U.S. Department of Transportation
Office of Public Affairs
Washington, D.C.
 www.dot.gov/affairs/briefing.htm

News

PHMSA 10-06
Wednesday, October 4, 2006
Contact: Joe Delcambre
202-366-4831

New Federal Grant to Help Train Pennsylvania First Responders to Deal with Hazardous Materials Incidents

Police and firefighters in Pennsylvania will be better prepared to deal with hazardous materials incidents thanks to a new federal grant of over $400,000, Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administrator Thomas Barrett announced today.

Barrett made the announcement during a visit to a volunteer first station today in Irwin, Pennsylvania, where he witnessed a demonstration of volunteer firefighter training for a hazardous materials event. "These funds will help first responders before disaster strikes so they can better protect their communities," said PHMSA Administrator Thomas Barrett.

The grant to Pennsylvania was awarded under the Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant Program administered by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA).

The grant program helps the nation’s approximately 4,000 local emergency planning committees prepare and carry out hazardous materials emergency response plans and conduct commodity flow studies that identify transportation hazards. Since 1993, approximately 1.9 million responders and others have received training assistance nationwide as a result of the grant program.

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