June 13th, 2017

'Baltimore Metro Counties Local EAS Plan
The following complies with the State of Maryland Emergency
Alert System (EAS) plan'


Let's talk about the movement of nuclear material through our US ports like Baltimore and what does RADIATION emissions do to public health. All this cargo is stored tightly in containers -----all this cargo is loaded CAREFULLY onto trucks and rail cars CAREFULLY----all this cargo moves through US cities ---tunnels and roads CAREFULLY so what's to worry?
All of these shipping industries are SELF-REGULATED----global Wall Street pols say DON'T BE BAD---and these global shipping and transportation corporations we are to believe are GOOD CORPORATE CITIZENS-----just like self-regulated global Wall Street.
As someone living in Baltimore's Charles Village right next to that CSX FREIGHT TUNNEL I just WANT TO KNOW.
Now, the first thing that catches MY EYE is this alert system designed to abide by FEDERAL FCC law. CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA have not abide by Federal FCC law these few decades. This is why we have FAKE NEWS---it is why we have rigged, crony elections--especially here in Baltimore. There is no Federal agency making sure these emergency systems are functioning. GLOBAL WALL STREET POLS AND PLAYERS ARE SIMPLY SAYING-----------------TRUST US.
We do indeed get emergency broadcast for severe weather----a text on cell phones-----our radio and TV do run those pesky warning scrolls forever---but this is NOT what citizens need for hazardous/toxic chemical emergencies. Know what the first thing on the mind of a global Wall Street CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA pol and player is?
HOW DO WE HIDE WHAT HAPPENED AND MAKE SURE IT SOUNDS NOT AS DANGEROUS AS IT IS.
Most of the transport and transfer is already illegal and these global Wall Street corporations will not want any evidence for legal damage. Think how Gulf oil spill unfolded---citizens along the coast did not know anything and knew the information they received was JUKED.

Baltimore Metro Counties Local EAS Plan
The following complies with the State of Maryland Emergency
Alert System (EAS) plan
filed with the Federal Communications Commission. The plan creates guidelines for following for activations of the Emergency Alert System by Maryland’s local jurisdictions.
Purpose:
This Local Area Plan provides procedures for activating the Emergency Alert System by authorized local government officials, by broadcasters and by cable operators. It provides broadcasters and emergency managers with guidance on how to send out and receive an EAS Alert.
Authority:
Title 47 U.S.C. and Part 11 of the FCC Rules and Regulations, Radio
Broadcast Services, details the Emergency Alert System (EAS) as it pertains to daily emergency operations.
Introduction:
The State Emergency Communications Committee, in conjunction with federal, state and local emergency management officials, developed the procedures outlined in this plan. Local broadcasters and cable operators also participated.
Authorization:
The state EAS plan authorizes creation of a local EAS plan and permits local EAS operations to function until a local plan is approved.
Explanation of Changes:
With the creation of the Emergency Alert System, the FCC
changed the rules for broadcasters, allowing automation to replace manned operations for some, if not all, of the broadcast day. Because some operations now are unmanned,
local emergency officials should not rely on calls to broadcasters as the only method for communicating alert information out for transmission.
IMPORTANT:
The governmental entity issuing the alert must activate the Emergency Alert System!
Emergency managers should rely on the Maryland
Joint Operations Center, rather than broadcasters, to assist with EAS activations.
Broadcasters must ensure that emergency messages regarding events affecting the life and safety of the broadcast audience are forwarded manually or automatically. They
should become familiar with these procedures and follow them whenever EAS is needed. By law, licensees who participate in this plan do not relinquish program control and may exercise discretion for all messages except presidential messages. As noted in Part 11 Rules, any use of the EAS Attention Signal confers automatic rebroadcast authority.

_____________________________________________


'All Hazards Mitigation Plan for the City of Baltimore
— Page i
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction'


We don't have time to format but the point with this post is this-----all of the emergency planning is geared towards NATURAL DISASTERS. The word HAZARDS is tied to the results of those natural disasters--there is no mention of hazardous chemical disasters----no outline as to what citizens should do---we are all simply left to stare at a cell phone text or radio/TV news alert.
The citizens of Baltimore know as well our city agencies controlled by GLOBAL CORPORATIONS do not prepare at all for disasters. The disaster occurs----they get on the phone to call the entire East Coast east of the Mississippi to bring emergency vehicles and support----because BALTIMORE DOES NOT HAVE ANY OF THIS. What are dozens of cities and town in this same region doing? Calling for that same emergency vehicles and support.
The attitude of the far-right wing global Wall Street is this------the taxpayer money needed to buy and maintain emergency vehicles and support is WASTED--that revenue goes to grow global corporate profit. The 99% can just wait until that global emergency corporation handling disasters nationally gets time to come to Baltimore.
No doubt, Baltimore is now tied to GLOBAL FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE militarized security, global fire and rescue corporations----we are to assume they are prepared. The question from citizens in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina is ----how can the Federal government respond faster to disasters all the way around the world and not get to US communities? The answer is
DISASTERS ARE OPPORTUNITY TO GLOBAL WALL STREET 1% AND THEIR 5% PLAYERS.

All Hazards Mitigation Plan for the City of Baltimore
— Page i
Table of Contents
Chapter One: Introduction ......................................................................................................
... 1
Plan Contents...........................................................
.. 1
About the City of Baltimore ............................................................................................... 3
Chapter Two: Natural Hazards in Baltimore City ..................................................................... 5
Flood Hazard Profile ................................................................................ 7
Hurricane Hazard Profile ................................................................................................. 11
Severe Thunderstorm Hazard Profile.............................................................................. 14
Winter Storm Hazard Profile ........................................................................................... 17
Extreme Heat Hazard Profile .......................................................................................... 19
Drought Hazard Profile............................................................................ 20
Earthquake and Land Movement Hazard Profile ............................................................ 21
Chapter Three: Vulnerability Assessment.............................................................................. 25
Flooding Vulnerability Assessment ................................................................................. 25
High Wind Vulnerability Assessment .............................................................................. 32
Winter Storm Vulnerability Assessment .......................................................................... 34
Extreme Heat Vulnerability Assessment ......................................................................... 35
Hazard Ranking ....................................................................................... 36
Chapter Four: Mitigation Strategies ........................................................................................ 37
Hazard Mitigation Goals ................................................................................. 37
Objectives and Strategies ............................................................................................... 38
Mitigation Strategy Priorities ........................................................................................... 44
Chapter Five: Monitoring and Evaluation ............................................................................... 49
Appendices..............................
........... 51
Appendix A: Documentation of Adoption of the All-Hazards Plan................................... 52
Appendix B: Baltimore City Local Em
ergency Planning Committee (LEPC)................... 54
Appendix C: Elderly Residents and Tree Canopy ........................................................... 61
Appendix D: Map Inserts ................................................................................................. 66


