NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

MORNING REPORT

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

INCIDENTS

Gateway NRA

Hundreds Evacuated Due To Treatment Plant Chlorine Leak

On Tuesday, August 25th, the Sandy Hook Ranger Station received an automatic fire alarm for Building 311, the park wastewater treatment plant. Mutual aide was automatically requested from outside fire departments due to the high degree of hazard posed by a fire in this facility. Park fire prevention and law enforcement staff arrived on location and confirmed that there was no fire but a cloud of what appeared to be chlorine vapor in the structure. A hot zone was immediately created and both the United States Navy hazmat team from Weapons Station Earle and the Monmouth County hazmat team responded along with various volunteer fire and EMS units. Due to the direction of the wind, over 300 park visitors were evacuated from Gunnison Beach, which was located near the hot zone. The leak was controlled just before 5 p.m. by hazmat technicians from the US Navy. Also on scene were personnel from the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection and the US EPA. It was confirmed that all vapors were contained in the structure. During the incident, all NPS divisions within the Sandy Hook Unit assumed roles within the incident command system and safely mitigated the incident with no injuries to park visitors or to the over 150 emergency responders who were on scene. The incident was terminated at 8 p.m. The plant remained off line during the cleanup, which was done by park personnel under NJDEP and US EPA guidelines. Repairs were completed the following morning. [Tim Regan, IC]

Colorado NM

Rangers Arrest Man On Stolen Vehicle And Other Charges

Rangers arrested J.M., 30, on a variety of charges following an accident that occurred in the park on the evening of August 28th. A visitor reported that a vehicle had crashed into a park sign, then left the accident scene. Investigating rangers found that J.M. had abandoned his vehicle on Rim Rock Drive near Red Canyon and was walking along the roadway. They determined that the car had been stolen in Montrose two years ago and that the vehicle's VIN number had been largely destroyed. They also learned that J.M. has a long criminal history, including DUIs, multiple traffic offenses, child abuse, various weapons offenses, various drug and alcohol convictions, and parole violations. He was arrested on a felony charge of possessing a stolen car and on numerous other charges, including reckless driving, driving while under the influence of alcohol, destroying federal property with his vehicle (a Colorado National Monument sign), leaving the crash site, and driving with a suspended license. He may also be charged with destruction of the VIN number. Other federal charges are pending and likely as the investigation continues. J.M. was to make his initial appearance in federal court yesterday. [Joan Anzelmo, Superintendent]

Horseshoe Bend NMP

Police Pursuit Culminates In Search In Park

Police from three agencies chased a man who'd blown through a safety checkpoint into the park on the afternoon of August 26th. J.K., 25, drove his 1994 Toyota truck at speeds up to 80 mph in an effort to elude officers. He got around a roadblock but ultimately hit a dead end on the park's boundary. J.K. fled on foot into the park, with officers pursuing both on foot and in cruisers. Superintendent Marianne Mills and maintenance mechanic Stephen Vines insured that no park visitors entered the area while the search was underway and provided support to the agencies. At the time of the report, J.K., who had outstanding traffic warrants against him, was still at large. [Marianne Mills, Superintendent]

Shenandoah NP

Rangers Intervene In Attempted Suicide

On Saturday, August 18th, park dispatch received a report that a 44-year-old woman was intending to commit suicide by jumping off Franklin Cliffs. Ranger Stacy Scully located her within a few minutes. She was sitting at the cliffs with her feet dangling over the cliff ledge. The woman is hearing impaired and had removed her hearing aids, which made communications difficult. Although able to read lips, she would not look at Scully. Scully waited until ranger Ken Mehne arrived to remove her from the edge and take her into protective custody. A suicide note was found in her vehicle. [Lora Peppers, District Ranger]

OTHER NEWS

The following stories are among those in today's edition of InsideNPS:

Grand Canyon NP - Taking a break from their normally busy schedules, President Barack Obama and the First Family stopped for a quick visit to Grand Canyon National Park on Sunday, August 16th.

Office of Partnerships and Visitor Experience - The National Park Foundation has announced that applications are now being accepted for grants of under $10,000. The deadline is October 1st.

Statue of Liberty NM - Dr. Janet Levine, an oral historian with the Ellis Island oral history program, has retired.

To see these and other stories posted on InsideNPS (or NPS Digest, its public version), click on one or the other of the following links (please note that not all stories in the former appear in the latter): NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=index ; non-NPS employees: HYPERLINK "http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/" http://home.nps.gov/applications/digest/

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Submission standards for the Morning Report can be found at the following web site:

HYPERLINK "http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363" http://inside.nps.gov/index.cfm?handler=viewnpsnewsarticle&type=Announcements&id=3363

Prepared by the Division of Law Enforcement, Security and Emergency Services, Washington Office, with the support of the Office of the Chief Information Officer and Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. Edited by Bill Halainen ( HYPERLINK "mailto:Bill_Halainen@nps.gov" Bill_Halainen@nps.gov).

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