Hazardous Materials

andrews@herald-mail.com HAGERSTOWN - Practicing for a hazardous materials emergency Sunday, about 30 people at Washington County Hospital set up and collapsed a decontamination tent with makeshift showers. They simulated passing a patient on a spineboard along rollers and spraying her with water. They retired to a classroom during a break to review how they did. Michael Lida, a manager and respiratory therapist for Antietam Health Services, and Nilesh Kothari, a clinical engineer at the hospital, put on full-body white contamination suits to make the drill more realistic.

charlestown@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A Martinsburg man who has worked as a local firefighter and a Berkeley County arson investigation team member is the second person to be charged in an extortion case in which a man told police he was pressured to pay $13,000 after breaking off a sexual relationship with a woman, police said. Larry Eugene Talhelm, 55, has been charged with six counts of extortion and six counts of conspiracy to extort, West Virginia State Police Senior Trooper N.A. Harmon said Sunday.

Is Hagerstown a waste route? To the editor: Recently a law was passed in the District of Columbia banning the shipment of hazardous materials through the nation's capitol via CSX rail. CSX challenged the authority of the District in this area because railroads are federally regulated and the law is being appealed. The D.C. government cites a study claiming 100,000 lives could be lost in the event of a terrorist attack or accidental release involving certain hazardous materials such as chlorine.

martinsburg@herald-mail.com MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - There were at least a few people in Martinsburg who might not have been too pleased with Wednesday's warm temperatures. Twenty-three firefighters from four different fire departments were drilling during the third day of a week-long course dealing with hazardous materials. Part of the course involved putting on protective suits, complete with a self-contained breathing apparatus, to test their coordination. The firefighters wore the gear while performing drills that included sweeping up clumps of dirt, dribbling a basketball around small orange cones and screwing together pieces of pipe.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - A terrorist scenario will be played out Saturday when the Franklin County Department of Emergency Services conducts a disaster drills at Letterkenny Army Depot and Mowrey Elementary School. For the drill, One "terrorist cell" will be targeting the depot north of Chambersburg while another gets lost trying to find Site R command and control center in Adams County, Pa. That second group of "terrorists" gets lost and ends up at the school off Pa. 997 in Quincy Township, according to Don Eshleman Jr., the county's emergency management coordinator.

HARPERS FERRY, W.Va. - Plans to restore the Harpers Ferry Train Station are moving forward, Harpers Ferry National Historic Park Superintendent Don Campbell announced. Campbell said in a news release that a recently signed agreement between the town of Harpers Ferry and the park will enable a $320,000 state grant to be released for restoration of the train station. This money, coupled with $1.9 million in federal funds secured by U.S. Sen. Robert C. Byrd, D-W.Va., makes the project fully funded, Campbell said.

chambersburg@herald-mail.com CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - New hazardous materials equipment could save valuable minutes in confining a toxic spill in Franklin County. The Franklin County Emergency Management Agency historically has relied on Cumberland County's hazardous materials response team, but it purchased a $10,000 trailer last month that can carry decontamination equipment to the scene of an incident, and the agency is starting a push to train local volunteers to become certified hazardous materials technicians, said Don Eshleman Jr., Franklin County Emergency Management Coordinator.

HANCOCK - A tractor-trailer loaded with hazardous materials collided with another tractor-trailer Friday on Sideling Hill west of Hancock, Maryland State Police in Hagerstown said. A 1999 Mack truck driven by Curtis Allen of Chambersburg, Pa., was traveling east on Interstate 68 at about 3:25 p.m. when the truck rear-ended a 2000 Freightliner truck driven by Eugene Campbell of Whiteville, N.C., police said. Allen, who believes he might have fallen asleep, was charged with failure to control speed to avoid a collision, police said.

tarar@herald-mail.com A Boonsboro propane gas supplier has agreed to reimburse customers tens of thousands of dollars for charging hazardous materials fees that were not part of customer service agreements, the Maryland Attorney General's office announced Wednesday. The attorney general's Consumer Protection Division alleged Thompson Gas of 6708 Old National Pike violated the Maryland Consumer Protection Act by having consumers enter into three-year service agreements then charging an additional $2.97 monthly hazardous materials fee that had not been disclosed in the contract.

laurae@herald-mail.com Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend on Monday toured the dilapidated complex of buildings that is the future home of the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center. One stop on a daylong swing through Western Maryland to promote her campaign for governor, it was Townsend's first visit accompanied by running mate Charles R. Larson. Hagerstown Mayor and fellow Democrat William M. Breichner carefully led Townsend and a small entourage of campaign workers, elected officials and reporters through the dark, dank rooms.