RICHLAND, Wash. - Employees of an EM training facility on the Hanford Site have played an important role on a DOE emergency response team, helping areas affected by hurricanes Harvey, Irma, and Maria over the past several months.
The 80-acre campus at the Volpentest Hazardous Materials Management and Emergency Response (HAMMER) Federal Training Center is managed by EM Richland Operations Office contractor Mission Support Alliance. It provides training to Hanford workers and others outside the site. The campus includes life-sized training props geared toward cleanup, emergency response, energy assurance, and homeland security.
Relief efforts began in August when Hurricane Harvey ripped through Texas, causing massive rainfall and flooding and leaving more than 30,000 people homeless. As the devastation unfolded, the HAMMER team joined field responders to identify electrical outages and oil and gas issues, with the goal of restoring these critical resources.
Hurricane Irma then hit in the Atlantic, affecting parts of the U.S. Virgin Islands. After causing destruction on the islands of St. Thomas and St. John, the storm damaged the East Coast from Florida to Tennessee. Again, HAMMER staff deployed to support DOE’s Energy Response Center in Washington, D.C.
In September, Hurricane Maria moved through the Caribbean, striking the U.S. Virgin Islands again and directly impacting Puerto Rico as a high-end Category 4 Hurricane. The storm left an estimated 3.4 million people without power. Responders worked with the local government, federal interagency partners, and DOE to expedite damage assessment, restoration planning, and recovery coordination. Many DOE personnel, including individuals from HAMMER, provided vital coordination and communication, helping return electricity to the island.
In December, HAMMER staff members conducted meetings and gathered input from DOE’s Emergency Response Organization and National Response Coordination Center in Washington, D.C. for the 2017 hurricane response after-action report development. The meetings provided a forum to identify improvements for the 2018 hurricane season.
“Yet today, HAMMER staff remain actively involved in response efforts with Emergency Support Function #12 responders stationed on St. Croix and Puerto Rico," said Nicole Zawadzki, manager for Emergency Management Training and External Programs at HAMMER. “Response and recovery support from DOE and HAMMER is expected to continue into the spring."
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
