The Commission for Environmental Cooperation release Taking Stock Online -
Pangaea Information Technologies, Ltd. has been supporting the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC) for the past three years in developing the North American Pollutant Release and Transfer Registers (NAPRTRs) data search and mapping tool which is a critical system for the Taking Stock program. We at Pangaea are extremely proud of the work that we have done as well as the overall effort from CEC. Here is the official press release from CEC:
On behalf of the Commission for Environmental Cooperation (CEC), we are pleased to inform you of the official release of the Taking Stock Online (www.cec.org/takingstock), as of today, July 13th, 2010.
Taking Stock Online, published today, presents the latest integrated data set (2006 data) from North America’s pollutant release and transfer registers (PRTRs) and features an integrated, multi-year database covering over 500 toxic substances and almost 100 major industrial sectors reporting to the PRTRs of Canada, Mexico and the United States. The site also features new tools to assist in data analysis, including a tool to explore data on pollutants transferred across national borders.
The CEC’s Taking Stock Online site is updated annually and allows users to:
Today’s release of online PRTR data and analytical tools will be complemented with further analyses and information in the CEC’s Taking Stock report to be released later this year. It will feature a special analysis of North American industrial pollutant releases to water, with a more detailed look at the sources and amounts as well as their potential impacts on the environment.
Thank you for your continued interest in the North American PRTR project.
Multiple areas of Chicago will be used for a five-day training exercise, some road closures
SPRINGFIELD- More than 50 local, state, federal and private agencies will take part in a major week-long domestic emergency response exercise testing their ability to respond to multiple disasters in the Chicago area.
Illinois Prairie North 2010, which is a part of the Vigilant Guard series, will run from Sunday, June 13, to Thursday, June 17. This joint training exercise is designed to test civilian and military responses and coordination should multiple incidents occur throughout Illinois. It is a full-scale exercise, so residents can expect to see emergency responders looking and acting as if this was a real homeland security/domestic response mission.
This realistic training exercise is necessary to ensure that Illinois is prepared to protect the public from, and mitigate the consequences of, an act of terrorism or other major disaster. All the different agencies are expected to learn valuable lessons on how to best work together if or when a real disaster should befall the area.
“This is what we call ‘training as we fight,’” said Maj. Gen. William L. Enyart, the Adjutant General of the Illinois National Guard. “In a real disaster, all of these agencies would play an important role. We owe it to the people of Illinois to learn to work together to respond in the most effective and efficient way possible.”
Illinois National Guard members from throughout the state helped plan the exercise along with their domestic emergency response partners. Three “table-top” exercises were conducted prior to the full-scale exercise.
On Sunday, June 13, the exercise will begin with a simulated commercial airplane crash on its way to Midway Airport. The simulated plane crash will occur in the downtown area of Oak Lawn. There will be multiple local agencies responding to the simulated crash, with debris and mass casualties scattered throughout the area.
Toyota Park in Bridgeview will be the staging area for the Illinois Army and Air National Guard, where they will have their accommodations and park their vehicles starting Monday, June 14. The Salvation Army in Elk Grove Village will be the area command center for the exercise. The area command is where all command-related activities will occur. The Office of Emergency Management of Chicago (OEMC) will be practicing setting up a remote command center at Soldier Field to manage the resources needed to respond to the large-scale event within the Chicago area.
On Tuesday, June 15, there will be a simulated meth lab takedown on Green and York Streets in Bensenville. The Illinois National Guard’s Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear, High-Yield Explosives (CBRNE) Enhanced Response Force Package (CERFP) and the 5th Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Team (CST) will be responding to the call along with multiple local agencies. There will be a suspected dispersion device with traces to a meth lab in the area.
Wednesday, June 16, will involve multiple locations. The Bensenville area will be restricted to only those with approved credentials. Within the area, there will be numerous simulated terrorist attacks to include tactical takedowns of suspected terrorists by the Illinois’ Tactical Response Team, simulated building collapses with trapped victims, high angle and structural collapse rescue, mass decontamination and medical care by the Illinois National Guard CERFP and 5th CST. Another location will be at Rush University Medical Center. Rush medical staff and the Illinois National Guard Soldiers and Airmen will receive suspected biological agent patients to decontaminate and medically evaluate.
There will also be a press conference at Rush University Medical Center regarding Homeland Security response at 1 p.m., June 16.
On Wednesday evening the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) will have a rail car evacuation swat incident on 15th and Clark Streets in Chicago. Multiple local agencies will be involved in this scenario. Chicago Police Department will be on heightened security as a K-9 unit detects simulated explosives manufactured by a terrorist group on a CTA train. A simulated explosion will cause possible contamination requiring police, search and rescue teams, hazardous materials teams and fire response. This is expected to happen from 10 p.m. Wednesday to 4 a.m. Thursday. There will be some road closing during this timeframe.
On Thursday, June 17, there are two situations planned. There will be another takedown situation in the Bensenville area and also a simulated chemical explosion at Nalco in Chicago. Multiple local agencies will be responding to the Bensenville area and the Illinois National Guard’s CERFP and 5th CST will be responding to the Nalco explosion.
Be aware of road closures and detours during these exercise events.
