Construction continues at new hazmat training center for first responders at Camp Ripley

There are train tanker cars, train tracks and a semi fuel tanker truck set up on a plot of land behind the granite gates at Camp Ripley, along with construction equipment building a new training center.

The Minnesota Legislature in 2017 included $3.5 million in the bonding bill for a Joint Emergency Response Training Center (JERTC) at the state’s Camp Ripley.

Trainers plan to simulate responses to rail car leaks, pipeline incidents, tanker truck crashes and other hazmat transportation scenarios for local emergency crews when the center opens.

“This is a unique facility and a unique opportunity,” said Major Adam Stock, Camp Ripley’s operations officer. “It gives the first responders in the state of Minnesota the ability to train and react to those possibly explosive events.”

Construction began in the summer and could be complete by the spring at the complex in central Minnesota.

“The uniqueness is that can now bring that here to Minnesota– there are other facilities though out the nation that provide but here we can bring it home,” said John Kreuser, Minnesota State Fire Marshal’s Office.

Twenty different railroads currently utilize Minnesota’s 4,400 miles of rail routes and more than 1 trillion tons of freight is moving through the state on an annual basis, according to the State Fire Marshal’s Office.

The first few minutes when first responders arrive at a hazmat situation are critical for how to handle the response.

“We want to make sure we are prepared as the communities are counting on us as first responders,” Kreuser said.

The training will be geared to local first responders who will go through various drills to practice what critical information to provide to the state’s response teams, how far to establish safety zones around the accident, and what types of materials to use on various hazmat situations.

“It’s important for preparing them hopefully for that bad day that never happens,” Kreuser said.

Camp Ripley, located in Morrison County, provides training for the Minnesota National Guard, other military units and first responders including the Minnesota State Patrol.