A program to develop a regional hazardous materials spills plan for the San Francisco Bay Area is described and early results in the area of response to toxic gas emergencies are documented. The Bay Area program involves the formation of a spills task force that is composed of representatives from a broad cross section of spill response agencies and concerned organizations. The task force has four supporting subcommittees to deal with (a) risk assessment and toxic gases,(b) spill prevention,(c) training of spill prevention and response personnel, and (d) response planning. The principal problem posed by the release of toxic gas is that of evacuating the public from the danger zone. Numerous methods, ranging from simple tables of precalculated dimensions to sophisticated computer models of atmospheric dispersion, are currently employed to identify this evacuation area. None of these methods has been subjected to performance verification or sensitivity analysis, and one of the recommendations is that these studies be conducted. For the Bay Area a two-tiered system is recommended: First, a simple guidebook of intermediate sophistication should be developed and distributed to initial response agencies (eg, police and fire departments); second, a computer-assisted system to be shared regionally should be implemented for use during major spill events.

This paper describes interim results from a program to develop a regional hazardous material spills prevention and response plan for the San Francisco Bay Area. This program is comprehensive in its scope, including accidental releases of gaseous, liquid, and solid hazardous materials. In particular, this program will address the movement of these materials by all modes of transportation over both public and private properties, assess the probability of localized spill events, identify existing prevention and response capabilities, and determine what changes and additions need to be made to prevent and respond to these spills.