Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
•
notify the Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC)
•
report the release to the National Response Center (1-800-424-8802)
In addition, any spill that has the potential to contaminate ground or sur-
face waters must be reported to the EPA under the authority of the Clean Wa-
ter Act.
If you do not know whether the spill is large enough to be a “reportable
quantity” under SARA Title III or whether the spill might enter ground or
surface waters, call your local, state, or tribal pesticide agency or the EPA
regional office for help.
VI. FIRE HAZARDS AND PREVENTION
A.
NFPA-HAZARD RATING
The NFPA rating provides a simple system for the rapid recognition of
the hazards associated with the many materials found at facilities that produce,
ship, store, sell, and/or utilize chemicals and pesticides. The rating is con-
cerned with the health, fire, reactivity (or instability) and other hazards created
by short-term exposure as might be encountered under fire, spill or other re-
lated emergency conditions.
This system recognizes the hazards of a material in terms of three princi-
pal categories, namely "health," "flammability," and "reactivity" and ranks the
severity numerically ranging from "four (4)," indicating a severe hazard, to
"zero (0)," indicating no special hazard. The information is displayed in the
NFPA 704 diamond, which is shown in
Figure 6.27
.
For more information,
you should consult the NFPA Fire Protection Guide on Hazardous Materials.
B.
NFPA CLASSIFICATION OF FIRES
Class A:
Fires involving ordinary combustible materials (such as wood,
cloth, paper, rubber, and many plastics) requiring the heat-
absorbing (cooling) effects of water solutions or the coating effects
of certain dry chemicals that retard combustion.
Class B:
Fires involving flammable or combustible liquids, flammable
gases, greases, and similar materials where extinguishment is most
readily secured by excluding air (oxygen), inhibiting the release of
combustible vapors, or interrupting the combustion chain reaction.
