Posted on 02/20/2008 6:46:14 PM PST by NormsRevenge
Text of the Federal Emergency Management Agency's memo sent Wednesday to the nation's emergency first responders about a falling U.S. satellite, as provided by FEMA. ___
MEMORANDUM TO: America's First Responder Community
FROM: FEMA Disaster Operations Directorate
SUBJECT: Satellite Re-entry
A U.S. satellite has malfunctioned and is expected to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere sometime between the last week of February and the first week of March. Right now it is in an uncontrolled descent and as a result, the exact date, time and place of impact cannot yet be determined. It is our plan to pass on more specific information with as much advance notice as possible. Please keep in mind that the probability that it will fall upon the United States is low, yet we must be ready.
The satellite weighs approximately 5,000 pounds and about 50 percent of it will probably survive re-entry. Of that amount, what is most concerning is the fuel tank. This tank contains approximately 1,000 pounds of hydrazine as the fuel source and will likely survive re-entry and be intact when it strikes the Earth. It may then rupture and release the hydrazine. There is also a fuel tank liner of beryllium compound. There is no radiation on board.
As our nation's first responders, some of you may find yourself dealing with this issue within your community and response area. This will essentially be a hazardous material (HAZMAT) event that you will need to deal with, the same as if there was a chlorine or ammonia leak or spill you had to respond to. Hydrazine is a very dangerous chemical but no more so than many of the other substances that travel on the rails and highways of America every day for which you train and prepare to respond.
The Department of Homeland Security, led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), has developed an operations plan to support you in this response. It has been built collaboratively with the Department of Defense and other members of our federal interagency community. We have had the support of the Department of Transportation, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Department of Health and Human Services, the National Guard Bureau, Customs and Border Protection, and a host of other federal agencies.
We will have six Federal Joint Interagency Task Forces located around the country ready to deploy the moment we know the impact area, responding to assist you in your role of immediate consequence management. As you know, we follow the National Incident Management System (NIMS) / Incident Command System (ICS) as our incident management framework. Therefore, we want to make it clear that our response will be in support of the local incident commander as part of the local Unified Incident Command structure (more at http://www.fema.gov/nrf ).
To help you prepare for a response to this highly unlikely situation, we have developed a First Responder Guide seen at the link below. It contains information to help you prepare for a possible deployment should elements of this satellite come down in your area. More information will become available as this situation develops; however, we wanted to give you what details we can so you can begin to plan for the "what ifs" as they relate to your community. This is the time to work with your other local first response agencies to develop a plan of immediate action. We will be there to support you, in great numbers if necessary, but as with all emergency response situations, the first few hours will require your readiness until state and federal help arrives. The First Responder Guide can be seen at: http://www.usfa.dhs.gov/downloads/pdf/FEMA(underscore)ERG(underscore)Responder(underscore)Guide(underscore)Space(underscore)Object. pdf.
You will be receiving additional information through your state emergency management and homeland security agencies. Working with the FEMA regions, they will help you prepare. On behalf of our nation, I thank you in advance for your service to your country.
NOTE: Considering that the satellite contains large amounts of toxic hydrazine (anhydrous), the following links may be useful for preparation purposes:
http://physchem.ox.ac.uk/MSDS/HY/hydrazine.html
http://cameochemicals.noaa.gov/chemical/5019.
Reporting Notice
DHS and the FBI encourage recipients of this document to report information concerning suspicious or criminal activity to DHS and/or the FBI. The DHS National Operation Center (NOC) can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9685 or by e-mail at NOC.Fusion@dhs.gov.
The FBI regional phone numbers can be found online at http://www.fbi.gov/contact/fo/fo.htm.
For information affecting the private sector and critical infrastructure, contact the National Infrastructure Coordinating Center (NICC), a sub-element of the NOC. The NICC can be reached by telephone at 202-282-9201 or by e-mail at NICC(at)dhs.gov.
When available, each report submitted should include the date, time, location, type of activity, number of people and type of equipment used for the activity, the name of the submitting company or organization, and a designated point of contact.
My husbands DMAT team is on alert
CNN and FOX are reporting we hit it. This is huge.