___________________________________________


Citizens in Maryland don't KNOW to where that nuclear waste from Russia and around the world coming into Baltimore's port is going but we can be sure some is heading to FT MEADE and its FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE ---GREATER FT MEADE DEVELOPMENT is GREATER BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT.
We are not going to state the obvious about the already existing nuclear waste damage as seen here in Hanford---we see around FT MEADE. We are talking about procedures and oversight and accountability at US PORTS----in US cities and counties where trucks and rail cars transport this nuclear waste to and from destinations. Below we see where that FREIGHT TUNNEL has collapsed and of course WORKERS are worried about radiation exposure as are CITIZENS living nearby.
Remember Japan's nuclear disaster where that global 1% COWARDS sent in senior Japanese citizens to address this most toxic cleanup as the JAPANESE nuclear agency executive evacuated to LONDON.
THIS IS THE SAME NUCLEAR WASTE PLAN IN PLACE IN US CITIZENS DEEMED FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONES LIKE BALTIMORE--WE KNOW BECAUSE THAT GLOBAL 1% JAPANESE WERE TRAINED BY US GLOBAL WALL STREET 1%----
Don't imagine just that HANFORD nuclear dump----imagine collapsing tunnel----exploding rail car or truck----an unexpected accident in transport.


'Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday’s tunnel collapse'.


The first thing a global Wall Street 5% to the 1% CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA will say is -----DON'T WORRY THE LEVELS OF RADIATION ARE NOT THAT BAD.

IT'S A FRAUD FACTORY------and Baltimore City is #1 in the nation for being that FRAUD FACTORY so we already know there is no nuclear hazardous chemical plan that looks to protect 99% of WE THE PEOPLE......

'And that’s the concern, is that the federal government spent trillions of dollars to make nuclear weapons, but it’s shortchanging us on the cleanup at these sites. It’s supposed to take years and years. The money is being stolen. It’s a fraud factory, in a way. And, you know, so the public is really getting shafted on this one'.

Workers Fear Radiation Exposure After Nuclear Waste Storage Tunnels Collapse


in WashingtonStoryMay 11, 2017  Democracy NOW


We are broadcasting from Washington state, where the Department of Energy declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed. The collapse, which was discovered Tuesday, forced hundreds of workers to take cover to avoid potential exposure. Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday’s tunnel collapse. But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, "Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release." Now the Washington state Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program has announced on Twitter that it has taken legal action against Hanford. We speak with Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.


Transcript
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.AMY GOODMAN: We turn now to our last segment, and we continue to focus on what’s happening at a state and local level that’s happening all over the country. Next week, we’ll be traveling throughout California and broadcasting throughout there. You can check our website at democracynow.org to see where we’ll be. But right here in Washington state, where the Department of Energy declared a state of emergency at the Hanford nuclear site after a tunnel storing contaminated radioactive materials collapsed, is the subject of our last segment. The collapse, which was discovered Tuesday, forced hundreds of workers to take cover, to shelter in place, to avoid potential exposure. Local station KING 5 obtained this video from a worker describing the scene.


PA ANNOUNCER: All personnel report to their respective lunchrooms for further information and/or instruction. All personnel should refrain from eating or drinking until told it is safe to do so.


HANFORD WORKER: Well, so, it’s either a drill or an emergency. Gotta take cover.


AMY GOODMAN: Hanford is the nation’s most polluted nuclear weapons production site. The site has been leaking radioactive waste on and off for years. The Energy Department claims no radioactive contamination has been reported so far from Tuesday’s tunnel collapse. But Edwin Lyman from the Union of Concerned Scientists said, quote, "Collapse of the earth covering the tunnels could lead to a considerable radiological release," unquote. Well, now the state of Washington’s Department of Ecology’s Nuclear Waste Program has announced on Twitter it’s taken legal action against Hanford.
For more, we’re joined here in Seattle by Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.
Tom, welcome to Democracy Now! Explain what’s taken place. I mean, given what’s happening in Washington, D.C., there’s very little national awareness about what you’re dealing with here in Washington.


TOM CARPENTER: OK, so this is the nation’s most contaminated site. In the state of Washington here, it was built to make nuclear weapons and plutonium for those weapons. And now we’re left with this legacy of radioactive waste. And so, what recently happened on Tuesday morning was one of the facilities at the site suffered a collapse of a tunnel, holding vast quantities of very highly dangerous radioactive materials. Now, the government is saying that none of that escaped, except, you know, radiation itself into the sky, but no particles escaped. And so, now the question really remains is: Is that true? Were workers contaminated? It appears not. But what is the next—you know, what is the next shoe that’s going to fall? So, what’s in this tunnel, right? So, we know that there are chemicals. There are explosive materials. There could be fires that happen. So we’re all watching with bated breath.


AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain what the PUREX is, the Plutonium Uranium Extraction Plant?


TOM CARPENTER: Yes. So, this was a facility that was used to dissolve spent nuclear fuel made in nuclear reactors on the shores of the Columbia River. They had nine reactors. And this facility would dissolve this stuff in acid, separate out the plutonium. And they had this very large inventory of highly radioactive and chemical waste products left over. That’s what’s at Hanford now.



AMY GOODMAN: Can you explain the history of the Hanford site and its role in the U.S. nuclear program?


TOM CARPENTER: Sure. Hanford was the first production facility that came out of the work at Los Alamos during World War II. So, it made the plutonium for the very first nuclear test in the deserts of New Mexico and was the plutonium dropped on Nagasaki, Japan, in the Fat Man bomb. So, it went on then to make more and more plutonium. And it does this by irradiating uranium slugs and then taking that irradiated uranium, dissolving that in a process called reprocessing. And Hanford became the most contaminated facility as a result.

It’s hard to—it’s hard to describe exactly how bad this place is. It’s got two-thirds of the nation’s high-level nuclear waste. There are just 56 million gallons of this waste in underground, leaking tanks. This one little tunnel that was the subject of Tuesday’s collapse was really a small thing compared to what else is out at that site. So, you can imagine a collapse of a nuclear waste tank containing millions of curies of radioactivity. You’re talking about a multistate disaster. And those tanks are in no better shape than this tunnel. And that’s the concern, is that the federal government spent trillions of dollars to make nuclear weapons, but it’s shortchanging us on the cleanup at these sites. It’s supposed to take years and years. The money is being stolen. It’s a fraud factory, in a way. And, you know, so the public is really getting shafted on this one.


