Emergency Action Procedures for Public Safety Officials.

If you are a public safety official, you know to take whatever steps you deem necessary to safeguard the public in the event of a pipeline emergency. The following suggestions are offered as a guide:

• Secure the area around the leak to a safe distance. This could include the evacuation of people from homes, businesses, schools, and other locations; the erection of barricades to control access to the emergency site; and similar precautions.



• If the pipeline leak is not burning, take steps to prevent ignition. This could include prohibiting smoking, rerouting traffic, and shutting off the electricity and gas supply.



• If the pipeline leak is burning, try to prevent the spread of the fire, but do not attempt to extinguish it. Burning products will not explode. If the fire is extinguished, gas or vapor will collect and could explode when re-ignited by secondary fires.



• Contact the pipeline company as quickly as possible. Pipeline marker signs show the pipeline company's name, emergency telephone number, and pipeline contents.

Air Products' Actions During an Emergency

We will immediately dispatch personnel to the site to help handle the emergency and provide information to public safety officials to aid in the emergency response. We will also take the necessary operating actions—starting and stopping pumps, closing and opening valves, and similar steps—to minimize the impact of the leak. BUT PLEASE: Public safety personnel and others unfamiliar with the pipeline involved in the emergency should not attempt to operate any of the valves on the pipeline. Improper operation of the pipeline valves could make the situation worse and cause other accidents to happen.

If You Live or Work Near a Pipeline . . .

If You or Your Company Does Excavation Work . . .

If You Are a Public Safety Official . . .