Moon Suits in North Kansas City Tuesday Will Be EPA Practicing

A group of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s emergency response coordinators, in cooperation with the North Kansas City Fire Department, will wear self-contained breathing apparatus and set up decontamination tents during a training exercise Tuesday, Sept. 25, at Macken Park in North Kansas City, Mo.

EPA’s Superfund emergency response program requires the Agency’s on-scene coordinators to be fully prepared to respond wherever and whenever environmental threats occur.

EPA and a network of federal, state and local responders stand ready 24 hours a day to contain and clean up hazardous substance chemicals released through accidents, natural disasters or terrorist incidents. The moon suits are required when the greatest potential for exposure to hazards exists and when the greatest level of skin, breathing, and eye protection is required.

Exercises such as the one Tuesday will help ensure that EPA’s emergency responders have the necessary skills and use appropriate precautions when most needed. The top priorities of EPA’s emergency response program are:

· Readiness to respond 24 hours a day to a release;
· Response with whatever resources are required to eliminate immediate dangers; and
· Community relations to inform the public about releases, response activities and the substances involved