AMY GOODMAN: So, very quickly, you have sued the federal government on behalf of the workers at Hanford. We have less than a minute. Can you explain what you have sued over, what you’re demanding and, with this latest accident, what needs to happen?


TOM CARPENTER: OK. So we brought a lawsuit along with the union at the Hanford site, the pipefitters’ union in the state of Washington, to force the government to provide better protections for the workers out there who inhale chemical vapors and then get sick. And, you know, sadly, people are not being protected, even though there are some pretty grave health injuries that result. And we are demanding that people are protected with respiratory protection in the future and that they do something to protect these people. And, you know, this latest incident is a great illustration of how workers are on the front lines of harm out there.


AMY GOODMAN: Well, Tom, I want to thank you for being with us, Tom Carpenter, executive director of Hanford Challenge, which advocates for workers at the Hanford nuclear site.


That does it for our show. I’m heading back to New York on Friday night, as we continue our multicity tour, Covering the Movements Changing America. I’ll be speaking in New York City Friday night at The New School at the Tishman Auditorium on 5th Avenue just under 14th Street at 7:00 p.m. On Saturday—that is May 13th—I’ll be in Olympia, Washington, at the Capitol Theater at 11:00 a.m., then at Powell’s Books at Cedars Hills Crossing in Beaverton, Oregon, right outside Portland, Saturday night at 5:00. Then off to California, we’ll be stopping in Eureka Sunday at noon at the Sequoia Conference Center at 7:00 p.m., Berkeley at the First Presbyterian Church, and then on Monday in Santa Cruz. In the evening, we’ll be in Palo Alto, Tuesday in San Diego, then Los Angeles, then Santa Barbara. And we’re going beyond. We’ll be in Santa Fe, New Mexico. We’ll be in Tempe, Arizona, and finally in Houston, Texas. You can check the website, democracynow.org.

__________________________________________


'Spent Fuel Transportation
Package Response to the
Baltimore Tunnel Fire Scenario
Final Report
Manuscript Completed: October 2006'


Of course Baltimore City has had just that kind of hazardous chemical in tunnel incident and it occurred right in downtown communities. Whether citizens demand one US Federal agency bring justice or another Federal agency to come to Baltimore to bring justice-----it doesn't matter because BALTIMORE CITY COUNCIL AND MAYOR IGNORE ANY FEDERAL GUIDELINES AND REQUIREMENTS because global Wall Street Baltimore Development and global Johns Hopkins tells our city hall to ignore these regulations/procedures as Baltimore is that US city deemed FOREIGN ECONOMIC ZONE.
The problem for citizens in Baltimore no matter the community is this: we are heading into heightened chemical and nuclear waste and material transport and Port of Baltimore is tops in receiving all this ---while disdaining any oversight and accountability placed on the global corporations awarded the contract.
So, Baltimore has nuclear waste---nuclear materials for building new nuclear bombs coming into our port---transported here and there----we will have soaring amounts of rare earth and toxic chemicals coming to global corporate campuses and global factories in GREATER BALTIMORE----and no politicians in office---no people appointed to public agencies tasked with protecting PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY actually wanting to do that.

NUREG/CR-6886, Rev. 1 PNNL-15313
Spent Fuel Transportation
Package Response to the
Baltimore Tunnel Fire Scenario
Final Report
Manuscript Completed: October 2006
Date Published: November 2006
Prepared by
H.E. Adkins, Jr., J.M. Cuta, B.J. Koeppel, A.D. Guzman (PNNL)
C.S. Bajwa (NRC)
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
902 Battelle Boulevard
Richland, WA 99352
A. Hansen, NRC Project Manager
Prepared for
Division of Spent Fuel
Storage and Transportation
Office of Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards
U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Washington, DC 20555-0001
Job Code J5167


iii
ABSTRACT


On July 18, 2001, a freight train carrying hazardous
(non-nuclear) materials derailed and caught fire while
passing through the Howard Street railroad tunnel in
downtown Baltimore, Maryland. The United States
Nuclear Regulatory Commission (USNRC), one of
the agencies responsible for ensuring the safe
transportation of radioactive materials in the United States, undertook an investigation of the train
derailment and fire to determine the possible regulat
ory implications of this particular event for the
transportation of spent nuclear fuel by railroad.


The USNRC met with the National Transportation Sa
fety Board (NTSB) to discuss the details of the
accident and the ensuing fire. Following these discu
ssions, the USNRC assembled a team of experts from
the National Institute of Standards and Technology
(NIST), the Center for Nuclear Waste Regulatory
Analyses (CNWRA), and Pacific Northwest Nationa
l Laboratory (PNNL) to determine the thermal
conditions that existed in the Howard Street tunne
l fire and analyze the potential effects of those
conditions on various spent nuclear fu
el transportation package designs.
The Fire Dynamics Simulator (FDS) code devel
oped by NIST was used to determine the thermal
environment in the Howard Street tunnel during the fire. The FDS results were used as boundary
conditions for the COBRA-SFS and ANSYS
®
computer models developed to evaluate the thermal
performance of different package designs. The st
aff concluded that larger transportation packages
resembling the TransNuclear Model No. TN-68 a
nd HOLTEC Model No. HI-STAR 100 would withstand
a fire with thermal conditions sim
ilar to those that existed in the
Baltimore tunnel fire event with only
minor damage to peripheral compone
nts. This is due to their si
zable thermal inertia and design
specifications in compliance with curren
tly imposed regulatory requirements.
For the TN-68 and the NAC International Model No. LW
T (legal weight truck) transportation package,
the maximum temperatures predicted in the regions
of the lid and the vent and drain ports exceed the
seals’ rated service temperatures, making it possible for a small release to occur, due to CRUD that might
spall off the surfaces of the fuel rods. While a release is not expected to occur for these conditions, any
release that could occur would be very small due to a number of factors. These include (1) the tight
clearances maintained between the lid and cask body by
the closure bolts, (2) the low pressure differential
between the package interior and exterior, (3) the te
ndency of such small clearances to plug, and (4) the
tendency of CRUD particles to settle or plate out.


