The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy have formally transferred a shipment of refurbished radiological detection equipment to the Los Angeles Fire Department Hazardous Waste Unit, the Los Angeles Port Authority and the San Francisco Health Department. The equipment, with a replacement value of approximately $60,000, is being provided to these emergency responder agencies under a DHS/DOE pilot project called the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program.From the Office of Homeland Security:Homeland Security and DOE Deliver Refurbished Radiological Detection Equipment
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
April 22, 2003
Equipment Will Be Used to Enhance the Domestic Preparedness Capabilities of Local Emergency Responders
The Department of Homeland Security and the Department of Energy have formally transferred a shipment of refurbished radiological detection equipment to the Los Angeles Fire Department Hazardous Waste Unit, the Los Angeles Port Authority and the San Francisco Health Department. The equipment, with a replacement value of approximately $60,000, is being provided to these emergency responder agencies under a DHS/DOE pilot project called the Homeland Defense Equipment Reuse (HDER) Program.
“The HDER Program is an excellent example of Federal agencies working together to address a critical homeland security issue,” said Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge.
Los Angeles and San Francisco are the sixth and seventh cities that have received radiological detection equipment through the HDER partnership. Other cities that have received the equipment include Washington, D.C., Philadelphia, New York, Boston and Detroit.
The goal of the HDER Program is to provide surplus radiological detection instrumentation and other homeland security related equipment to state and local emergency first responder agencies nationwide to enhance their domestic preparedness capabilities. The agreement is part of the Administration’s broader effort to enhance the equipment and training available to our nation’s emergency responders.
A variety of equipment to measure the presence of radiation is being made available through the HDER Program. The equipment, which comes from Energy Department sites across the nation, is evaluated and refurbished by radiation equipment specialists at DOE’s Office of Assets Utilization, National Center of Excellence for Materials Recycling in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
The Department of Homeland Security’s Office for Domestic Preparedness (ODP) works with established contacts in each state to identify appropriate users in their local emergency responder communities, and the Department of Energy delivers the equipment to these jurisdictions at no cost.
Training on the use of the equipment is available to the emergency responders through ODP’s Domestic Preparedness Equipment Technical Assistance Program (DPETAP). If requested, DPETAP will provide detailed technical information and hands-on equipment operation and maintenance training. Local support for the equipment, including calibration, maintenance and follow-on refresher training, is also be available through a partnership with the Health Physics Society, a 6,000 member national organization of radiation safety professionals.
To date, the HDER program has redeployed over 1,500 radiological detection instruments valued over $700,000 to first responder communities throughout major metropolitan areas of the United States.