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Emergency Response Officer
Annual Salary Range
$55,000 – $60,000
The Ministry of Environment employs a number of Emergency Response Officers throughout the province. Emergency Response Officers protect the environment and the public by managing hazardous material spill responses, hazardous toxic wastes and industrial/ municipal discharges. They administer and enforce the Environmental Management Act and a number of supporting regulations. This rewarding job requires you to mitigate the damage of hazardous material when released into the environment.
As an Emergency Response Officer, ideally you should have either a degree or diploma in Environmental Protection or a related science, including Chemistry, Biology, Earth Sciences, and a few years of related experience. Due to the nature of this job you must also possess the Hazardous Materials Technician certification. It is important that you are able to assess highly variable situations and perform under pressure. A strong mechanical ability is required for operating the specialized hazardous materials control and monitoring equipment.
From Our Staff...
Chris Raymond, Toxic Management/Emergency Response Officer
As a response officer for the Ministry of Environment I am called upon to evaluate information from or at spill incidents. In some cases it involves notification and monitoring the spiller's clean up actions; in others it can involve taking over the entire response.
I enjoy a number of different aspects of my job:
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Everyday incidents can vary from spilled diesel, coal, or hydrochloric acid, to hundreds of litres of dairy products.
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I have the opportunity to work with many different provincial government personnel; conservation officers, park rangers, impact biologists, environmental protection officers etc.
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I also have the opportunity to work with many different agencies such as other provincial agencies, federal agencies, regional districts, municipal governments, fire departments and response contractors to name a few.
Mike Drumm, Toxic Management/Emergency Response Officer
As an Environment Emergency Response Officer, I am entrusted to use my professional judgement and education to safeguard the health of responders, the public and environment during a spill incident. When we receive a call, we must be prepared to quickly evaluate the situation
Mike Drumm, Auditing a spill exercise at a methanol plant in Kitimat, B.C.
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and decide what actions must be taken by the Province to bring the situation under control. Response duties can include monitoring the situation, considering investigation and enforcement actions, participating in field operations alongside local responders or even managing the response organization. I deal with a variety of critical spill incidents including those originating from derailments, highway accidents, illegal dumping, meth labs, derailments, process failures and marine incidents. At times, we are also called upon by other agencies to assist in other types of incidents, including fire and floods.
In addition, I engage regularly with various local, provincial, national and even international stakeholders in various joint emergency contingency planning initiatives, such as evaluating and developing response plans, participating in exercises and evaluating the latest in response technologies. The enormous responsibilities the position demands provides an excellent means in developing one's own communication, problem solving and leadership quantities to their utmost potential.
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