“A leak occurs on a water line in the Pleasantville Community on the corner of Ibis Drive and Flamingo Crescent. While repairing the damaged waterline, a back hoe accidentally strikes and ruptures the 12 inch dry natural gas pipeline, the spark ignites the gas and a fire ensues. Strong winds lead to the rapid spread of fire among the houses in the area and a dense billowing smoke quickly envelopes the entire area.” – excerpt from the scenario for Petrotrin’s recent evacuation drill in the Pleasantville Housing Development Corporation (HDC) Community The sound of loud sirens and the intermittent blowing of whistles interrupted the solace of a normal Sunday afternoon in the Pleasantville HDC community, as the police set up road blocks and residents simultaneously evacuated their homes and proceeded in large groups to a common location . . . all part of the simulation exercise enacted on March 17 in the Pleasantville HDC community. While many attended the second day of the 49th staging of Southern Games at Guaracara Park and others opted to enjoy their normal Sunday afternoon siesta, many residents responded to Petrotrin’s appeal to be part of the drill which tested an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) developed for the community, in the event of an emergency occurring, involving Petrotrin’s dry natural gas line and two crude oil lines passing through the area. The process of developing the Plan was coordinated by Senior HSE Specialist (Ag.), Mrs. Francesca Lalla-Laing. A viable Plan was realized, after almost a year of strategic planning and the frequent meetings among representatives from relevant departments of Petrotrin, as well as key external agencies including the Housing Development Corporation; Trinidad and Tobago Fire and Police Services; the San Fernando City Corporation; the South West Regional Health Authority, the County Medical of Health and stakeholders of the community. Councilor for the area, Mr. Robert Parris, who was involved in the planning phase, expressed his gratitude to Petrotrin “for recognizing the importance of including the local government representative in an exercise of this nature.” He felt that the process was an inclusive one and demonstrated transparency. He highlighted his role in the process as having to identify the socioeconomic trends in the community, identifying where the elderly and physically challenged in the community reside and in conjunction with his office’s Area Manager and Advisor, Ms. Shirlyn Nickles, identify street captains - responsible for the coordinating and execution of and effective evacuation. “The incident was well managed. Response from all services was prompt and the checks and follow up were adequate.” This is the written feedback of one resident who observed the execution of the exercise. Residents generally expressed gratitude that such an exercise was undertaken in their community. They were highly appreciative of the combined effort of Petrotrin and participating external agencies in the execution of the exercise. Some residents reluctantly admitted that they were previously unaware of the existing risk and the actual location of the active lines. While the feedback from both residents and observer agencies was generally positive, the exercise highlighted areas of the Plan which require some modification to achieve total effectiveness. Subsequent to the drill, as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility, Petrotrin has strategically placed for public display, two maps at the Village Plaza, Pleasantville. The maps are the Traffic Management map and the Geographic Information System (GIS) map. The
Posted on: Thu, 01 Aug 2013 14:24:13 +0000
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