HAE

The role of the Health Department’s Emergency Responders is to determine whether an incident presents a serious threat to public health and/or the environment and, if so, to ensure that mitigation and remediation are conducted in accordance with state and local public health laws and regulations.   If the incident is deemed a serious threat, LCDHE will serve as the lead agency for ensuring compliance with applicable state and local public health laws and regulations.  

Petroleum or Chemical Spills:

Contact the Health Department if:

  • Spill exceeds 5 gallons or has impacted, or has the potential to impact, state waters;
  • Spill is impacting air quality;
  • Spill is impacting human health;
  • Release of an unknown chemical or compound has occurred;
  • Assistance is needed for clean-up recommendations, disposal recommendations, or health effect considerations;
  • If unsure about the level of response needed.

Examples of other emergency events that may require LCDHE response:

  • Suspected disease outbreaks;
  • Fires, sewage backups, flooding in food handling establishments or warehouses;
  • Evacuation of an institution (hospital, child care center, school, senior living, etc.)
  • Natural disasters;
  • Terrorist events;
  • Significant animal die-offs;
  • Sanitary sewer overflows;
  • Drug labs;
  • Zoonotic (animal and insect-borne disease) events;
  • Transportation accidents involving food commodities;
  • Actual or potential releases of airborne hazardous materials.

On-Call Response

If you have questions about the Emergency Preparedness program, please contact 970-498-6775.
If you have an after hours public health emergency, please call the sheriff's non-emergency line and ask to have the Health Department paged - 970-416-1985.