P.E.I.'s Hazardous Materials Response Team has been disbanded

The Hazardous Materials Response Team on P.E.I. has been disbanded. The P.E.I. Firefighters Association made the decision a month ago to dissolve the volunteer unit that was made up of firefighters from across the province.

'We just weren't getting people coming out anymore. It's a lot of hours'

Natalia Goodwin · CBC News · Posted: May 31, 2019 6:00 PM EDT | Last Updated: May 31, 2019

The P.E.I. hazardous materials team has been disbanded. (CBC)

The Hazardous Materials Response Team on P.E.I. has been disbanded. A month ago, the P.E.I. Firefighters Association made the decision to dissolve the volunteer unit made up of firefighters from across the province.

The group needs nine members to respond to a call but the unit only had a total of 15 members.

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"We couldn't get enough members to come for training to reach the level of required training needed.... We just weren't getting people coming out anymore. It's a lot of hours," said Gerard McMahon, president of the association.

"It's hard to get people now to come out and volunteer for some stuff. People got busy lives now with their everyday stuff."

To be certified as a hazmat technician, firefighters have to undergo 300 hours of training and re-certify every year, which usually takes about half that time.

The team was formed in 2004 and responded to any event involving chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive materials. Over the years, it had responded to about one call every 15 months.

"They were getting less and less. All that practice and never got to use it," he said.

Service now provided by New Brunswick

For now, the province said it is covered in case of an emergency with a new agreement with New Brunswick to provide the service.

"In the event of a hazmat response we would call their team in," said Todd Dupuis, executive director for the Department of Environment, Water and Climate Change.

The province has a deal to call New Brunswick's team if needed, until a more permanent solution is found. (Brian Higgins/CBC)

"It's not like nothing would happen. We're still trained to go and cordon off the area and keep people safe and make a decision whether the hazmat team needs to be pulled in or not."

The New Brunswick team is based in Fredericton, about 340 kilometres away, but Dupuis said he's not concerned about the distance.

"It wouldn't be uncommon in New Brunswick being as big as it was, if there was an event up in the Acadian Peninsula it would be that long to get there anyway. So we're not that worried about the response time."

Possibility of another P.E.I. team

McMahon agreed, as it would take up to three hours for the P.E.I. team to come from all parts of the Island and be ready to go out.

A committee has formed to try and figure out a long-term solution. McMahon said there are many options being considered, including trying to have the service return to P.E.I.

"There's private companies that do this. There's government agencies. We're just looking at the best way," he said.