USNRC staff evaluated the radiological con-sequences
of the package responses to the Baltimore tunnel
fire. The analysis indicates that the regulatory dose
rate limits specified in 10 CFR 71.51 for accident
conditions would not be exceeded by releases or direct
radiation from any of these packages in this fire
scenario. All three packages are designed to maintain
regulatory dose rate limits even with a complete
loss of neutron shielding (as documented in their r
espective SAR analyses.) While highly unlikely, the
NAC LWT could experience some decrease in gamm
a shielding due to slump in the lead as a
consequence of this fire scenario, but a conservative
analysis shows that the regulatory dose rate limits
would not be exceeded.


iv
The results of this evaluation also strongly indicate
that neither spent nuclear fuel (SNF) particles nor
fission products would be released from a spent fuel
transportation package carrying intact spent fuel
involved in a severe tunnel fire such as the Baltimore
tunnel fire. None of the three package designs
analyzed for the Baltimore tunnel fire scenario (TN-68, HI-STAR 100, and NAC LWT) experienced
internal temperatures that would result in rupture of
the fuel cladding. Therefore, radioactive material
(i.e., SNF particles or fission products) woul
d be retained within the fuel rods.
There would be no release from the HI-STAR 100, because
the inner welded canister remains leak tight.
While a release is unlikely, the potential releases
calculated for the TN-68 rail package and the NAC
LWT truck package indicate that any release of CRUD
from either package would be very small - less
than an A
2
quantity (see Section 8.2.)

_________________________________________


'Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures. Discover resources EPA provides the public in the spirit of right-to-know'.


Here we see an article----this time from 2001----and as we all know it states clearly that Maryland and Baltimore are ground zero for lots and lots and lots of hazardous waste disasters with citizens having no idea ----no rights in knowing what is coming through their communities. Below we see that DASTARDLY EPA-----those far-right wing Clinton/Bush/Obama global Wall Street neo-liberals really hate that Federal agency----it has ignored all enforcement of Federal environmental laws these few decades ---ergo----all these hazardous waste disasters.
The EPA while ignored these few decades is on its way to being totally dismantled----we cannot have MOVING FORWARD MASSIVE ENVIRONMENTAL TOXIC CHEMICALS AND NUCLEAR MANUFACTURING with a pesky EPA around. This article shows as well a CITIZENS' ACTION GROUP called COMMUNITIES' RIGHT TO KNOW. Any CIVIL RIGHTS----CIVIL LIBERTIES organization would have been shouting loudly against PORT OF BALTIMORE AND WALL STREET BALTIMORE DEVELOPMENT MASTER PLAN. Not in Baltimore---the only civil rights and liberties groups are FAR-RIGHT WING NEO-LIBERAL CIVIL RIGHTS ALLOWING PEOPLE TO ACCUMULATE MONEY AND POWER ANYWAY THEY CAN----
Our civil rights and civil liberties groups protect those 5% to the 1% and global 1%!

Learn about Your Right to Know

The Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) database provides information about releases of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities into the environment through the air, water, and land.


Resources for Concerned Citizens
United We Serve - Serve.gov Search for volunteer opportunities in your community at Serve.gov


Learn about Your Right to Know

Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures. Discover resources EPA provides the public in the spirit of right-to-know

Learn about your right to know >>
Search for and Comment on Regulations
Our proposed regulations are almost always open to the public for comment. Your participation leads to better regulations.

Search for and comment on regulations >>
At Home and in the Garden
Tips for home safety, avoiding potential risks, and preventing pollution by recycling and conserving water and energy.


Protect the environment at home and in your garden >>
At Work
Information about preventing pollution in your workplace, and raising awareness of health and safety issues.


Keep work environments safe >>
On the Road
Consumer information about the environmental impacts of transportation plus tips on cleaner cars, saving gas and improving mileage, boating pollution prevention tips, and more.


Learn about the environmental impacts of transportation >>
At School
Whether you are a student or a teacher in a class about the environment, EPA has lots of educational resources to offer you.
Keep school environments safe >>


While Shopping
Find helpful information on how to choose purchases that will reduce pollution, save energy and money.
Learn to be an environmentally-savvy shopper >>


In Your Community
Learn how to protect your neighborhood's natural resources, and get information on air and water quality in your community.
Protect the environment in your community >>


Think Globally, Act Locally
Learn about environmental issues that impact our world, and about programs, opportunities, and tools to help you get involved and make a difference in your communities.
More on thinking globally and acting locally >>


Report a Violation or Emergency
Information on potential environmental violations and how to report a suspicious situation. To report oil and chemical spills, call the National Response Center at 1-800-424-8802.
Learn how to report violations and emergencies | Information on natural disasters >>


Children's Health
Information on how to protect children from toxins, the sun, lead, and other potential environmental health threats.
More on children's health >>
Every American has the right to know the chemicals to which they may be exposed in their daily living. Right-to-know laws provide information about possible chemical exposures. Below is a list of some of the information that EPA provides the public in the spirit of right to know.


Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)

Information on Toxic Substances and Releases
Community Environmental Issues
Food Quality Protection Act (FQPA) of 1996
Air Pollution
Water Quality
Lead Program
Hazardous Waste



Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA)
Congress enacted EPCRA in 1986 to establish requirements for federal, state and local governments, tribes, and industry regarding emergency planning and "community right-to-know" reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals. The community right-to-know provisions help increase the public's knowledge and access to information on chemicals at individual facilities, their uses, and releases into the environment. States and communities, working with facilities, can use the information to improve chemical safety and protect public health and the environment. More information about EPCRA


Top of page
Information on Toxic Substances and Releases
Toxics Release Inventory (TRI) - A database which provides information to the public about releases of toxic chemicals from manufacturing facilities into the environment through the air, water, and land.


Access TRI Data via Envirofacts by typing in your ZIP Code - The TRI Query retrieves data in Envirofacts for facilities reporting chemical releases to TRI from 1987-1995. Your query returns facility information, as well as chemical reports, which tabulate air emissions, surface water discharges, releases to land, underground injections, and transfers to off-site locations.


Other Searches By Zip Code - Search for other local information by typing in your ZIP code. You may select from among numerous databases for information about facilities, watersheds, enforcement actions, and other searches.


Air Toxics - This page provides background information on toxic air pollutants--poisonous substances in the air that come from natural or manmade sources and can harm the environment or your health.


RTK-Net Exit EPA Disclaimer - A network funded by several philanthropic and government agencies (including EPA) and jointly operated by two nonprofit organizations: Unison Institute and OMB Watch. Includes information on many EPA programs, regulations


Title III List of Lists: Consolidated List of Chemicals Subject to the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA) and Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act - This database assists facilities and state and local governments in compliance with the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act (EPCRA), the accident prevention provisions of the Clean Air Act, and general chemical emergency preparedness and prevention.


TSCA Chemical Substance Inventory - Download and search EPA's consolidated list of thousands of industrial chemicals manufactured or used in the U.S.

