Hazardous Materials

A contract for a company to start removing hazardous materials at the Baldwin House complex for what will become the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center is expected to be awarded in early May, a system official said Tuesday. The contractor, which would also shore up the complex in downtown Hagerstown, would be expected to start work soon afterward, said Mark Beck, University System capital planning director. The $870,000 for that work is in this year's state budget.

ANNAPOLIS - With the Maryland House of Delegates poised to pare the state's capital budget, Hagerstown's university project looks secure, Del. Sue Hecht said Wednesday. Hecht, D-Frederick/Washington, serves on the subcommittee that will decide as soon as Friday what to carve out of the capital budget. "I'm feeling really confident. We're continuing to watch it in these last very confusing days," she said. The House cuts represent the biggest thing standing in the way of the University System of Maryland Hagerstown Education Center.

Hazardous materials collection to resume By STACEY DANZUSO / Staff Writer, Chambersburg Franklin County will offer door-to-door pickup of household hazardous waste again this year to boost recycling levels and prevent pollution. The Franklin County Commissioners received one bid for the service Tuesday from Curbside, Inc., a California-based group that did the last countywide pickup two years ago. The commissioners will consider approval of the $78,200 bid at a meeting March 29. This is the fourth time the county has organized the collection, but only the second door-to-door program.

$50,000 truck purchased by county By ANDREW SCHOTZ / Staff Writer, Martinsburg MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Berkeley County is replacing its hazardous materials response vehicle, which is a converted soda delivery truck with 344,000 miles on its odometer. The Berkeley County Commissioners on Thursday approved the purchase of another vehicle, a 1984 GMC/Ranger, from West Potomac Fire Equipment in Williamsport, Md. The $50,000 purchase price is covered by a state economic development grant secured by state Sen. John Unger, D-Berkeley.

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - Local emergency officials estimate that one of every two tractor-trailer rigs traveling through Berkeley County on Interstate 81 is carrying hazardous materials. About 33 percent of the trucks carrying hazardous materials are hauling flammable liquids such as gasoline, diesel fuel or jet fuel, according to a survey completed last June by the Berkeley County Office of Emergency Services. Emergency Services Director Steve Allen said the survey did not contain any surprises.

By CLYDE FORD Staff Writer, Charles Town MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - An estimated 36,000 pounds of hazardous materials are carried per hour by tractor-trailers on Interstate 81 through Berkeley County, according to a study presented to the Berkeley County Commission on Thursday. "It only takes one wreck and we could have a major incident," said Berkeley County Emergency Services Director Stephen Allen. Allen presented a report to the commission prepared by the Local Emergency Planning Committee on the transportation of hazardous materials.

CHAMBERSBURG, Pa. - Franklin County recently joined about half a dozen other counties in Pennsylvania that have created a Department of Emergency Services. The county's emergency communications system, emergency management agency and hazardous materials offices are now under one director, according to Jerry Flasher, the new director of emergency services. "I want to applaud Franklin County for what I consider a quantum leap in emergency management," said Joe Daugherty, director of the Central Area Office of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.

Trailer wreck blocks traffic MARION, Pa. - Southbound Interstate 81 was closed at Exit 4 Sunday night when a trailer on a tractor-trailer became unhitched and spilled its load, according to Pennsylvania State Police. No injuries were reported in the accident, which occurred at about 9:30 p.m., state police. The truck was pulling two trailers when one broke loose, police said. Franklin County emergency communications said there were no known hazardous materials among the spilled cargo.

By MARLO BARNHART Staff Writer Washington County Commissioners President Gregory I. Snook admits that when he first took office he didn't know what the Local Emergency Planning Committee was, let alone what it did. "Now that I know, I also know we are all a little safer because of the work of LEPC," Snook said at the organization's 10th anniversary recently. The organization informs and educates citizens about the potential hazards of chemical emergencies in Washington County.

By BRENDAN KIRBY Staff Writer Here's a scenario: Firefighters and paramedics rush to a building that has exploded. They begin to administer aid when a second bomb ignites. It's not fiction. Officials who responded to an explosion at an Atlanta area abortion clinic in January faced that very situation. Six were injured by the second blast. That and an increasing number of domestic acts of terrorism have prompted the federal government to make anti-terrorism training a priority.