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Environmental Management Practices: <br />1. Regional Hazardous Materials Team. The department maintains a fully equipped Hazard- <br />ous Materials Team that responds throughout Lane County under contract with the State of Ore- <br />gon. By the end of this year, all 22 members of the team will be certified to the HazMatTech- <br />nicianlevel; most of the members already have this certification. The team is proficient in <br />booming/damming/liking techniques, chemical overpacking (secondary containment), as well <br />as recognition, monitoring, and mitigation of hazardous substance conditions. <br />2. Environmental protection as a tactical priority. To the extent possible, when responding <br />to fires or other emergencies, department personnel take steps to mitigate any negative effects <br />on the environment that may be caused either by the incident or by the response. Most typically <br />this takes the form of deploying booms to protect storm sewers from contaminated runoff, but <br />groundwater protection from hazardous substances is also a consideration in some responses. <br />3. OiUwater separator on the drill field. Water and foam are used regularly in training drills <br />occurring on the department's drill field at 2°d & Chambers. Water and oil are used in the rou- <br />tine testing and maintenance of the department's apparatus and equipment, much of which also <br />takes place on the drill field. The west end of the drill field is equipped with a switch directing <br />runoff to the sanitary sewer system when potential contaminants are. released. <br />4. Soy-based foam. The department began testing asoy-based penetrant foam in 2005, and <br />has now nearly completed the conversion to this type of foam for all fire suppression apparatus. <br />Although more expensive than the foam formerly used, the new soy-based foam is far less toxic <br />(preventing groundwater and stream contamination), is more compatible with the department's <br />equipment (meaning fewer clogged or corroded lines and valves), and has actually proven to be <br />more effective as a fire suppression tool. <br />5. Exhaust extraction systems. With the help of a 2004 federal grant, all Eugene fire stations <br />are now equipped with direct diesel exhaust extraction systems (vacuum apparatus that connect <br />directly to vehicles' exhaust pipes when the vehicles are in the equipment bay). These systems <br />help protect the health of firefighters and also prevent exhaust-related degradation of equipment <br />stored in the bays. They are also equipped with filters to capture particulates before fumes are <br />exhausted to the outside air. <br />6. Storm/sanitary sewer switches. The infrastructure at all fire stations includes a switch to <br />direct wastewater to either the storm sewer or sanitary sewer system, depending on its content. <br />In the most common example, the water used to wash suppression apparatus, which contains <br />cleansing agents as well as impurities, is directed to the sanitary sewer system as a matter of <br />standard operating. procedure. <br />~st~ict Chiefs /Shift Co> c~~er~s <br />{~ <br />Don Vaught <br />District 2 Shift C <br /> <br /> <br />16 ~ 17 <br />~~ <br />Randy DeWitt <br />District 1 Shift A <br />- ~~ <br />Bruce Cummings <br />District 2 Shift A <br />Mark Grover <br />District I Shill Q <br />Cr,iig ('nllicnllu <br />District I Shift (' <br />