__________________________________________

2001--and 2006 from the earlier article failures in this case fall into the hands of SCHMOKE, O'MALLEY----it would have been a Clinton/Bush EPA making sure all regulations were enforced---and we see NOTHING. Citizens of Baltimore today should know----things have gotten WORSE----NOT BETTER.


Yeah, it's the terrorists about which WE THE PEOPLE need to worry ------


 "Almost a Worst-Case Scenario": The Baltimore Tunnel Fire of 2001 (A)

Transportation
Leadership
National and International Security
Crisis Management
Government
State And Local

Abstract:
In the late afternoon of a hot day in July, 2001, an accident beneath the streets of Baltimore threatened to turn into a disaster. A freight train carrying hazardous chemicals derailed and caught fire inside a tunnel that ran beneath one of the city�s main streets. Not only did the tunnel accident block the major north-south train route for the eastern United States, it also released clouds of possibly toxic vapors into downtown streets. Incredibly, the first accident was followed by a second one�a break in a major water main, in exactly the same area, into which cascaded hundreds of thousands of gallons of water. It was a combination which a city official would call �everyone�s worst nightmare.� This case describes�blow-by-blow and meeting-by-meeting�the public emergency response to the tunnel fire and its aftermath. It details how a dozen different jurisdictions�including city, state and federal agencies�had to find ways to coordinate their response in the absence of established procedures for dealing with a situation which had never been specifically contemplated. Among the themes explored in this crisis management case is the role of the local chief executive (Baltimore Mayor Martin O�Malley), the conflicts and cooperation amongst agencies (including and especially fire and public works), and, more broadly, the question of how a series of crucial tactical decisions must be made in the absence of complete information (such as the level of toxic hazard).

Learning Objective:
Although this case portrays a city responding to an accident, the dynamics of the response relate to those that might be faced in the event of a terrorist attack�and the case can be used in considering such possibilities and the role of public safety first-responders in confronting them.

Hazardous materials pass daily -- and no one knows
The train derailment and fire in the heart of Baltimore's downtown Wednesday alerted the public to an open secret among those in the know: Every day, by rail, by truck and by ship, hundreds of thousands of gallons of hazardous chemicals pass through the city.


But no one - not even those who would have to respond to an accident - knows what dangerous materials are crossing the city at any given time, though many shipments carry the potential for disaster.

For instance, the train that derailed two days ago might have been transporting the gas used in death chambers - hydrogen cyanide - a not uncommon shipment on Baltimore's rails.

Or highly flammable propane, perhaps the most typical hazardous cargo in this area. Or chlorine, which could send a toxic plume more than 25 miles downwind if a single 90-ton rail car ruptured.

If you own a home, you should read this. Thousands of homeowners did this yesterday, and banks are furious! Do this now before it's...


Federal agencies regulate the types of containers that hold these chemicals, the safety devices and signs on them and, in some cases, each car's proximity to other chemicals on a train.
But no one monitors the types and quantities of chemicals passing through Baltimore or anywhere else in the country. And no agency requires that communities be forewarned of such shipments.
It is an information gap that citizens groups have long fought to close in the interest of better emergency planning.


"There is no federal agency that does a good job of tracking hazardous materials," said Paul Orum, director of Community Right to Know, a Washington-based group. "People have a right to know if they can be hurt or injured by materials on rails or roads or on barges."
Manufacturing plants and other facilities that keep hazardous chemicals on site must draft a worst-case accident scenario to let communities know the potential consequences for nearby schools, hospitals and neighborhoods. But no similar requirement exists for chemicals in transit.


"As with so many of the environmental laws, these are the kinds of issues that come to public attention in response to disasters," said Bradley Campbell, former Mid-Atlantic administrator for the Environmental Protection Agency. "This is not one where there is a lot of attention, in part because the safety record, particularly for rail, has been pretty good."



Maryland has experienced nearly 5,000 hazardous spills during transit over the past 30 years, with the annual number increasing over the past decade. About 3,500 occurred on highways; only 217 on railways.
Federal rail officials said yesterday that 2 million tank-car loads of hazardous materials were shipped nationwide last year, with 35 train accidents resulting in the release of dangerous chemicals.


Alerting communities in advance, they said, could have a dangerous result - inadvertently informing someone interested in sabotage or terrorism.
"The key is to get the appropriate information to the emergency crews as soon as it's determined there is an emergency," said George Gavalla, safety director for the Federal Railroad Administration.



Within 15 minutes of being called Wednesday, the Fire Department knew the contents of the train, including caustic acids that can cause severe burns and lung damage.
Still, such information falls short, said Assistant Chief Michael Dalton. "What the manifest doesn't tell you is what can happen if the tankers rupture and the chemicals mix," he said. "Then the whole picture changes. It can create its own witches' brew and there wouldn't even be a chemical name for it."


The fire marshal is routinely notified about the shipment of explosives, Dalton said. "But a lot of chemicals are far more hazardous under the right conditions than a boxcar full of dynamite."
In this case, the risk of a lethal mix was low because most of the chemicals involved are acids, rather than a heat-generating and potentially explosive mix of acids and alkalis, officials said.


For the century-old, 1.7-mile Howard Street Tunnel, there is no restriction on the types of chemicals that may be transported through. About two dozen trains pass through it daily, according to CSX; a similar number, including Amtrak passenger trains, use a 1.3-mile tunnel west of Pennsylvania Station.


"In an open area in the Midwest, you can stand back at a safe distance," Dalton said. "This incident was inside a tunnel, and we had no idea even if any chemical was involved or if all of them mixed. That's what makes this kind of incident so dangerous."


Among the few restrictions that exist in the state are those of the Maryland Transportation Authority, which manages toll facilities and places its highway tunnels in a special category.
In the Baltimore area, potentially dangerous materials are more likely to travel over the Francis Scott Key Bridge (Interstate 695) than through the Fort McHenry Tunnel or Baltimore Harbor Tunnel.


The authority prohibits bulk gasoline, explosives, and large bottles of propane from the tunnels. Police conduct random checks of tankers and other vehicles. Trucks carrying such substances would be sent instead over the Key Bridge. Vehicles carrying high explosives or radioactive materials are required to have a police escort as they cross.



Potentially dangerous materials can also enter the city by air or sea. The Maryland Port Administration said it issued 120 permits last year to shipping companies to bring in explosives and radioactive materials at the Port of Baltimore.
Many other substances, including poisons and flammable liquids, are permitted in the port without prior notification or regulation, though some may be monitored by the Coast Guard or other agencies.


At Baltimore-Washington International Airport, the Federal Aviation Administration oversees the packaging and shipping of hazardous cargo. But the rules are frequently violated nationally. The FAA has sought civil penalties a dozen times this year against airlines or businesses for hazardous materials violations related to the shipment of gasoline, certain types of fungus, corrosives and other substances.


