Liberty RadExNational RDD

ExercisePhiladelphia, PA

April, 2010

Liberty RadEx

This is an Exercise!

LRE Lessons LearnedRRT Meeting 9/15/2010

• Exercise overview

• Major hits, misses, and obstacles

• Corrective Actions (proposed)

• Exercise Planning & Design Suggestions

Draft After Action Report

• Lessons learned subject to change

• 1st Draft After Action Report

• 2nd Draft 9/25

• Senior EPA management review October

• Submit to FEMA NED November

• Over 1000 participants

• Over 30 agencies

• First NEP Exercise to focus on: – “Post-emergency” phase– WMD cleanup– “Community recovery”

Participating Agencies

State: PADEP & PEMA

City: OEM, PDPH, PFD, PPD, PWD

Local: PATCO

DVRPC

American Red Cross

Participating Agencies

Federal:

DHS DOE DOJ DOI EPA FBIFEMA GSAHHS (ATSDR, CDC, HUD FDA, NIOSH, NIEHS) NPSNRC OSHASBA USACEUSCG USDAUSPIS VA

Exercise Overview

Scenario

• Radiological Dispersion Device (RDD)

• Post-emergency response

• ESF-10 focus (Cesium 137 cleanup)– Robust/mature ICS organization

• Community recovery planning– Return & rebuild

Ground Deposition to 5x Background

50 Year PAGImmediateCleanup PrioritizationArea

Mandatory Temporary Relocation Area

Post-Emergency Challenges

• Liberty RadEx: 30 to 90 days– Detailed assessment & monitoring– Cleanup of immediate priorities– Long-term cleanup planning– Re-entry & permanent relocation

• Displaced population and population living w/ radiation contamination

– FEMA community recovery planning– Community involvement

• Unified Command Unified Command

• Command Staff: PIO, LNO, Command Staff: PIO, LNO, Safety & othersSafety & others

• Planning, Ops, Logs and Finance Planning, Ops, Logs and Finance

• Over 80 ICS unitsOver 80 ICS units

Incident Command PostIncident Command Post

Planning Section

Situation Report Team

Data Management

Group

Laboratory and Analysis

Group

Data Interpretation

and Sample Planning Team

Technology & Mitigation

Assessment Group

Historical/ Cultural

Resources Group

Health and Ecological

AssessmentGroup

Waste Management

Group Field

Observer Team

(NOTIONAL)

Display Processor

Team

DocumentationUnit

NAME

FRMAC Document

Control Unit

Private Party Oversight Team

(NOTIONAL)

Advisory Team

Check-In/Status

Recorder

Data Validation/ Verification

Teams

Geographic Information

Systems (GIS) Team

Field Team

Laboratory Team

Database Team

Sample Control Team

Sample Preparation

Team

Mobile Lab Team

Fixed Lab Team

FRMAC/Environmental

Unit

TrainingUnit

(NOTIONAL)

CleanupPlanning Unit

(CleanupAdvisoryForum)

SituationUnit

ResourceUnit

DemobilizationUnit

(NOTIONAL)

TechnicalAdvisory

Panel

CommunityAdvisory

Panel

OperationsSection

AssessmentBranch

M. Aquino

EnvironmentalMonitoring

Branch

WasteManagement

Branch(NOTIONAL)

RadiologicalWorker Protection

Branch

Cleanup/Mitigation

Branch

Air OpsBranch

(NOTIONAL)

Northern AreaVenues

Southern AreaVenues

DebrisZone Group

Waste Material Group

(NOTIONAL)

Personnel andEquipment

Decontamination Group

Radiological WorkerGroup

Waste Collection

Group(NOTIONAL)

WasteTransportation

Group(NOTIONAL)

Mitigation Group

ASPECTGroup

(NOTIONAL)

ExclusionZone Control Area Group(NOTIONAL)

Access Control

Team

Dose Management

Team

Mitigation TeamRadNet Group

Liberty Radiation ExerciseIAP 207Updated 04/21/23

FRMAC AerialMeasurementSystem Group(NOTIONAL)

ContaminantControl Team(NOTIONAL)

Rapid Response

Team(NOTIONAL)

Venues

• ESF-10 Incident Command Post at Sheraton

• JFO at FEMA Region 3 Office

• 10 Field venues

• EPA Region 3 & EPA HQ EOCs

• Community Advisory Forum (Sheraton)

• Community Recovery Facilitated Discussion (FEMA 3)

Hits, Misses & Obstacles

Major Hits, Misses & Obstacles

LRE was a great success but not anunqualified success: Many large and smalllessons learned. • 17 overall successes• 7 critical misses• 3 planning obstacles• Over 90 preparedness corrective action

proposals• Over 120 exercise planning recommendations

Major Success

Lessons Learned

• The ONLY purpose of exercises is to learn and improve

• LRE big, detailed, and challenging enough to learn real lessons; not just RDD

• Learn from your mistakes: LRE was a great success!