Wednesday attempt to shoot down canceled due to seasick sailors, or something like that.
This makes no sense. The reason the Navy is shooting the satellite it outer space is so the fuel is released there, where it does not pose a hazard, the satellite is blown into bits, most of which will disintegrate (’burn up’) coming through the stratosphere and atmosphere. There is still a possibility of fragments getting thru, emergency responders should be aware of that, but not the whole fuel tank, intact, hitting earth.
Unless they are implying that there’s a possibility our military will fail to hit the satellite? Pretty embarrassing for us, if so. Missile Defense is calculated in seconds, this is a sitting duck target compared to taking out an incoming ICBM.
Or am I not understanding something?
It is not in the workplace so - no. ;-)
A HIT ^
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1973768/posts
Reports are they smacked it tonight , rough seas or not.
There was always a possibility they could miss it. The remnants should fall well short of landfall.
Missile defense-wise, this is not a fair test per se..
If I were worried about this, I’d keep the radio on. Once the satellite begins atmospheric interface, NORAD will know, and (since the satellite is in free fall) will be able to calculate the expected impact “footprint” with high accuracy. This info will be relayed to the news media immediately, and to FEMA if any portion of the footprint is within U.S. territory. FEMA will then activate the EAS and begin broadcastng instructions. My local news radio station and/or NOAA Weather Radio will have complete and accurate info on impact zones, safety procedures, and evacuation instructions, if any.
If any large pieces survive the initial re-entry, the odds are small that they will land near my home. If I do encounter debris, however, my plan is: DO NOT TOUCH IT, or allow anyone to touch or approach it. It might be contaminated with hydrazine, a rocket fuel. Hydrazine will dissolve your lungs like water on cotton candy if you breathe it in. Instead, I intend to move away from the object (upwind, if possible) and dial 911 for the fire department. A HAZMAT response will be required to deal with the situation. If I see an injured person is near the object, I will take what precautions I can (gloves, overcoat, mask, etc.) and rescue them, but I won’t touch any person injured in the fall unless I absolutely have to in order to save their lives. My personal plan is to stay calm, keep onlookers away, and wait for the fire department to arrive.
Please note that these are commonsense ideas, not advice. I am not a trained emergency response professional. Consult your local emergency management authorities for information on how you should respond to disasters in your community.
In any case, it is highly, highly unlikely that any of the debris will fall in an inhabited area. I’m not worried about it, and you shouldn’t be, either.
The GEICO gecko speaks with a South London accent, not Ozzie.
Oh thanks! Indeed, shooting a satellite is not at all like missile defense. But after fighting so long to get the MDA going again, now do we need it? Why attack us with ICBM’s requiring technology and lots of money, when stuff can just be walked across the border and taken to any mosque for safekeeping.
I stand corrected.
You may not be a ‘professional’ but you’ve given us more practical advice than FEMA or DHS!
I hear ya on the border issue, but ya never know what may end up flying into the atmosphere and from who these days.. admittedly , it isn’t cheap,,
Thanks — I hope it helped.
Incidentally, the Navy shot down the satellite on the first try tonight, so the danger is past. Bravo Zulu (”well done”) to USS LAKE ERIE.
In memory of Steve Irwin, who took a stingray barb for all our sakes.
True! Remember when we were giving Saddam months and months of warning by debating the issue in the international media, before finally going into Iraq? At a defense briefing somewhere along the line they reported, almost mentioned as a side issue, our satellites had images of large-truck convoys going into Syria. Gosh, no wonder there are “no WMD’s”...we gave them plenty of time to hide them in another terrorist state.
OK! So any second now that nutty president of Iran should be issuing a statement about this aggressive action by the zionist-loving pig empire. Putin will follow with more subdued and diplomatic language, but the same basic meaning.
Would that be a Cockney accent? That's how he sounds to me.
There’s something comforting about common sense - something you have in abundance. Thanks.
Next time you see that son of yours, tell him “thanks”... nice to know he was on the team. And thanks to his parents for making him do his homework and getting him off to college...
Much appreciated and will be talking to him when he calls this weekend and pass the cheers along.
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