Sixteen teams will compete in the 10th Annual HAZMAT Challenge designed to test hazardous materials response skills. The news media are invited to attend and observe the teams-some from as far as Phoenix and Oklahoma City-on July 27th beginning at 9:00 a.m. at the Los Alamos National Laboratory hazardous materials training facility. Media members should contact Kathy DeLucas at 667-5225 by July 25th, if interested in attending.
The Challenge simulates eight hazardous materials incidents such as chemical identification in a clandestine drug lab, biological identification in a sick patient, confined space rescue, off-loading materials from an overturned tanker, complex valve and piping leaks, a railcar crash, a radiological incident, and an overturned tanker spill.
In 1996, the Laboratory's Hazardous Materials Response team began the challenge as a way to hone the skills of its own members. The competition now offers a training opportunity for other New Mexico and regional hazardous materials response teams.
Winning teams will receive a plaque.
Teams participating in this year's Challenge include the following:
* 64th Civil Support Team, New Mexico National Guard
* Clovis Fire Department
* Española Fire Department
* Farmington Fire Department
* Gallup Fire Department
* Intel - Tucson, Arizona
* Intel FAB 11/11X - Rio Rancho, NM
* LANL HAZMAT
* Las Cruces Fire Department
* Los Alamos Fire Department
* Midwest City Fire Department (Oklahoma)
* Moore Fire Department (Oklahoma)
* New Mexico State Police
* Norman Fire Department (Oklahoma)
* Portales Fire Department
* Santa Fe Fire Department
Sponsors for the 10th Annual HAZMAT Challenge include:
* Federal Emergency Management Agency
* Los Alamos National Laboratory
* Los Alamos County Fire Department
* Environmental Protection Agency
* University of Oklahoma
* Intel
* 64th Civil Support Team, New Mexico National Guard
* New Mexico Department of Transportation.
Los Alamos National Laboratory, a multidisciplinary research institution engaged in strategic science on behalf of national security, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, a team composed of Bechtel National, the University of California, The Babcock & Wilcox Company, and Washington Group International for the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.
Los Alamos enhances national security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health, and global security concerns.