SAN FRANCISCO/PALO ALTO-AREA REPORTERS:  A schedule for the Nov. 28
and 29 program that will train people how to handle life-threatening
environmental disasters is attached.  About 40 emergency-response
managers are expected.  

WORKSHOP TO EQUIP THOSE FACING DISASTERS
WITH SKILLS NEEDED TO SAVE LIVES, DOLLARS

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Nov. 16 -- A train carrying deadly
chemicals derails near Lake Shasta, CA, potentially affecting 25,000
people.  A warehouse, filled with pesticide, catches fire; smoke and
fumes could reach 400,000 people.  Millions of dollars are needed to
clean a newly discovered hazardous waste site.  How should such
sites be managed to protect the public and to document damages that
can secure clean-up funds?
	These are some of the case scenarios federal, state and
local government officials -- the people who must respond quickly
and make key decisions following a chemical spill or other emergency
-- will contemplate during a seminar on advanced-response
decision-making Nov. 28 and 29 at the Holiday Inn, 625 El Camino
Real, in Palo Alto.  Supported in part by the federal Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA), the workshop for middle- and senior-level
managers involved in emergency response, waste-site investigations
and remediation is directed and taught by George Moein, head of the
Hazardous Materials Management Institute at the University of
Virginia.
	A component of the Superfund University Training Institute,
the workshop is one of several being held around the nation to
sharpen the decision-making skills of those who face
managing life-threatening situations or crises potentially involving
millions in expenditures.  The EPA-funded training sessions help
those facing crises make Òon-the-spot decisions,Ó said Moein, who
was with the federal agency for 22 years before joining U.Va. in
1992 to direct the institute that is part of the UniversityÕs
Division of Continuing Education.
	There are about 12,000 oil and chemical spills, leaks,
emissions and other accidental releases of dangerous materials each
year in the United States, and response to such incidents consists
of several phases, Moein said.  The first is to notify proper
authorities about potential risks to people in the area.
	Although another phase is cleaning up the site and disposing
of hazardous materials, a critical step in the clean-up is
determining who will pay for the damage.  ÒWho pays often depends on
what information was gathered during the entire process. So even
while every effort is being made to protect human life during a
crisis, every effort must simultaneously be made to document the
scene,Ó Moein said.
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November 15, 1995
	For additional information about the workshop, Moein can be
reached at the Palo Alto Holiday Inn Nov. 27 - Dec. 2 at (415)
328-2800.  For more information about clean up of hazardous waste
sites or other environmental problems, Moein can be reached before
and after the conference at U.Va. at (804) 982-5252 or via
gjm4f@virginia.edu.