Hazardous Materials Response (S-10) is seeking Laboratory employees interested in serving as auxiliary hazardous materials (HAZMAT) responders. S-10 provides hazardous materials response to Lab operations as well as Los Alamos County and the state of New Mexico under a Department of Energy Memorandum of Understanding. The group currently has about five auxiliary members and is looking for as many as 12 additional responders. "There are unique opportunities that come with participation on the HAZMAT auxiliary team," said HAZMAT Team Leader Fred Bolton of S-10. "For example, we worked in the community during Cerro Grande and the recovery efforts afterwards. We provide full-service HAZMAT response capability to Los Alamos County, and when asked, to neighboring communities."Plus, we do things that are really fun, like community outreach training. We've worked with Bureau of Indian Affairs, New Mexico Water and Wastewater Association, the state of New Mexico, and a variety of municipalities. Each time, we get a chance to make some new friends and see how others in the state and region live and work," said Bolton. We've also had some auxiliary team members participate in the annual HAZMAT Challenge, which brings people from all over New Mexico and the Southwest into our own backyard.
"HAZMAT also supports worldwide response for a variety of emergencies, and auxiliary team members can be asked to travel in support of those response programs. This is one of the best jobs at the Lab."
The main purpose of the auxiliary team is to assist full-time HAZMAT responders during staff shortages or multiple, simultaneous incidents. It is desirable that auxiliary team members assist in on-site Lab emergency response when needed, and serve paid rotating on-call duty with a member of S-10. Written supervisor permission is required of all auxiliary team members. Training and equipment will be provided by S-10 as needed. Interested candidates must meet the following minimum requirements:
- be able to successfully pass an annual HAZMAT responder medical evaluation without restrictions;
- be able to wear both air-purifying respirator and self-contained breathing apparatus; and
- be willing to actively participate in emergency response activities, including wearing fully encapsulating protective suits in potentially hazardous environments.
