Many information sources present worthwhile data concerning hazards of and responses for accidental chemical spills. Most sources, how~ ver, consider only the acute effects of a spilled substance and provide little information concerning the long-term cleanup, which is typically considered unrelated to the emergency response. This concept is erroneous and costly. To combat this problem, the Association of American Railroads has undertaken a program to bridge the gap between the first response and the longer-term environmental cleanup. Two information systems have been developed and targeted at two basic levels of spill response. The Emergency Action Guides are intended for the first responder. These are printed commodity-specific pamphlets designed to assist those who are first on the scene until chemical or technical assistance can be obtained. To support chemical or techni~ al decisions, a computerized system, the Industrial Chemical Accident Response Information System (! CARIS), was developed and integrated with a series of environmental and mathematical models to allow real-time assessment of chemical release problems. The design considerations inherent in both systems promote the evaluation of the long-term consequences associated with emergency spill response activities. The current capabilities of the computer information system as well as the design and development of the Emergency Action Guides are described.

The first-response actions used to control a chemical spill may have a profound impact on the longterm cleanup of the spill. Information generally available to first responders is limited in scope and usually presents little information with vihich to evaluate long-term cleanup problems. An even greater limitation of many information sources is their being tied to one or two spill situations with no provisions accounting for the uniqueness of an individual spill.