently, Transport Canada, indicated it is setting new requirements for High Hazard Flammable Trains (HHFTs); specifically, fire suppression support activities that will be required, and the need to continuously improve and update ERAPs.  
In This Issue
Announcements   

Please welcome new RMAs, Lee Rankin of Huntingdon, QC and Geoff White of Dartmouth, NS to ERAC.

Good bye and thank you from ERAC to RMAs Darin Tarasawich of Lethbridge, AB, Peter Van Immerzeel of Williams Lake, BC and Robert Loenhart of Gatineau, QC, and Technical Advisor Francois Galarneau of Montreal, QC.

We also welcome two new members of the ERAC staff:
  • Joanna Bossert, Administrative Assistant - Joanna is an enthusiastic administrative support professional who has worked in online training and curriculum development for 16 years, where she was responsible for proofreading, editing and tracking of critical information.
  • Danelle Wettstein, Communications & Marketing Advisor - Danelle comes to ERAC with close to 10 years of communications experience, most recently at Suncor. She has also worked for the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP) and Canadian Pacific (CP).
Training & events
 
ERAC webinar update for Plan Participants - Save the date: Wednesday, November 15
 
ERAC webinar update for responders - Save the date: Wednesday, November 15
 
Annual two-day training and assessment of LPG and flammable liquids response teams
ERAC requires annual mandatory two-day training and assessment sessions for all LPG and flammable liquids response teams. Training sessions for the remainder of 2017 include:
Flammable Liquids
  • October 11 & 12 - Drain-All - Ottawa, ON
  • October 11 & 12 - GFL Environmental - Saskatoon, SK
  • October 23 & 24 - GFL Environmental - Thunder Bay, ON
  • November 8 & 9 - RAM Environmental - Kamloops, ON
  • November 20 & 21 - QM Environmental - Stoney Creek, ON
  • November 22 & 23 - Accuworx - Mississauga, ON
Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG)
  • September 27 & 28 - Northern BC Response Team - Taylor, BC
  • October 3 & 4 - Plains Midstream Canada - Regina, SK
  • October 11 & 12 - Euroway - Winnipeg, MB
Training locations for rail, truck and stationary tanks are important in helping ensure our responders are ready for any incident. All of us at ERAC thank these companies for stepping forward in support of the Regional Training and Assessment program.
 
Fire Training
  • September 26 - Prince George Fire Recue - Prince George, BC
  • October 27 & 28 - Edmundston Fire Rescue - Edmundston, NB
Pr actice makes perfect
Sept 2017 MD-UN Regional
Don Merriam, Operations Manager   

We conduct yearly training and exercise drills for all response teams, followed by an assessment. This process develops responder competencies, tests established procedures, develops confidence in participants and provides experience in using the plan's procedures in a real event.    Read more
Are you ready?
Patrick Knight, Safety & Quality Manager
 
What if the unthinkable happened today? That worst-case scenario. The reason your company has an emergency response assistance plan (ERAP). Are you ready?
 
Determine your organization's level of readiness in response to an ERAP activation: enroll in our Plan Participant Readiness and Review Program (free for ERAC Plan Participants).    Read more
SafetySync training update
Cheryl Dahlager, Process Services Manager

We're pleased to announce that our first interactive training course, Static, Grounding and Bonding, launched on ERAC's learning management system, SafetySync. ERAC has developed a new HTML format for curriculum development and standards for online training; this format will allow responders to be more engaged with the learning material. We'll continue to launch new courses as they're developed. Please feel free to review the new course at any time. If you complete the new course and quiz you'll be compliant for one year. Alternatively, you can wait until your course is due to complete the new course and quiz.
 
ICS 200 will become mandatory for RMAs, TAs, Response Team Leads and Alternate Team Leads effective January 1, 2018. ICS 200 is currently enabled in your portal as optional; once it is enabled as mandatory it'll affect your overall compliance.   Read more
Saint John rail emergency exercise valuable for readiness
Louis-Philippe Ethier, Technical Advisor      

The scenario? Two response teams simultaneously attending a "live" hazardous material transfer. The mission? Transfer the hazardous materials from tank cars to other tank cars or a tank truck, following ERAC's policies and guidelines.
 
The rail emergency exercise took place at Saint John Irving Bayshore facility on June 15, and was a multi-team live transfer exercise involving the flammable liquids and LPG response teams from RST Industries, the Sutherland Environmental LPG response team, and ERAC. The exercise evaluated the communications protocols between and amongst these teams in the face of an incident involving flammable liquids and gases; skills tested included planning, damage assessment, job hazard analysis, grounding and bounding, and transfer operations.   Read more   
E2 plans: readiness in a nutshell
Chris Whitman, Technical Advisor    

Preparedness and response to an environmental emergency is important for the health and safety of humans and the environment alike.
 
The environmental regulations set out by Environment and Climate Change Canada require that any industry or facility that owns or manages specified toxic and hazardous substances report on amounts above the threshold. In addition to reporting quantities, you are also required to prepare and implement an Environmental Emergency (E2) plan.   Read more  
Is your equipment ready for cold weather?
Lee Nelson, Technical Advisor    

Cooler temps are right around the corner now and it's time to make sure your equipment is ready for temperature swings. Over the years, we've seen cold weather ruin equipment and cause needless headaches for those of us out in the field.     Read more  
Lessons learned

During an activation, hoses attached to liquid flare pots sustained heat-affected damage due to inadequate hard pipe being used, leaving the liquid flare to the transfer hoses.
Additionally, one flare pot was taken out of service due to sustaining a leak during the liquid flaring operation.   Read more  
In the field: helping keep Canada safer
 
ERAC's foam firefighting trailers are strategically stored with fire departments across Canada in support of a national fire suppression support network. This network supports municipal, rural and volunteer fire departments in the event of flammable liquids fires in their regions. ERAC also provides specialized training to the fire departments storing these fire trailers, as pictured.  

In fact, recently Parkland County Fire Department used one of our fire suppression trailers near Wabamun, AB to put out a tank truck of Jet B fuel during a fire.
ERAC key performance indicators (KPIs)