Hazardous materials are routinely shipped throughout Missouri by train, truck, pipeline and barge. Serious environmental threats have been generated by transportation accidents involving hazardous materials. Many companies located in eastern Missouri store and manufacture hazardous materials. These facilities should be designed and/or retrofitted to make them more earthquake resistant. Hazardous materials can also be a deterrent to post-earthquake inspection of buildings because of the risk of exposure to volunteers inspecting buildings after an earthquake.
40 CFR 112 requires facilities storing or using petroleum in regulated quantities from above-ground tanks to implement a Spill Prevention Control and Countermeasure Plan to control the release of such materials.
The Oil Pollution Act of 1990 requires facilities posing a substantial threat of releasing oil to a waterway to have a contingency plan for responding to releases.
The Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act requires facilities storing or using regulated quantities of hazardous materials to report those materials and their maximum quantities to both local and State authorities.
Section 112 of the Clean Air Act requires facilities storing or using regulated hazardous materials in certain quantities to develop Risk Management Plans including Emergency Response Plans and to provide that information to State and local governments.
The implementation and enforcement of these programs will greatly aid in meeting the objectives of this strategy. However, the level of funding may not be adequate to meet the objectives within an appropriate time frame.
The Missouri Hazardous Waste Law (10 CSR 23-6) requires that an applicant for a hazardous waste management facility permit to design and construct the facility to withstand stresses from earthquake loading or certify that the existing facility is able to withstand stresses from an earthquake. Existing facilities may use the seismic standard specified in the UBC or BOCA codes as a basis for certification. The certification must be completed by a qualified independent professional engineer registered in Missouri.
The Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) should assess whether the risks of hazardous materials spills are adequately managed in Missouri. DNR should also ascertain if hazardous waste management facilities are designed and operated in a manner that minimizes earthquake risks. Procedures should be in place to minimize the risks of exposure to hazardous materials by emergency response personnel, including volunteer inspectors who respond to an earthquake.
DNR should verify all SPCC Plans and other laws regulating the manufacture, transport, storage, use and disposal of hazardous materials. This may require an increase in funding for the agency to fulfill its responsibility for earthquake hazards.