Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Guidelines for assisting people with disabilities during emergencies, crises and disasters by the Council of Europe (COE);European and Mediterranean Major Hazards Agreement (EUR-OPA)

http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/publications/v.php?id=36289&a=email&utm_source=pw_email

PreventionWeb - we welcome disaster risk reduction content contributions and value your comments

Guidelines for assisting people with disabilities during emergencies, crises and disasters


This set of guidelines is intended to ensure that national governments, and their counterparts at regional and local level, civil society organizations and relevant offices in both the public and private sector obtain a clear idea of how to proceed with the provision of disaster risk reduction for people with disabilities. It begins with a set of working definitions and then considers the requirements of good preparedness during all the phases of crisis management: mitigation and planning (disaster risk reduction), alert, emergency action, and recovery. The care of people with disabilities needs to be considered with respect to all of these phases.

Related Links

Keywords

  • Themes:Capacity Development, Civil Society/NGOs, Disaster Risk Management, Governance, Public-private Partnerships, Vulnerable Populations
  • Countries/Regions:Europe

  • Short URL:http://preventionweb.net/go/36289

Monday, February 3, 2014

Consequences Of Burning Crude Oil

http://www.hstoday.us/focused-topics/emergency-managementdisaster-preparedness/single-article-page/consequences-of-burning-crude-oil-detailed-in-technical-brief-for-first-responders.html


Emergency Management/ Disaster Preparedness

Consequences Of Burning Crude Oil Detailed In Technical Brief For First Responders

By: Homeland Security Today Staff
01/31/14 




A new technical report that details the consequences of toxins in smoke plumes from spilled crude oil shows that the quantities of these combustion by-products vary greatly and have different levels of toxicity.

Prepared by Aristatek, Inc, a provider of hazardous materials planning and response solutions, said it prepared its technical paper, Toxic Consequences of Smoke Plumes from Crude Oil Fires, in response to “several high-profile accidents in 2013 have highlighted the inherent dangers this substance can present, especially those effluents produced by burning crude oil.

The technical report analyzes these effluents and the company is making it available at no cost to all emergency response and public safety/health professionals at no cost to assist in their responsibility to protect their communities.

“We went back and forth” on the technical paper “as our analysis lead us in different directions,” Aristatek’s  C. Scott Bunning told Homeland Security Today. “What we discovered during our analysis is that some toxic threats can extend beyond the recommended initial evacuation zone of the Department of Transportation’s Emergency Response Guidebook (ERG) of on-half mile in all directions.”

But the ERG made “no recommendations on downwind protective action distances for crude oil fires, so our data may be some of the first out there on this,” Bunning said.

“As crude oil burns, the resulting smoke contains chemicals which are harmful to humans if exposed to critical concentrations,” Aristatek said. “Formaldehyde, carbon monoxide, benzene, sulfur dioxide and particulates are the major effluents found in the smoke as reported in technical literature and are analyzed in the brief,” which “points out that in addition to the isolation and initial evacuation zones recommended by Guide 128 of the 2012 Emergency Response Guidebook from the Department of Transportation, emergency planners and responders may need to consider taking protective action downwind from a crude oil fire involving a railcar.”

“During a train derailment involving crude oil,” the company explained, “the immediate threats responders worry about the most often are the vapor cloud explosions and pool fires. But another threat are the toxins emitted in the smoke plume for folks that are downwind from the accident. We felt analyzing this threat could help emergency managers and responders make more informed decisions during planning, training and response for these types of accidents since there are no green pages associated with crude oil in the ERG.”

AristaTek’s analysis treats each substance individually by first calculating an expected total amount of each that would be given off for two different amounts of crude oil burned (30,000 and 10,000 gallons).

