Alliance hosts successful Ohio Spill Prevention and Emergency Response Conference September 27-29 Click HERE for photos

Odor Complaint System still a Hot Topic in Cincinnati - Speakers Address ACS member at September meeting The topic of the September 19 meeting was odor complaints and how Cincinnati and Hamilton County handle them.  Our speakers were Kerri Kahlenberg of Hamilton County Department of Environmental Services and Kathy Clayton of Cincinnati’s Office of Environmental Management.  After the complaint is received and logged in, a field inspector may conduct a field visit to take samples.  If the odor can be identified and traced to a facility, a facility inspection is conducted, and a Notice of Violation can be issued if state environmental regulations have been violated.  About 12 inspectors and four area supervisors work for the county’s air quality office.

New Use for Weather Radios Agreement Finalized !!! - Great News !!!  Hamilton County Emergency Management Agency, Ohio EMA, and the National Weather Service have finalized their agreement to use weather radios to warn residence about hazardous material emergencies.  This project originated within the ACS and was announced at a press release on 7/26/01.  The emergency must meet certain criteria, including a hazard that may require a shelter in place for nearby residence.  Hamilton County is the first county in Ohio to implement such a new use for weather radios.   The ACS has shelter in place videos, a shelter in place presentation, and a weather radio presentation for use by industrial, community, or government.  Contact the ACS for more information.

ACS Makes Front Page of the Cincinnati Business Courier - Find the 6/5/01 edition of the Cincinnati Business Courier and you can read an excellent article on the ACS.

Process Safety Audit Seminar a Big Hit - If you missed the Process Safety seminar on Auditing you missed a very educational event.  Any facility who handles chemicals, and especially that subject to OSHA's PSM regulations and EPA's RMP regulations must complete their trienniel audit by the end of May.  Audit protocol and tips were provided.  For more information e-mail the ACS.  

Chemical Risk - Perception or Reality? Ever consider how to discuss the risk of chemicals ?  The technical minded person may say risk is probability x severity.  However, the a non technical person may have a very different view.  That view is that the Risk is the perception of hazard x "outrage" .  Both are very real and very accurate.  For more information come to the 5/16 meeting or e-mail the ACS.

February 21st Topic on Using Measurements to Reduce Risk - If you missed this meeting, you missed a very informative presentation by the Proctor and Gamble representative.  The 15 year case study by P&G in collecting data on chemical incidents has provided useful data on root causes, locations, specific equipment or processes throughout the Company.  This data has in turn led to many improvements and thus, reduced the risk of chemical incidents.  For more information e-mail ACS. 

Weather Radios Were Topic of 12/20/00 Presentation - Hamilton County EMA, NOAA, ACS, and Greter Cinti Haz Materials Unit have developed protocol to use weather radios to alert the community for chemical emergency .  This is an exciting new addition to the Hamilton County Emergency Alert System.   The presentation by Charles Perry provided great detail on this new system.

ACS Members sign on to Membership Principles - All members have been asked to agree to the membership principles.

ACS is Discussed on Television Series "Make Peace With Nature" - Hosted by Dave Surber this show discusses and debates many various environmental issues.  In this segment, the host and guest, Duane Day, ACS Chair, discuss Community Advisory Panels, information security, and the weather radios.