Editorial: Tracking hazardous materials

Tuesday, Oct. 16, 2001 | 8:47 a.m.

An audit released last week by the Legislature's staff has found that the state fire marshal's office is clueless as to which Nevada businesses are storing hazardous materials. The division estimates that as many 20,000 businesses should hold a hazardous materials permit, but fewer than 4,600 of them have the needed license. The Legislature's audit also revealed that many companies use hazardous materials for years before getting the necessary permit for them from the state fire marshal's office. These findings are bad enough, but what makes it even more difficult to accept is that a legislative audit from seven years ago showed that the same problem existed then.

Information required by the permit is vital for emergency workers who must fight fires or corral spills involving hazardous materials. A firefighter's life can be placed in greater jeopardy than it already is if he also doesn't know that the business contains hazardous materials.

State Fire Marshal Byron Slobe, who retired last week, said that the agency doesn't have enough staff to oversee all the businesses that might have such materials. Just 12 deputies track the 20,000 businesses, and this is in addition to their other responsibilities, which include training and fire investigation. A dozen employees do seem to be too few.

Both the governor's office and the Legislature need to take a long, hard look at where the state stands when it comes to the regulation of these hazardous materials. State officials should make it clear that they take enforcement of this matter seriously -- and that means providing enough manpower for the fire marshal's office and going after those companies that thumb their nose at the hazardous materials program.