DELAWARE — When most people hear the term “hazardous materials incident,” they might picture large-scale disasters like train derailments or chemical explosions.
But in Delaware County, most hazmat calls are far less dramatic — and far more common.
About two to three times a month, local emergency crews respond to crashes involving semi trucks or vehicles that spill fuel onto roads, into ditches or near waterways, according to Delaware County’s Homeland Security and Emergency Management director Alex McCarthy.
Over the course of 2025, those incidents added up to roughly 20 hazardous materials responses across the county, according to the most recent annual report.
“Most of them are very small scale,” McCarthy said. “Most of them are going to be those truck wrecks or car wrecks along an interstate that spill gasoline into a nearby ditch or creek.”
How Delaware County plans for hazmat incidents
Hazardous materials planning is a major part of the county’s emergency management work.
Under both federal and state law, every county in Ohio is required to operate a Local Emergency Planning Committee, or LEPC, focused specifically on hazardous materials preparedness and response.
In Delaware County, that includes:
- Maintaining a county hazardous materials response plan
- Conducting annual exercises and training
- Tracking facilities that store certain chemicals
- Coordinating with first responders and the Ohio EPA during incidents
The county also received $13,224 in Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness grant funding last year to help support training exercises and planning efforts.
One of those exercises simulated a train derailment in Orange Township and other transportation-related incidents, particularly relevant in the years following the 2023 East Palestine disaster in eastern Ohio.
“What happened in East Palestine was a whole different scale,” McCarthy said. “It gets people thinking about that as a potential hazard.”
More than 100 facilities in Delaware report storing chemicals
Delaware County’s mix of highways, rail lines and growing industrial and agricultural areas means hazardous materials are moving through the community every day, according to the EMA’s annual report.
According to McCarthy, 108 facilities across Delaware County report storing chemicals on site. Of those, 56 report chemicals that could pose a hazard if released and are required to maintain contingency plans.
Not every chemical stored in the county poses a serious public threat, McCarthy said, and many would not be expected to leave the property if released.
Still, the reporting requirements help emergency responders understand what materials are present before an incident happens.
The county also handles “right-to-know” requests connected to hazardous materials records, often from developers researching properties during planning and construction projects.
“More often than not, it’s, ‘No, we don’t have any records of chemicals being stored there or chemical incidents there,’” McCarthy said.
What happens when a spill occurs
When a hazardous materials incident is reported, local fire departments usually take command of the response, according to McCarthy.
Crews work to identify the substance involved, contain the spill and secure the surrounding area. Depending on the situation, roads may be closed or traffic redirected.
From there, Delaware County EMA often helps coordinate outside agencies and resources.
“Our first role is going to be to coordinate with Ohio EPA and make sure that all the local and state entities are talking and we’re all on the same page,” McCarthy said.
If a situation were to escalate and threaten nearby homes or businesses, the county also has the ability to:
- Send emergency alerts
- Recommend evacuations or shelter-in-place orders
- Open emergency shelters with partners like the American Red Cross
Growth increases traffic — but not necessarily major incidents
As Delaware County continues to grow, it’s reasonable to expect more traffic and more transportation activity.
That can increase the likelihood of crashes and fuel spills.
But McCarthy said the county has not seen many large-scale hazardous materials events, even amidst its rapid development.
“We haven’t — knock on wood — had a lot of hazmat,” he said. “We’ve worried more about some of the weather-related stuff.”
Instead, he said, most responses remain manageable and relatively routine for local crews.
What residents should know
McCarthy said one of the biggest misconceptions about hazardous materials incidents is that every spill is catastrophic.
In reality, most are contained quickly and handled through coordination between fire departments, law enforcement, emergency management and environmental agencies.
Still, emergency officials encourage residents to have a family emergency plan in place for any type of disaster — including situations that may require evacuation or sheltering in place.
“We always recommend folks have that family plan for a disaster,” McCarthy said.