Participation

People – Over 1000 participants with diverse backgrounds and expertise came to learn, teach and test new skills.

Agencies – Over 30 state, local, Federal and private agencies addressed a scenario that most had never planned for or exercised.

Radiological Community PADEP RadPro, DOE, NRC, HHS, EPA RERT. First support of cleanup activities. First integration into ESF-10 ICS. Assumed new roles, performed well and fully supported the exercise.

Logistics Plan:

Room Layout

- Planning

- Operations

- Safety

Power, Wi-Fi, LAN, Printers, Copiers

Set-up 16 Rooms in Sheraton

10 field venues

Logistics & Deployment

Logistics & Deployment

• Over 1000 personnel (700 players) in specific ICS units

• IT, Communications, GIS, food, transportation, and other support

• 10 Field venues with support facilities

• Set-up virtually “overnight”

Response Support Corps

Response Support Corps

• Not EPA response program personnel

• Volunteers for disaster response

• RSC over 50% of EPA LRE participants

• Met technical challenge of RDD

• Staffed much of Planning Section, field teams, lab support, Rad Safety activities

• Mission Essential Teams – air, water, legal, waste, lab, contracts, finance

Radiation Task Force Leaders

Radiation Task Force Leaders

• Non-radiation personnel trained to perform radiation monitoring and assessment

• 29 RTFL participated (48 trained nationally) • Supported radiation safety and dose monitoring• Staffed all assessment activities

– Rotated daily to different location, equipment & assessment plan

• Needed coaching Day 1 but successfully on their own by Day 3

Field Venues and Activities

• 10 field venues throughout Philadelphia area

• Diverse assessment and mitigation activities

• Challenged player’s skills & equipment

• Real-world safety issues

• Local interest and focus

PWD NE Water Pollution Control Plant

PATCO “Franklin Square” Subway Station

US Coast GuardUS Coast GuardSector Delaware Bay BaseSector Delaware Bay Base

FORT MIFFLIN; National Historic Site

Exercise Safety

• EPA exercise priority: Safety

• Real World Safety Plan (subway, water plants, dock & vessel, roadway, Level C)

• Exercise Safety Plan– Included radiation worker safety & dose

monitoring and management

• Real-world safety issues—better than injects!

Real-world safety planning and overcoming problems encountered

Radiological Worker Safety – monitoring and managing worker dose

• Community Advisory Panel (CAP)Community Advisory Panel (CAP)– 12 Philadelphia Community Leaders 12 Philadelphia Community Leaders

• Technical Advisory Panel (TAP)Technical Advisory Panel (TAP)– 5 Government and 5 local scientists & experts 5 Government and 5 local scientists & experts

• Consulted on waste handling and cleanup Consulted on waste handling and cleanup prioritizationprioritization

• Reached consensusReached consensus recommendations

Community Advisory ForumCommunity Advisory Forum – Stakeholders – Stakeholders

Waste Disposal

• Huge RDD challenge: no solution?• Pre-planning framed LRE waste discussion

– Philadelphia RDD workshop w/ LRE scenario– Waste calculation tool

• State, Locals, stakeholders recognized need for local solutions

• LRE waste team players included State Rad and Waste, ACOE, NRC and EPA personnel

• Developed overall waste handling plan and strategy as LRE exercise product

Drills, Exercises and Training

• ICS training & experience enabled EPA IMT to manage 700 players & 100s of activities

• “Just-in time” training gave EPA participants needed Rad, RDD and technical skills

• LRE was a success because of EPA’s ICS training, regular exercises and deployment experience

EPA’s National Approach to Response

• Region 3, Back-up Regions (4&5), NSTs and “voluntary” support from other Regions

• 530 EPA participants: – R3 253 participants – R4 & 5 92 participants– NSTs 67 participants (RERT, ERT, NDT, NCERT)– Other Regions 49 participants – HQ 67 participants

• Used ICS and National EPA procedures, policies• Equipment from across the country

Other Major Successes

• Back-up Region Planning, Support & Response

• EPA National Disaster Planning– Approach to RDD Response

• ESF-10 & ICS

• Community Recovery facilitated discussion

Critical Misses

Liberty RadEx

• National Tier 2 Exercise (EPA’s first)

• Approximately 1000 participants representing over 30 agencies

• Complex scenario/Specialized ICS

• First NEP Exercise to focus on: – “Post-emergency” phase– WMD cleanup– “Community recovery”

Orientation Monday: Lots to Learn!• Complex scenario• Specialized ICS• Over one hundred units & activities• 100,000s data points

Transition Failure:• Real-world: one on one shadowing• Not possible for exercises• Post-emergency exercise challenge.

