(August 22, 2012) Washington - The Renewable Fuels Association and the Defiance, Ohio County Emergency Management Agency will co-host an Ethanol Safety Seminar in Defiance, OH on August 29th at the Defiance Emergency Operations Center. This seminar is free. To accommodate schedules and reach as many participants as possible, the seminar features a morning session from 9:00am to 2:00pm and an evening session from 5:30-10:00pm. Lunch and dinner will be provided. 

The goal of this seminar is for attendees to gain full ethanol emergency response training experience that they can put to use immediately in the field as well as pass along to other first response teams. A majority of this training is based on the Complete Training Guide to Ethanol Emergency Response, a training package created by the Ethanol Emergency Response Coalition (EERC) that has been distributed throughout the United States and to several countries worldwide. While primarily targeting first responders, hazmat teams, safety managers, and local emergency planning committees, it is also open to the general public.

"Ohio is one of the top ten ethanol producing states in the U.S.," said Julie Rittenhouse, Public Safety Coordinator and EMA Director for the Defiance County Public Safety Services. "Production, transportation and use of this fuel will continue to grow in the coming years. This Ethanol Safety Seminar program provides valuable information that will help our area's emergency responders to be prepared in the case of an ethanol related incident, should one occur."

“Ethanol accounts for 10% of our nations fuel supply, blended into 97% of gasoline across the county,” said Kristy Moore, Renewable Fuels Association VP of Technical Services. “With this high volume of blended fuel traveling through communities, it is essential that those first on the scene are as fully prepared as possible to act immediately in the unfortunate event of an ethanol emergency. Safety will always be a priority in the ethanol industry and we are thrilled to be able to offer this type of training.”

Attendees will receive in-depth information on proper training techniques that first responders and hazmat personnel need to effectively respond to an ethanol-related emergency. The Ethanol Safety Seminar focuses on numerous important areas of ethanol safety including an introduction to ethanol and ethanol blended fuels, chemical and physical characteristics of ethanol and hydrocarbon fuels, transportation of ethanol blended fuels, storage and dispensing locations, firefighting foam principles and ethanol, ethanol blended fuel emergencies, and incidents at tank farm and bulk storage locations. Certificates of Attendance from the Ohio Fire Academy will be available through the Academy following the completion of the safety seminar.

The RFA will be co-hosting Ethanol Safety Seminars throughout 2012 with Norfolk Southern, CN Railway, and Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway (BNSF). Scheduled Ethanol Safety Seminar locations include: Willmar, MN on September 9th; Pittsburgh, PA on September 13th; Elgin, IL on October 2nd; Bessemer, AL on October 29th; and Fort Worth, TX on November 29th.

To register for this seminar, go to www.rfa.traincaster.com.

For more information on ethanol emergency response, visit the EERC website at www.EthanolResponse.com.