As an example of the brief’s methodology, formaldehyde can be produced at a level of 139 mg per kg of crude oil burned, while carbon monoxide can be produced at 30,000 mg per kg of crude oil burned. An average release rate is calculated based on the fire lasting an assumed 4 hours. Since each substance has a different toxicity level, the downwind protective action distance for each substance is calculated using the company’s PEAC-WMD hazardous materials technical reference and modeling software, using an assumed set of meteorological conditions to predict that substance’s potential consequence on individuals downwind. Some substances were found to have relatively small protective action distance (formaldehyde at 600 feet) and others have larger protective action distances beyond the half-mile recommended by the ERG (sulfur dioxide at 1.2 miles).

Also included in the technical paper are the signs and symptoms of exposure to these effluents for reference by responders.

Photo: Crude oil fireball and smoke plume during train derailment in Cass County, North Dakota, December 2013. Photography ©Dawn Faught 2014 -- All Rights Reserved www.rushridge.com.

USA: FEMA - Caught between climate change and Congress

PreventionWeb - we welcome disaster risk reduction content contributions and value your comments
http://www.preventionweb.net/english/professional/news/v.php?id=36294&a=email&utm_source=pw_email


USA: FEMA - Caught between climate change and Congress

By Katherine Bagley, InsideClimate News

The agency has needed Congress to approve extra disaster relief funds every year over roughly the past decade to handle mounting climate-related damage.

Thanks to climate change, extreme weather disasters have hammered the United States with increasing frequency in recent years—from drought and wildfires to coastal storms and flooding.

It is perhaps surprising, then, that the U.S. agency in charge of preparing for and responding to these disasters, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), doesn't account for climate change in most of its budget planning and resource allocation or in the National Flood Insurance Program it administers.

"Climate change is affecting everything the agency does, and yet it isn't given much consideration," said Michael Crimmins, an environmental scientist at the University of Arizona who is leading a project to try to improve FEMA's use of climate science data. "FEMA has to be climate literate in a way that many other agencies don't have to be."

A main problem, he and other experts say, is that FEMA doesn't use short- or long-term climate science projections to determine how worsening global warming may affect its current operations and the communities it serves.

Instead, FEMA continues to base its yearly budget and activities almost entirely on historical natural disaster records.

That practice is exacerbated by the fact that the agency is at the mercy of economic and political pressures. In addition to having to deal with years of recession that ate into its budget, FEMA has repeatedly been caught in the crosshairs of partisan politics that forced funding cuts and blocked proposed increases.

And so while the number of billion-dollar-plus weather disasters in the United States has increased five percent a year since 1980, FEMA's annual budget has stayed roughly the same, straining its ability to function.

"Recent events have been so big that they've swept through the agency, affecting every corner of funding," Crimmins said. "It is hugely problematic. FEMA is reeling and saying, 'Wait, we have to become more efficient at every timescale because this isn't sustainable from a budget stand point.'"

In 2011, 14 natural disasters with price tags of $1 billion or more struck the United States. As a result, FEMA was forced to divert funds from long-term rebuilding projects to cover the immediate response needs—things like food, water and shelter—for victims of Hurricane Irene. It faced a similar budget crunch following Superstorm Sandy in 2012, a year that saw 11 billion-dollar-plus disasters. In fact, FEMA has needed Congress to approve additional disaster relief funds nearly every year over roughly the past decade to handle the mounting climate-related damage.

FEMA's National Flood Insurance Program, which provides coverage for more than 5.5 million Americans, faces particular risks from warming. It's already $18 billion in debt from Hurricanes Katrina and Irene, Superstorm Sandy and other disasters. And that deficit will only increase. According to a FEMA-commissioned study, released last year, flood zones could grow 55 percent in size by 2100 from mainly climate change, but also population growth along coastlines—doubling enrollment in the program and straining the entire insurance system. The report, recommended by the Government Accountability Office back in 2007, could eventually influence recommendations about how to reform the flood insurance program.

The 35-year-old emergency response agency has about 7,500 employees scattered across the country and operates on an approximately $10 billion annual budget.

FEMA spokesman Dan Watson denied claims that the agency is dragging its feet on including climate threats in its current budgets and plans.

