Project BREATH Guide: Managing Emergency Response to Air Toxics

In March 2019, a plume of black smoke was visible over Harris County for three days as crews worked to contain a chemical fire in Deer Park, Texas. The event made international headlines, spurred shelter-in-place notifications, and caused the closing of the Houston Ship Channel. In the following months, the American Chemistry Council’s (ACC) Foundation awarded Harris County $1 million to help bolster the preparedness and emergency response functions of key responding agencies, community partners, and stakeholders during major industrial releases of air toxics. As part of this effort, HARC was enlisted to provide technical assistance and stakeholder engagement services to develop the Resource Guide, Project BREATH: Building our Response to Emergency Releases of Air Toxics in Harris County.  

Developed by HARC in collaboration with local emergency responders, community stakeholders, and academic experts, the Project BREATH Resource Guide helps improve the County’s response to emergency incidents involving releases of air toxics. Specifically, the Guide helps address considerations related to issuing and lifting shelter-in-place notifications, determine what potential public health hazards are, and what the response should be when there is a fire, explosion, major leak, or other emergency event. It builds upon best practices, existing plans, and frameworks used by emergency managers and responders in Harris County and includes a set of fact sheets for 22 air toxics of particular concern in Harris County. 

By bringing this information together, the Resource Guide aims to increase situational awareness and improve communication for responding agencies, partners, elected officials, the media, and communities.  

Learn more and read the full Project BREATH Resource Guide at Project BREATH Resource Guide