Federal law requires states to have plans for dealing with chemical emergencies. In Maryland, each county and Baltimore City have committees that are supposed to gather information on chemical hazards and draw up plans for handling accidents.
But preparation varies widely, said Alan Brown, chemical emergency preparedness coordinator for the Environmental Protection Agency's regional office. In Baltimore, "the local emergency planning committee is for the most part manned by volunteers, and they don't have any authority to tell anybody not to transport a certain chemical down I-95," he said.


The Fire Department is the lead agency responsible for chemical-emergency planning, though the state Department of the Environment, community activists and representatives of local chemical plants also participate.
MDE spokesman John Verrico said the Fire Department recently practiced responding to a train accident in a tunnel, but MDE's hazardous materials team was not part of that drill.


Brooklyn activist Doris McGuigan, who serves on the city's emergency planning committee, said the group discussed the dangers of tunnels about four months ago.
"The reason it came up is we were doing a segment on terrorist attacks," she said. "I know they were very concerned about it.


"I didn't even know we had tunnels," said McGuigan, a lifelong resident. "I said, 'Let's get some maps,' ... and that's as far as we got."
McGuigan, who has been critical of local emergency planning, said there have been improvements in the level of preparedness. In 1998, the University of Maryland Environmental Law Clinic threatened to sue the planning committee, which rarely met and had a decade-old emergency plan.


Since then, the committee has updated its plan, and "they're working really hard," she said.
"They handled the evacuation fine," McGuigan said, but communication with people driving into the city was less successful.
City officials "need to do some PR work about the fact that when something like this happens, [citizens] really need to pay attention to what they're told. It can save their lives."
___________________________________________

The article from 2001 describing the failures of Baltimore City agencies to work together was not a failure of PUBLIC GOVERNMENT as almost all Baltimore City Agencies are tied to global corporations and it is their failure to do that job -----and a Mayor of Baltimore has no idea what these global corporations' executives are doing. Fast-forward to today and O'Malley as Governor of Maryland does the same thing only this time he outsources everything to GLOBAL CORPORATIONS AND WALL STREET dismantling more and more of oversight and accountability until---indeed our Port of Baltimore operates just as a Chinese Foreign Economic Zone----no oversight and accountability---simply self-regulate---and if disaster calls work to hide facts from citizens ---making sure no PUBLIC JUSTICE or public health requirements exists.

This article speaks to hazardous MANIFESTS ---these are the documents telling the WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHY, HOW MUCH, AND WHEN of that hazardous material inside a container. Know what? The Department of Transportation ----the EPA ----the Department of Commerce all tied with assuring these laws are enforced never did that. So all these transport corporations like UPS FED-X that used to have strong hazardous handling are slowly leaving all that behind because these global transport corporations have never been held to US Rule of Law.


'Port Security
Overview

In 2002, the United States Congress passed the Maritime Transportation Security Act (MTSA) requiring maritime port facilities to address port security through appropriate training of port personnel, implementation of access control procedures and handling of certain dangerous cargo.

During fiscal year 2005, the position of Director of Security was established for the Maryland Port Administration. The office is staffed with two Senior Security Specialists and one Security Information Specialist and is housed in the Dunmar Building South on the Dundalk Marine Terminal.

The Office of Security is responsible for overseeing contract security personnel who in turn are responsible for conducting access control duties at each of MPA's regulated marine terminals which are Dundalk and Seagirt Marine Terminals, North Locust Point Marine Terminal, South Locust Point Marine Terminal, South Locust Point Cruise Terminal and Fairfield Marine Terminal. The contract with the MPA for security personnel services is with Securitas, Inc. The Office of Security also works in accordance with an agreement with the Maryland Transportation Authority Police (MdTA Police) who are responsible for law enforcement and patrol functions on MPA terminals.

The Director of Security is the Facility Security Officer responsible for maintaining a security plan for each regulated MPA terminal. Each MPA facility security plan must be approved by the Captain of the Port, United States Coast Guard (USCG). The Coast Guard was given authority under MTSA to impose fines and penalties for non-compliance with MTSA requirements.

The Maryland Area Maritime Security Committee, formed after the attacks of September 11, 2001, coordinates security efforts between its members consisting of the MPA, USCG, MdTA Police, Customs and Border Protection Agency, Federal Bureau of Investigation, municipal law enforcement agencies and maritime personnel from the private and public sectors. The committee plans annual port security drills and exercises to evaluate port security and address lessons learned for port security improvement'.


Are Emergency Response Numbers Required on Hazardous Waste Manifests?
Dec 7, 2015 8:01:32 AM / by Robert Losurdo



One of the most important aspects of handling, transporting, and properly disposing of hazardous waste is obviously safety. Contingencies especially need to be in place in case something unexpected happens during transport, and one such security measure is an emergency response number included on the hazardous waste manifest. Lacking a number or improperly providing a number not only poses a health and safety risk, but it also makes the waste generator and transporter liable to consequences for federal noncompliance.
 


Emergency Response Numbers and Hazardous Waste Mainifests  
 
Does a Emergency Response Number Apply to All Hazardous Waste?
 
Yes. An emergency response number needs to be included on every manifest in order to be properly transporting hazardous waste. It doesn’t matter what industry the hazardous material originates from—whether it be biomedical, environmental, dry cleaning, or any other. To transport hazardous material, an emergency number needs to be provided on the hazardous waste manifest.
 
Will Any Number Suffice?
 
Not necessarily. The emergency response number needs to conform to several requirements to be in full federal compliance.
 

• Emergency Contact Number and Emergency Contract Number

One common mistake is only providing an emergency contact number on a manifest. To be in compliance, however, a contact and a contract number are both required on all hazardous waste manifests.
 
A contact number is to get in touch with someone who can help in the event of an accident. An independent contract number is to specify the waste generator and that generator’s location.
 
A common mistake in that regard is only providing a generic contract number. Even if a generator works with an independent transport company and provides all relevant SDSs to that company, the generator still needs an independent, identifying contract number with that other company.
 

• Twenty-Four-Hour Number

The emergency number must be monitored at all times while the material is transported. Obviously an accident isn’t necessarily going to happen during standard business hours, so the number must always be manned and valid.
 

• Area Code

The emergency number must include an area code (when relevant). This ensures the number is reachable even if the material is transported out of area.
 

• Knowledgeable Contact Person

The person at the other end of the emergency contact number must be knowledgeable about the hazardous material being transported. The person must understand what the material is and know how to communicate to the emergency response team the best way to go about cleanup.
 
