Wood County Local Emergency Planning Committee
c/o Wood County EMA
One Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, Ohio 43402
Office Hours:  Monday through Friday 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Office Phone:  419-354-9269
Office Fax:      419-354-6382
Office Email: woodcountyema@woodcountyohio.gov

LEPC Chairperson:  Jeff Klein, Wood County EMA
1st Vice-Chairperson:  Thomas Brice, Perrysburg Township FD
2nd  Vice-Chairperson:  Bill Moorman, Bowling Green FD
Information Coordinator:  Suzette Hall, Wood County EMA/LEPC

NOTICE OF PUBLIC MEETINGS: Meetings are held on the 3RD Thursday of February, May, August, & November @ 7:30 a.m. at the Wood County Courthouse located at 1 Courthouse Square, Bowling Green, OH  43402. 

SPILL INFORMATION

Spillers required (by Ohio law) to report their spill within 30 minutes (to the LEPC) should call 419-354-9269.  If no answer, please leave a message with the spill information and contact information on the voicemail.  Spillers are required (by Ohio law) to report their spill within 30 minutes to the Ohio EPA, LEPC, and the local fire department and then provide a comprehensive environmental clean-up report within 30 days.

If the general public needs to report a chemical spill, please call the Ohio EPA Emergency Response Phone number at 1-800-282-9378 and call 9-1-1 to activate the local fire department.

LEPC RESPONSIBILITIES

Federal and State laws require all counties to have a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) to develop a chemical emergency response plan and update it yearly; establish procedures for conducting its public information and education on chemical emergencies; receive and process requests for information from the public on hazardous materials; notify the public of all LEPC activities and meetings; and to receive reports and information on hazardous materials as specified in the Ohio Revised Code (O.R.C.).  The LEPC is also required to exercise the chemical emergency response plan on a yearly basis.  Once every four years, the yearly exercise has to be a full-scale exercise where all aspects of an emergency response are exercised together.  These type of exercises take 8-10 months of preparation by an exercise design committee made up of local professionals from various backgrounds.  The LEPC is also required to exercise the County Emergency Operations Center once every four years.  The remaining years can be tabletop or functional style exercises.

The LEPC is funded through grant funds provided by the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) provided the local LEPC remains in compliance with O.R.C. requirements.  The SERC receives funding through fees required of all facilities who store/use hazardous chemicals and are required to register their hazardous material inventories with the SERC, local LEPC, and local fire department.

The Wood County LEPC conducts official business meetings during each quarter of the year which are open to the public (contact the EMA/LEPC office for a current schedule of dates/times/locations).  Members of the LEPC are appointed by the State Emergency Response Commission (SERC) upon the recommendation of the Wood County Commissioners.  Fifteen (15) voting members of the LEPC represent the following twelve (12) categories:

Elected State or Local Official (1)
Local Environmental Agency (1)
Law Enforcement (1)
Hospital (1)
Emergency Management (1)
Transportation (1)
Firefighting (1)
Public Information/Media (1)
First-Aid/EMS (1)
Community Groups (1)
Public Health (1)
Facility Owners/Operators (4)

ANNUAL NORTHWEST OHIO HAZMAT CONFERENCE

In 2010, the Wood County LEPC partnered with five other NW Ohio LEPCs to develop an annual hazmat conference for first responders and facility representatives.  This conference has steadily grown since its inception and now includes a total of 16 NW Ohio LEPCs.  With this partnership, we are able to provide important hazardous materials training at a very low cost to the LEPCs thus maximizing grant funds across NW Ohio.  The location of the conference changes each year to different parts of the NW Ohio region so everyone benefits from having the conference close to home every couple of years.  For more information on this annual conference, please contact the EMA/LEPC office.

10th ANNUAL NW OHIO HAZMAT CONFERENCE: Date TBD