Shirley Swallow, LEPC information coordinator, said the study “will assist first-responders and other agencies in planning for hazardous material and extremely hazardous material” incidents.
Rail cars were observed along County Road 25A while semis and tankers were observed at locations including Interstate 75, U.S. 36, Ohio 41 and Ohio 571.
Information recorded included time, location, weather conditions, direction of travel, placard numbers, words or color.
The most commonly seen placard during the monitoring was, not surprisingly, gasoline, said Tom DeVault, county LEPC chairman and an employee of DAP in Tipp City.
Chlorine was tops on the rail survey, which also was not unexpected.
More of a surprise was the reporting of diphenylmethyl bromide, a flammable chemical not used in the county but is now passing through, DeVault said.
Among measures firefighters would need to take if that chemical was involved in a spill would be to wear protective suits, he said.
The study was paid for using a $5,053 grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant to cover 80 percent of costs. The remaining balance came from the LEPC.
The funds went to the survey teams of members of the county amateur radio club and students from the Upper Valley JVS cosmetology class overseen by JVS parents and teachers.
The project was a fundraiser to help the students pay school-related fees.
A total of 400 hours went into the project.
The last study was about eight years ago.
“It mostly gives us information on what to train for, what are the major chemicals moving through the area,” Tipp City Fire Chief Steve Kessler said.
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