Why Do These Numbers Matter?
 
If something were to happen to a truck or transport vehicle while carrying hazardous waste, there needs to be a point of contact to help the emergency response team mitigate the accident’s negative impacts (to both the environment and people). This paperwork also helps identify the hazardous material so emergency responders know how to handle the situation.
 
Additionally, complying with these federal regulations helps legally and financially protect the waste generator and waste transporter. Because the stakes and consequences of improperly transporting this kind of waste are so high, a generator often opts to work with a waste management company that has specific experience in that arena and knows, therefore, how to properly transport hazardous waste.

 
For more information about these emergency response numbers and what the law requires to be in compliance, please feel free to contact a representative of MCF Environmental Services, a full-service waste management company.
 _____________________________________


It is because our Federal EPA these few decades stopped inspecting hazardous manifests that all transport corporations import/export/train/truck------BECAME LAX in what was a strong public safety procedure. Today we can be sure that only the minimum of inspection occurs.
This is the same stance that gave JAPAN its nuclear disaster----and all US cities deemed Foreign Economic Zones especially with PORTS ---LIKE BALTIMORE ----are allowing these global corporations to operate with impunity. We are told if we monitor these global corporations we will lose JOBS, JOBS JOBS---AFFORDABLE HOUSING, AFFORDABLE HOUSING---
WE THE PEOPLE THE 99% NEED THE OPPOSITE OF MOVING FORWARD---WE NEED SMALL BUSINESS ECONOMIES ---SMALL MANUFACTURING---AND A PORT OF BALTIMORE INTERESTED IN REGIONAL SHIPPING.
It is then we can build REAL oversight and accountability to public safety ----public health---handing citizens their voice in communities.

THIS IS ALL TRUMP'S FAULT!


Report: EPA ‘Does Not Effectively Track’ Toxic Waste Entering U.S.
‘Could result in unknown human, environmental exposure to toxic substances’

Toxic recycling plant in Vernon, Calif. / AP
BY: Elizabeth Harrington Follow @LizWFB
July 7, 2015 2:33 pm


The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) does not effectively track hazardous waste coming into the United States, posing "unknown human and environmental exposure to toxic substances."


According to an audit by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) released Monday, the United States receives roughly 90,000 tons of hazardous waste a year from foreign countries, primary from Canada and Mexico. The EPA is responsible for managing hazardous waste from "cradle to grave" via the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA).


The audit found the agency’s data collection on imports has "major discrepancies in hazardous waste import volumes, indicating that the EPA has incomplete knowledge of hazardous waste import shipments."


Hazardous waste imports include liquids, solids, gases, sludges, and "solvents, acids, heavy metals, such as cadmium and mercury, and used batteries containing lead."


"Based on our assessment of data in EPA information systems, the EPA has an incomplete picture of hazardous waste entering the country," the OIG said. "This can give rise to undetected and unenforced violations of federal hazardous waste laws, which could result in unknown human and environmental exposure to toxic substances."


"The EPA may be unaware of shipments that do not reach their intended destination facilities, as well as significant discrepancies in the volume or nature of hazardous waste shipped," the OIG added.


The audit revealed that the EPA is not meeting federal regulations requiring the agency to keep track of the waste it approves to enter the country. The EPA is missing consent forms—mandated under RCRA to give the government’s approval to accept hazardous waste from foreign countries--for over half of toxic waste manifests.


Hazardous waste shipments to the United States must have a manifest, which identifies where the waste came from, the type, volume, dates of shipment, and when it will reach its final destination. Hazardous waste can be transported to treatment, storage, and disposal facilities in the United States.


In addition, "the EPA letter consenting to imports did not consistently include sufficient information to verify that the types of hazardous waste shipped were those which received consent," the OIG said.


Manifests of hazardous waste also did not match data from the Biennial Report (BR), the EPA data system that documents "the nature, quantities and disposition" of hazardous waste received by treatment facilities every two years.


"The EPA does not have an accurate accounting of hazardous waste coming into the
United States," the OIG said. "Comparison of import quantities for 2009 showed [the Office of Federal Activities] OFA received manifests for less than half the waste identified in the BR."


"OIG analysis of 2011 data also showed much of the waste documented in the manifests received by OFA was not reported in the BR," they said.
The audit also found a discrepancy in the law that has left the EPA and Customs and Border Protection (CBP) unclear on which agency is responsible for stopping unauthorized hazardous waste imports at U.S. borders.
"Lack of explicit authority restricts the EPA’s ability to prevent unconsented hazardous waste shipments from entering the United States," the audit said. "This is a gap in the federal law that governs the management and handling of hazardous waste and its intent to address ‘cradle-to-grave’ management of hazardous waste.


"[N]either the EPA nor CBP believes they otherwise have explicit authority to stop unconsented shipments of hazardous waste at the border," the OIG said. "The EPA needs to seek explicit authority to stop unconsented imports at the U.S. border."
The report also notes that the EPA is not using the clear enforcement powers it has over facilities in the United States that violate regulations.


The OIG said the EPA has "failed to take enforcement action against domestic entities when RCRA import regulations are violated," and "does not review manifests or data to identify regulatory violations and pursue appropriate enforcement actions."
The OIG analyzed a sample of over 200 manifests between 2011 and 2012 to complete the audit.
An EPA spokesperson said the agency agrees with the OIG’s recommendations to improve its monitoring of hazardous waste imports.


"EPA remains committed to strong oversight of hazardous waste imports, and to protecting Americans from the potential dangers of exposure to these materials," they said.


