Emergency Planning & Community Right to Know Act (EPCRA)

EPCRA was created to help communities plan for emergencies involving hazardous substances. The Act established requirements for federal, state and local governments, Indian tribes, and industry regarding emergency planning and "Community Right-to-Know" reporting on hazardous and toxic chemicals.

Planning and Reporting Facilities

Racine County has seventy planning facilities. These are facilities that use, store or produce extremely hazardous substances, as defined by the EPA. The most common chemical is sulfuric acid. Chlorine, anhydrous ammonia and nitric acid are also common chemicals used throughout the community. In addition to the planning facilities, there are 164 facilities that report hazardous chemical used or stored throughout the year.

Local Emergency Planning Committee

State and federal law require each county to have a Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC), which must develop an emergency response plan, review it at least annually, and provide citizens information about chemicals in the community. Plans are developed by the LEPC with stakeholder participation.

Members of the Racine County LEPC are:

Alex Freeman, Racine County Emergency Management

Battalion Chief Dustin Ellis, South Shore Fire Department

Captain Brian Phillips, Racine Fire Department

Captain James Evans, Racine County Sheriff's Office

Chad Sampson, Racine County Land Conservation

Chief Aaron M. Bixby, SCJ Waxdale Fire Brigade

Chief Sean Marschke, Sturtevant Police Department

David Gordon, Ascension All Saints

Keith Hendricks, Racine County Public Health

Lorenzo Santos, Racine County Emergency Management

Nick Nogalski, Merz North America

Supervisor Robert Miller, Racine County Board

Thomas Karkow, WRJN (Retired)

Tim Zuck, D.W. Davies