"FEMA is working within its existing statutes and authorities to incorporate climate change adaptation into ongoing plans, policies and procedures," he wrote in an email. Watson pointed to the agency's recent announcement that it developed a way for states and regions to incorporate sea level rise projections into grant applications for disaster mitigation projects. The move was made in response to President Obama's mandate last November that federal agencies help states adapt to climate change.

With the trend of extreme weather intensifying, critics say that reports and suggestions are not enough, and they are urging FEMA to take a more proactive and aggressive approach. Two leading environmental groups, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the National Wildlife Federation, have petitioned FEMA for more than a year to overhaul its disaster mitigation program, asking to require—not just suggest—that communities include climate impacts in their grant requests and strategic plans.

According to the groups, FEMA officials agreed earlier this month in a private meeting to meet that request and update the process by the end of the year.

"It is encouraging news ... a great example of the direction FEMA needs to be heading in more," said Rob Moore, head of the water and climate team at the NRDC.

"We can't afford to simply respond as disasters happen and muddle through," he said. "The time has come to look forward 20, 30 years."

Additional information

Related Links

Keywords

  • Themes:Climate Change, Disaster Risk Management, Economics of DRR, Governance
  • Hazards:Drought, Flood, Wild Fire
  • Countries/Regions:United States of America

  • Short URL:http://preventionweb.net/go/36294

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Argentine Activists Win First Round Against Monsanto Plant

NOTE:  An additional watch for corruption as the judicial process proceeds, and a model for other communities throughout the world.

African nations take note.


http://www.ipsnews.net/2014/01/argentine-activists-win-first-round-monsanto-plant/