"EPA will increase its compliance monitoring activities by reconciling its import data, reminding importers of their reporting obligations, and exploring with the U.S. Customs and Border Protection the possibility of using the International Trade Data System to enhance domestic monitoring," the EPA added. "The agency will also discuss with administration officials outside EPA the possibility of obtaining import control authority to prevent the import of hazardous waste without prior EPA consent."
________________________________________________If Baltimore has a long history of hazardous chemical disasters and spills from transport to export/import----then Baltimore has NO PUBLIC HEALTH AGENCY----it is the duty of our city public health department to assure all Federal, state, and local public safety laws and guidelines are operating, enforced, and adequate to protect WE THE PEOPLE THE 99%.
Baltimore is in fact a PUBLIC HEALTH DISASTER all around and indeed there is no public health protection in place regarding nuclear or toxic waste disasters. We see the required annual city-wide drill ----I was an emergency response employee---I know this drill-----and it is not adequate for REAL city-wide response. If a disaster happened today the same 2001 O'MALLEY non-response would occur.
All Baltimore media is global Wall Street captured ----global Johns Hopkins/Wall Street BAltimore Development controls content and here we have WYPR---NPR public media CONTROLLED BY GLOBAL JOHNS HOPKINS.
All of Baltimore's media PRAISE BALTIMORE PUBLIC HEALTH COMMISSIONERS----for decades ago until today. WEN works for global johns Hopkins BLOOMBERG PUBLIC HEALTH ----NOT CITIZENS OF BALTIMORE. WEN operates just as Baltimore Public Health commissioners these few decades.
WE THE PEOPLE MUST WAKE UP-----when we allow every stage of public government be degraded, captured, tied to global corporations operating anyway they want---we are NOT SOVEREIGN CITIZENS.
IT GETS WORSE NOT BETTER.
As global Wall Street media PRETENDS they are helping the poor these few decades Baltimore citizens have to watch MUMBAI-THIRD WORLD condition for our US citizens as regards public health. I passed a poor citizen sitting at a bus stop with a massive swollen, infected foot wrapped in the dirtiest of gauze----the foot will be lost IF the man lives. Our streets of Baltimore are filling with low-income and poor not treated and the stance in BAltimore SIMPLY TO GET THESE PEOPLE OUT OF SIGHT.

 Baltimore City council and mayor control these enforcement and operations and if we are seeing third world public health in our citizens---we know they could care less about hazardous/disaster planning.

 This is why we shout ----do not think NPR/APR is good---it has been global Wall Street CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA these few decades especially after 2008 economic crash.

Baltimore Health Commissioner: 'Public Health Is Tied To Everything'


May 15, 20155:15 PM ET
Heard on All Things Considered

NPR's Audie Cornish talks with Baltimore City Health Commissioner Leana Wen about the public health needs of the city's residents and the steps she wants to take to meet those needs.

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
We're going to hear some ideas now from someone who's working on that long-term project, Leana Wen. She is an emergency physician, and four months ago she became Baltimore's health commissioner. In the days since the unrest, she's been talking a lot about the role of public health in addressing the city's ills. First on her agenda - reaching the people she sees as the most vulnerable.


LEANA WEN: Let me give you a statistic that I find shocking. Our city has a population of about 620,000 people. There are 73,000 individuals who go in and out of our detention centers every year - 8 out of 10 of these individuals use illegal substances, 4 out of 10 have a diagnosed mental illness. What I would love to see are mobile crisis teams to help every individual coming out of our jails and out of our detention centers. These are the individuals who are the most costly in terms of societal resources, and they have the highest risk of being disruptive to their community and to continuing in the cycle of violence and trauma and incarceration. We really have to address this most vulnerable population, but we also have to make sure that we have treatment on demand 24/7 for anyone who needs it.


CORNISH: When it comes to policymaking on these issues - fighting poverty and violence - are public health officials also-rans? Like, are you guys even in this discussion, and what's it like trying to force your way in?


WEN: It is our job as public health leaders to make the case that public health is tied to everything and that we should not just talk about public health when things go wrong. People tend to think of public health as this boring entity that we hear about when there are outbreaks of infections or when there are rats running around and restaurants being unclean. We have to make the case that actually everything comes back to health - that we cannot talk about poverty without also addressing the heroin epidemic and what it's done in terms of crime and unemployment for citizens. We cannot talk about better health care and better jobs if we're not addressing the core problems that people have when it comes to shelter and employment that also tie closely into health as well.


CORNISH: You mentioned crisis teams and a 24-hour treatment center, but do you have the money to do this? Have you been given the money to do this?


WEN: We don't have the money to do much of the work that we would like to do. My hope is that with everything that's happened in Baltimore - with the attention that our city now has that we can really make Baltimore into a model for the rest of the country to follow when it comes to treating the core roots of our problems.


CORNISH: You're speaking optimistically. You're also fairly new to the job. How optimistic are you really about tackling these entrenched problems?


WEN: Baltimore has a long history of innovation in public health. We are the oldest public health department in the country, and we have a long history of taking on different issues...


CORNISH: But I mean - I'm sorry, Doctor Wen. I mean you personally. Like, you're new to this job, and a few months in, there is, you know, a riot in the streets. And how optimistic are you really about being able to tackle some of this?


WEN: I see this as an opportunity. Finally, public health is at the forefront in major newspapers and on the radio and on TV. We're talking about lead paint and the problems that it may have caused in Freddie Gray's life. We're talking about differences in life expectancy by ZIP code - all these issues that are core to what we do in public health. So I'm optimistic because I'm glad that these issues are finally being raised in the public consciousness.

CORNISH: Doctor Leana Wen - she's the Baltimore city health commissioner and an emergency physician. She's also a regular contributor to Shots, NPR's health blog. Thank you so much for speaking with us.
WEN: Thank you, Audie.

________________________________________
'Taking on urban health care problems is especially difficult because of the multitude of variables present in cities: immigration, insufficient housing, lack of space for infrastructure, political corruption, organized crime, pollution, and dysfunctional health systems'.
Baltimore public health is almost the same as MUMBAI----MOVING FORWARD killing all safety net programs----funding for all social programs that these few decades have simply been looted for the most part----will push US citizens to that level of no access to clean water, sanitation, third world slum.
WE THE PEOPLE can see why global Wall Street CLINTON/BUSH/OBAMA are working so hard to fill our US cities with global labor pool----these developing nation citizens don't know what quality of life---rights as citizens-----DO NO HARM HIPPOCRATIC OATH---means and they do not ask for them.

 I do know our global 99% immigrants want to come to an America as it has always been and not a colonial entity operating just as their third world nation.

Confronting the Challenges of Urban Health in the Developing World


Urban public health is one of the most pressing yet neglected issues facing the developing world, according to public health experts. Neither the national nor local governments have enacted comprehensive plans for dealing with the country’s rapidly urbanizing population. So far, most of the focus of both local authorities and the global health community has been on health programs in rural areas. Taking on urban health care problems is especially difficult because of the multitude of variables present in cities: immigration, insufficient housing, lack of space for infrastructure, political corruption, organized crime, pollution, and dysfunctional health systems.


“Urban poverty is not on the government’s radar screen,” said Dr Anita Patil-Deshmukh, executive director of PUKAR, a Mumbai-based urban health research and advocacy organization. From an official perspective slum dwellers, estimated to number more than 6 million in Mumbai alone, exist largely as an undifferentiated mass. They do not receive government services, lacking basics like water and sanitation. And yet they are a huge part of the productive power of the country, producing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in economic output.

Sam Loewenberg's stories examine the impact of having overburdened, poorly-functioning health systems in high-stress urban settings such as Mumbai and Nairobi.