Local, state, federal, private and international agencies involved in the exercise include:
Illinois National Guard
U.S Department of Homeland Security
Federal Emergency Management Agency, Region V Federal Bureau of Investigation National Guard Bureau
Joint Interagency Training and Education Center
Illinois Emergency Management Agency
Illinois State Police
Illinois Environmental Protection Agency Bio Watch Jurisdictional Coordinator - Chicago
Statewide Terrorism & Intelligence Center
State Weapons of Mass Destruction Team
State of Illinois Terrorism Taskforce (ITTF)
Michigan National Guard Civil Support Team
Illinois Emergency Services Management Association Illinois Emergency Medical Response Teams
Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System (ILEAS)
Mutual Aid Box Aid System (MABAS)
State of Illinois Incident Management Teams Illinois Fire Services Institute MCHC/Illinois HELPS
American Red Cross
Salvation Army
City of Chicago:
Office of Emergency Management and Communication
Chicago Department of Aviation
Chicago Police Department
Chicago Bomb and Arson Investigation Unit
Chicago Fire Department / Hazmat
Chicago Transit Authority
Cook County Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management Cook County Medical Examiner
Du Page County Emergency Management
City of Oak Lawn:
Oak Lawn Emergency Management Agency
Oak Lawn Police Department
Oak Lawn Dispatch Center
Oak Lawn Fire
Oak Lawn Public Works
Evergreen Park Fire Department
North Palos Fire Department
Chicago Ridge Fire Department
Hometown Fire Department
Bridgeview Fire Department
Burbank Fire Department
Park Fire Department
Bedford Park Fire Department
Region VII, Regional Health Care Coordination Center, Advocate Christ
Christ Advocate Medical Center
Rush University Medical Center
Advocate South Suburban Hospital
Ingalls, Silver Cross
Morris Hospital - St James
Palos Community Hospital
Provena St. Joes
Advocate Christ
Provena St. Mary’s
Advocate South Suburban
Metro South, Morris
For questions regarding Operation Guard North, please contact the Public Affairs Office at ngilstaffpao@ng.army.mil or 217-761-3569. If after hours, please contact the Illinois National Guard Joint Operations Center at 217-761-3941.
MEDIA ADVISORY
DEPARTMENT OF MILITARY AFFAIRS
ILLINOIS ARMY AND AIR NATIONAL GUARD
1301 North MacArthur Boulevard
Springfield, Illinois 62702-2399
NEWS RELEASE # 060810-109
TEL: (217) 761-3569
DATE: June 8, 2010
FAX: (217) 761-3527
CONTACT: Public Affairs Office
Email:ngilstaffpao@ng.army.mil
The medical community embraces open source tools for emergency response in Haiti -
Relief organizations have turned to open source and free web based tools for mapping and providing locational awareness to support the relief effort in Haiti. Pangaea has been advocating for this approach for several years and is pleased to see open source solutions embraced by governmental and NGO’s alike.
Ms. Khapatko recently joined Pangaea as an application developer and QA engineer. Ms. Khapatko has 3 years of experience in the developing and testing of complex software applications using web 2.0 technologies. Prior to joining Pangaea, Ms. Khapatko worked a QA engineer for a business intelligence firm where she developed and deployed test strategies, test plans, test designs, test cases and test reports, developed a UI testing framework and automated functional/regression testing methods for front end, web services and database components as well as bug tracking, fixing and testing. Prior to that engagement, Ms. Khapatko worked as an application developer for a software development firm where she developed and tested web based solutions for content management based applications. Ms Khapatko holds a B.S. in Computer Science from European University, Lviv, Ukraine and an M.S. in Computer Science from Maharishi University of Management, Fairfield, IA.
Pangaea is pleased to announce that we are moving our offices to the second floor of the building effective March 12 2010. The move provides us with over 30% more space which will allow us to accommodate our projected growth over the next 5 years. Our new address will be:
Pangaea Information Technologies, Ltd
219 W. Chicago Ave
2nd Floor
Chicago, IL 60654
Our telephone and fax numbers will remain the same.
MAJ Troy Scott, a True American Hero -
Pangaea is honored to have had the opportunity to work with MAJ Troy Scott. It is a true honor and pleasure to provide support to people of MAJ Scott’s character and integrity. We at Pangaea feel fortunate to be able to work along side of our men and women in uniform.
Obama to announce plan to respond to bioterrorism -
This announcement is further proof that we need to leverage and integrate existing and planned applications and decision support tools to provide early detection and management of incidents involving biological and chemical threat agents. Pangaea has existing systems (GUARDIAN and JICS) that address these needs and could serve as integral surveillance and management tools to ensure that we are able to quickly detect potential incidents and support intelligent management decisions which will help to minimize the impact and more importantly, save lives.
Pangaea would like to thank and congratulate two of our own for their dedicated service. Chris Kowal has just completed his 12th year at Pangaea (and is hitting the ground running for year 13), and this week marks the 10th anniversary of Shon Doseck joining the Pangaea team. Thanks to Chris and Shon for all of their hard work over the years and I look forward to new milestones in the future.
We at Pangaea would like to wish everyone a joyous, healthy and prosperous New Year. We are thankful to all of our clients and business partners for making 2009 a successful year despite the trying economic conditions. As we enter 2010 we are fortunate to be in a position to enjoy continued growth. We constantly hear politicians on both sides of the aisle discuss how small business is the backbone of this country and the key to full economic recovery in spite of the fact that none of them ever do anything to promote small business. This country is beholden to multi-national, bottom line driven corporations and powerful special interest groups. In spite of this, small business continues to thrive and succeed, battling government red tape and large corporate entities whose rigid, out-dated management techniques are designed to prevent the innovation and agility required to navigate in these difficult and changing times.
The annual Pangaea Holiday Dinner wiil be held Friday December 18 at Trattoria Trullo in Lincoln Square. We look forward to seeing everyone and celebrating another successful year.