Monsanto’s plant in Malvinas Argentinas, seen from the camp set up by local protestors blocking access to the works in construction. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS
Monsanto’s plant in Malvinas Argentinas, seen from the camp set up by local protestors blocking access to the works in construction. Credit: Fabiana Frayssinet/IPS
CORDOBA, Argentina, Jan 25 2014 (IPS) - Residents of a town in Argentina have won the first victory in their fight against biotech giant Monsanto, but they are still at battle stations, aware that winning the war is still a long way off.
For four months activists in Malvinas Argentinas, a town in the central province of Cordoba, have maintained a blockade of the construction site where the U.S. transnational company is building the world’s biggest maize seed treatment plant.
In this previously peaceful town, protestors continue to camp in front of the construction site and to block access to it, even after a provincial court order this month put a halt to the works.
The campaign against the plant, led by Asamblea Malvinas Lucha por la Vida (Malvinas Assembly Fighting for Life) and other social organisations, began Sept. 18 in this town 17 kilometres from the capital of Cordoba.
Tense situations ensued, with attempts by the provincial police to disperse the demonstrators and provocations by construction union envoys, but a provincial labour court ruling on Jan. 8 upheld the activists’ cause.
“The ruling shows that the residents’ arguments are just, because they are claiming basic rights that are recognised and established in the constitution and federal legislation,” Federico Macciocchi, the lawyer representing opponents of the plant, told IPS.
The court ruled that the municipal ordinance authorising construction of the plant in this mostly working class town of 15,000 people was unconstitutional.
It ordered a halt to construction work and banned the Malvinas Argentinas municipality from authorising the construction until two legal requirements are fulfilled: carrying out an environmental impact assessment and a public hearing.
“This is a big step forward in the struggle, achieved by working together on institutional demands, along with social activism on the streets,” Matías Marizza, a member of the Malvinas Assembly, told IPS.
“This struggle has resulted in guaranteeing respect for the law,” the activist said.
The Malvinas Assembly and other organisations have decided to continue to camp out at the site and block access until the project is abandoned for good.
Monsanto replied to IPS’s request for comment with a statement that describes local activists as “extremists” who are preventing their contractors and employees from “exercising the right to work.”
The court ruling arose from a legal appeal lodged by local residents and the Club de Derecho (Cordoba Law Club), presided by Macciocchi.
The labour court has ordered an environmental impact study and a public hearing, he emphasised.
The views expressed in the public hearing will be “highly relevant,” he said, although under the General Environment Law, participants’ objections and opinions “are not binding.”
However, the law does stipulate that if the opinions of the convening authorities differ from the results of the public hearing, “they must justify them and make them public,” he said.
Now the Malvinas Assembly also wants a public consultation with a secret ballot.
Such a ballot would comply with the environmental law and “guarantee citizens’ full rights to decide on which model of local development and what kind of social and economic activities they want for their daily life, and what environmental risks they are prepared to take,” Víctor Mazzalay, another resident, told IPS.
“It is the people who should have that information and decide whether or not to accept the costs and risks involved,” said Mazzalay, a social researcher funded by the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) at the University of Cordoba.
“An environmental impact assessment should include a public consultation so that citizens can provide the ‘social licence’ necessary for developing any social, economic and productive activity that may affect their environment and health,” he said.
Monsanto’s statement said the company does not agree with the court ruling, but respects judicial decisions and will abide by the verdict.
The company stated that it had already conducted an environmental assessment, which is currently under review by the provincial Secretary of the Environment.
In Macciocchi’s view, the court’s ruling is definitive and “brings the legal conflict to an end.”
“The ruling arose from a legal appeal, so there is no further recourse in ordinary law,” he said.
Monsanto can still appeal to have the decision overturned by the provincial High Court (Tribunal Superior de Justicia, TSJ).
The company has already said that it will appeal. “We consider our right to build legitimate since we have complied with all legal requirements and have obtained authorization to build according to the regulations, as confirmed by the ruling of the Court of First Instance of Oct. 7, 2013,” their statement said.
However, in Macciocchi’s view “this appeal will not overturn the labour court ruling.”
“If we consider how long the TSJ takes to process an appeal, by the time there is a decision, the Malvinas municipality and the Environment Secretariat will have complied with the laws they previously violated,” he said.
According to the lawyer, the high court takes up to two and a half years for appeals lodged by individuals under sentence, and five to seven years in labour or civil cases.
“It would create a real institutional scandal if the TSJ were to deal with this case by leap-frogging all the other cases that have lain dormant in its offices for years,” he said.
The Jan. 8 ruling cannot prevent the definitive installation of the plant, which Monsanto plans should become operational during 2014.
“But if the citizens’ demonstrations against the plant and the environmental impact assessment are unfavourable to the company, Monsanto will not be able to instal the plant in Malvinas Argentinas,” Macciocchi predicted.
Mazzalay emphasised that the “substance” of the arguments of opponents to Monsanto’s plant was “the defence of the people’s right to decide on the kind of productive activities and the type of environmental risks they wish to undertake.”
The company announced it was planning to build more than 200 maize silos, and to use agrochemical products to treat the seeds. Monsanto is one of the world’s biggest manufacturers of herbicides and genetically modified seeds, and has operated in Argentina since 1956 when it established a plastics factory.
“It is frequently argued that there is a reasonable doubt that this productive activity is harmless to human health,” Mazzalay said.
In his view, “a multiplicity of scientific studies have shown negative effects on health from both seed transportation and handling of and exposure to different agrochemical products.”
“When there is a health risk related to environmental issues, reasonable doubt should bring the precautionary principle into play, that is, an activity should not be developed until it has definitely been proved to be harmless,” he said.

Friday, January 24, 2014

CERT Training: NYC February 2014

v  New York Citizen Corps Weekly News
We are happy to announce that NYC Office of Emergency Management is now accepting applications for our upcoming CERT training cycle that begins in February.  

OEM's Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) are groups of local volunteers who have undergone a 10-week training program that focuses on emergency preparedness, fire safety, traffic control, disaster medical operations, and more. CERT members serve their community by assisting first responders, helping at citywide planned events, and educating the public about emergency preparedness. They also help their neighbors recover from disasters by serving in assistance centers and by providing accurate, up-to-date information.