Registration: 1000 people; long, slow, painful

Solution: Hire a professional and don’t use Agency software.

Limited Space: Crowded, noisy, too many activities.Planned and contracted for an exercise of about 500.

Solution: Overestimate logistical needs

Too little room

•Simulated Data: Day 30 - 90

100,000s multimedia data pointsAccessData productsQA/QC: It’s all fake!

Historic Documentation: Day 30 – 90Too much, too little, not right kind, confusing.

600 page Explan: Who read it?Poor transition: Didn’t explain it.Highly technical: Not the right kind.

Staffing Plan

• Developed staffing plan/matrix too late

• Delayed assignments & training

• Prevented advance orientation

• Entire focus of last 6 weeks for planning team

Planning Section

• Short term planning (operational) vs. long-term (environmental planning)

• Environmental Unit:– Overwhelmed Planning Section– Too large– Many responsibilities– Management structure and organization not adequate

for size and responsibilities

• Data quality and management– Dispersed between Sections and Units

Planning Section

Situation Report Team

Data Management

Group

Laboratory and Analysis

Group

Data Interpretation

and Sample Planning Team

Technology & Mitigation

Assessment Group

Historical/ Cultural

Resources Group

Health and Ecological

AssessmentGroup

Waste Management

Group Field

Observer Team

(NOTIONAL)

Display Processor

Team

DocumentationUnit

NAME

FRMAC Document

Control Unit

Private Party Oversight Team

(NOTIONAL)

Advisory Team

Check-In/Status

Recorder

Data Validation/ Verification

Teams

Geographic Information

Systems (GIS) Team

Field Team

Laboratory Team

Database Team

Sample Control Team

Sample Preparation

Team

Mobile Lab Team

Fixed Lab Team

FRMAC/Environmental

Unit

TrainingUnit

(NOTIONAL)

CleanupPlanning Unit

(CleanupAdvisoryForum)

SituationUnit

ResourceUnit

DemobilizationUnit

(NOTIONAL)

TechnicalAdvisory

Panel

CommunityAdvisory

Panel

Planning Obstacles

Planning Cycle

• Planning began November 2009 (EPA only)

• Designated DHS National Exercise 2/09• Concepts and Objectives Conference 3/09• Full planning team not formed until 9/09• “Real” planning began 10/09• January 2010: “Oh xxxx!” moment…… • Exercise 4/10

Budget

• Economic downturn: State and local budgets

• Short planning cycle: Not on Feds radar or in budget plans.

• EPA travel $$$: Deploy 270 personnel from across the country (Philadelphia is high $$$ per diem and lodging)

Staffing

• Sign up: Late, later, last minute, and show up!

• 80 specialized ICS Units (match skills)• Highly technical positions• Agency roles• Evaluators and controllers• Shortage of experts• Agencies and EPA volunteers

Proposed Corrective Actions

Corrective Action Proposals

• Proposed: Not final until Washington (DC) “buy-in”

• 14 “major” corrective action proposals

• Over 90 CAs in total (not going to cover all of them!)

Across Agencies

• Post-emergency preparedness, planning and exercises

• Shortage of radiation expertise (and right kinds of Rad experts)

• FRMAC transition & support (DOE to EPA lead)

• Community Recovery

• Coordination between ESF-10 & ESF-14

EPA Lead – Policy

• Superfund cleanup criteria: RDD/IND cleanup criteria

• Radiation dose policy/Radiation worker program

• Review and revise Planning Section

EPA Lead – Guidance

• Update Radiation Response Standard Operating Procedures (RRSOPs)

• Stakeholder Involvement Guidance

• Data management system

EPA Lead – Training

• EPA training model: Works. Keep it up!• RTFL training update• RRSOP training• Radiation Worker Program• Radiation dose policy/Radiation worker

program• General radiation training• “Just-in-time” training packages

EPA – Public Communications

• Crisis Communications Plan: Confused everyone; review, revise, update

• Radiological communications tools and products

Exercise Planning Recommendations

Exercise Planning and DesignLessons Learned

• 12 “significant” exercise planning lessons learned

• Over 120 exercise lessons learned overall

Exercise Planning & Design

• Planning cycle

• Scenario and plan development

• Data and “historic” documents

• Player “transition”

Exercise Planning & Design

• Registration

• Exercise venues

• Staffing

• State and Local participation

Exercise Planning & Design

• HSEEP

• VIPs and Observers

• Controllers and Evaluators

• Exercise Safety

Exercise Lesson Learned

• Don’t compete with biggest Oil spill in U.S. History!– Administrator LRE participation and senior

leadership “play” cancelled• Scheduled to discuss Superfund cleanup values &

RDD cleanup

– Some participants distracted and left early