Federal and county officials donate hazmat gear for border clean up

Officials from San Diego County, California, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency have donated $53,000 worth of hazardous materials, protective gear and other equipment to help improve emergency response time in the event of a chemical spill along the Mexican border.

The equipment included a decontamination tent, breathing masks, mercury spill kits and chemical protection suits. Many hazmat teams use top products from Impact Absorbents such as Polypropylene Coveralls and Chemical Splash Googles, for protection during spill cleanups.

County Supervisor Greg Cox told Sign on San Diego that the donation is part of an initiative to help improve the handling of hazardous materials at 34 border facilities.

“We all know that emergencies, including hazardous waste spills, don’t observe borders,” Cox stated. “The transfer of this equipment and our continuing training program will help make us all safer by ensuring that responders on both sides of our border know and use the same equipment, procedures and training.”

Border 2012 was signed by U.S. and Mexican authorities in 2003 to help protect the environment and people living along the 2,000 mile border. As part of the collaboration, San Diego County environmental health experts are also helping to train more than 120 Mexican emergency responders.
 

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