Training:
·         The class is free!
·         10 weeks, one night a week, 6:30 - 9:30 PM
·         A mix of classroom instruction and hands-on practice

Requirements:
·         CERT members must be at least 18 years old
·         Must reside or work in New York City
·         There will be a pre-training interview conducted by the team you are set to join


To learn more, please visit nyc.gov/cert or email cert@oem.nyc.gov.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Reminder...Closing date: January 28, 2014. Youth in Int'l Development & Affairs Internship Program.

Apply NOW for Youth in Int'l Development & Affairs (YIDA) Internship Program!

Project Manager at United States International Council on Disabilities
Third Call for Applicants!

Youth in International Development & Affairs (YIDA) Internship Program

The summer 2014 Youth in International Development and Affairs (YIDA) internship program is aimed at students and recent graduates with disabilities who aspire to careers in international development or international affairs. We are open for applications until January 29, 2014.

The YIDA program will bring a group of talented graduate students, recent graduates, and rising college juniors and seniors with disabilities to Washington, DC, for nine weeks. This will include a one-week training and orientation program followed by an eight-week internship at an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. USICD will cover the cost of fully-accessible housing during the YIDA progam, reimburse travel expenses to and from DC, and provide a limited stipend. It is anticipated that the program will run from May 25 to July 25, 2014. These dates may be subject to change.

The United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD) launched the YIDA internship program in 2013 with funding support from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation. The project follows from a vision, core to USICD’s mission, to increase disability inclusion in U.S. foreign affairs by supporting future generations of Americans with disabilities to invest their skills and talents in this field.

To learn more about the YIDA program, eligibility criteria, and the application process, please visithttp://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257. This website answers Frequently Asked Questions for applicants.

Please disseminate this email among students and recent graduates who may be interested. If you are an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area interested in hosting a YIDA intern, please communicate with yid@usicd.org.

Application deadline for the summer 2014 YIDA program is January 29, 2014.

P.S. In addition to coordinating the YIDA program, USICD also leads the campaign for U.S. ratification of the “Disability Treaty” (Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, CRPD). This is the first international treaty to protect the human rights of people with disabilities: 140 other countries have ratified it, but the U.S. is behind. The next national teleconference call on CRPD action for student and campus leaders will be on January 28 at 4 pm EST (3 pm Central Time, 1 pm Pacific Time).

We are interested in hearing from campus and student leaders who want to help mobilize others to take action in support of the Disability Treaty. Please communicate with Andrea Shettle at ashettle@usicd.org for details on future national teleconference calls for student/campus leaders on the CRPD. No time to be involved? Then you may want to simply sign and disseminate a petition at http://bit.ly/Youth4CRPD.
In 2013, with the vital support of the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation (MEAF), USICD launched its first internship program focusing on youth with disabilities who are interested in international development or international affairs careers....

Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Webinar Training Opportunity: Improving Resilience of the Nations Infrastructure. January 22, 2014

The Infrastructure Security Partnership

Improving Resilience of the Nation’s Infrastructure 

January 22, 2014 -- 12:00 Noon Eastern

For our first program of the New Year, EMForum.org is pleased to host a one hour presentation and interactive discussion Wednesday, January 22, 2014, beginning at 12:00 Noon Eastern time (please convert to your local time). Our topic will be The Infrastructure Security Partnership (TISP) and its ongoing efforts to improve the resilience of our nation's built environment. Among its many achievements since its founding in 2001, 

TISP has published the widely used Regional Disaster Resilience Guide and other related resources. The partnership was also actively engaged in the recent update of the National Infrastructure Protection Plan. Our guest will be William B. Anderson, TISP Director and Chief Operating Officer for over five years.

Please make plans to join us, and see the Background Page for links to related resources and participant Instructions. On the day of the program, use the Webinar Login link not more than 30 minutes before the scheduled time. As always, please feel free to extend this invitation to your colleagues.

In partnership with Jacksonville State University, EIIP offers CEUs for attending EMForum.org Webinars.  See http://www.emforum.org/CEUs.htm for details.


Is your organization interested in becoming an EIIP Partner? 
Click here to review our Mission, Vision, and Guiding Principles and access the Memorandum of Partnership.

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