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LEPC to review all off-site facility plans annually; Walmart distribution may add hydrogen forklifts
Summary
Dunn County Emergency Management said the LEPC will move to annual reviews for all 23 off‑site facilities, noted widespread contact changes, and flagged that Walmart distribution plans to introduce hydrogen‑powered forklifts which could trigger a reportable substances review and a full plan rewrite.
Kristen Bunch, program assistant and LEPC secretary with Dunn County Emergency Management, told members the committee will shift from reviewing off‑site facility plans every two years to reviewing all 23 off‑sites annually to meet EPRA grant requirements and to keep contact and response information current.
“We are going to review our offsites every year,” Bunch said, noting that many facilities have changed personnel and contact information and that the most significant change since the last review has been updates to contact details rather than additions of new Extremely Hazardous Substances (EHS).
Bunch warned that new facility staff sometimes are unfamiliar with WOPRS/WAPRS reporting systems and said the office has provided guidance to off‑site contacts on how to use those systems. She said that when new substances are introduced the facility must report the information into WOPRS and that WOPRS will indicate whether the substance meets EHS thresholds.
Members discussed Walmart distribution center plans to automate more processes and to convert forklifts to hydrogen power. Kristensen and others said that if hydrogen is introduced at reportable quantities, the facility would be required to submit the change and could need a full plan rewrite; Bunch said she expects more specific details and possibly a follow‑up visit in January to document the system for a revised plan.
The committee voted to accept the presented off-site plan updates.
What’s next: staff will follow up with facilities that have contact changes; if Walmart or others introduce hydrogen or other new reportable substances, staff expect to perform site visits and produce any required full-plan updates.
