As professional engineers, our first and foremost responsibility in responding to an emergency is protecting life safety. That is often easier said than done, however, when you throw politics, breaking news, active and unstable landslides and people’s homes into the mix. From managing communications, knowing when to declare a state of emergency, shutting down roads, and yellow- and red-tagging houses, there’s a lot both engineers and public works officials need to consider when it comes to emergency response. This presentation by GeoEngineers Principal Geotechnical Engineer J. Gordon, PE, explores these different considerations and what you might want to think about ahead of time when it comes to emergency response services. Presented for the American Public Works Association’s (APWA) Emerging Professionals Committee of the Washington State Chapter on June 26, 2013 in Seattle, WA.

1. J. Gordon
June 26, 2013 | Seattle
Landslides & Emergency
Response Procedures

2. Landslide Presentation Outline
• Whidbey Island slide – saving the best for last!
• Roles and responsibilities
• Emergency response considerations
• Emergency Powers/Authority
• Communications
• Road landslides
• Construction/rock slides
• Impacted residences
• Ledgewood slide

3. Roles and Responsibilities
• Who is responsible for life safety?
• PE must/will be
• Public Works
• Emergency responders/declarations
• Have an Emergency Action Plan (EAP)?
• Closing roads, restricting access to private properties
• Coordination with other departments (e.g., building officials for Yellow/Red
tagging of homes)
• Consultants
• Safety, response and repair
• Elected officials
• Communications
• Funding

4. Emergency Response Considerations
• Is life safety a concern?
• On, above, or below the road?
• Access for residents/ emergency vehicles?
• How/who controls site and “affected area”?
• E.g, full/partial road closure?
• Is a “band aid”/quick fix possible?
• Availability, risk to/training of Public Works operations crews?
• Is a geotechnical/other consultant available and/or necessary?
• Communication (internal, external, community outreach)?
• Is emergency declaration appropriate?

5. Emergency Powers/Authority
• Formal declaration of civil emergency grants emergency powers
• Jurisdiction should consider magnitude of event, life safety risk and
other factors
• Has advantages
• Also carries penalties
• By RCW 43.06.220 for the WA State Governor
• By local ordinances
• Mayor, Commissioner, Public Works Director
• Provides access to public and private properties
• Allows certain actions without permits (usually still required after the fact)
• Suspends typical jurisdictional contract procedures for consultants and contractors

6. Communications
• Who is taking the lead?
• Typically Public Works because of change in status
• Consider how to communicate with and “control”:
• Elected officials
• Consultants
• Affected party(s) and neighborhood
• Local and other “Experts”
• Press

7. Haussler Road – City of
Kelso, January 2006

8. Allen Street – City of
Kelso, December 2009

9. Burcham Street – City of
Kelso, January 2009

10. Drayton Harbor Road –
Whatcom County, January
2005

11. Marshall Hill Road –
Whatcom County, April 2005

12. Susana Drive – Whidbey
Island, March 2011
Never to be again

13. Upper Woodland Beach –
Camano Island, 4 slides &
repairs

14. Upper Woodland Beach –
during repairs (temporary
“band-aid” and final)

15. Baker River Road, Town
of Concrete, 2009

16. Baker River Road Repair, 2010

17. Roadway Repair Considerations
• What are time constraints?
• Does a Commissioner live on the road?
• Level of analysis to determine root cause/repair
• Temporary and permanent road closures
• How much support does agency need?
• Engineering: geotechnical, civil, structural
• Permitting, cultural resource
• Cost of repair and source of funds?
• Local funding
• Interlocal agreement (WSDOT, County)
• FEMA

18. Construction Sites &
Rock Slopes

19. Forest Service Road
Failure Above

20. Life Safety?

21. PSE Power Plant – Exit Strategy Below Massive Slide

22. In the news…

23. Impacted Residences
• Is life safety a concern?
• Who is responsible for the call?
• Pressures on public officials and consultants
• Yellow Tag
• Conditions on tag
• Change in status over time
• How/who removes?
• Red Tag
• Enforcement?
• Communication considerations

24. Town of Concrete
January 16, 2009

25. Town of Concrete – January 16, 2009

26. Wild Rose Lane – Camano
Island, January 2012

27. Burcham Street

28. Yellow and Red Tagging

29. Ledgewood Slide History
• Historical aerial photographs show slides in 1950s
• Ecology Coastal Zone Atlas shows 1 mile long “old” slide
• Housing started in the 1970s
• Two reports done for SFR lots in 1970s/early 1980s – “buildable with
drainage and seawalls”
• Beach uplift reported in 1989, upland slides started in 1990
• Evaluated by many consultants over the years
• At least three separate slide areas
• IC managed/prevented development based on (a) septic drainfield
design ordinance and (b) then CAO
• Only one house destroyed, no lives lost or injured

30. Ledgewood – the Big One

31. Critical Areas Ordinances
• Prior to CAOs, jurisdictions used what they could to restrict land use
in areas of life safety concern
• IC – used septic design ordinance
• Growth Management Act identified critical areas
• Each jurisdiction then created their own CAO
• Local CAO ordinances for landslides/steep slopes
• Some jurisdictions had input from consultants
• Prescriptive setbacks – study not required?
• CAO has conditions and requirements for site specific evaluation
• Peer review
• Title encumbrance, release of liability for local jurisdiction

32. Ledgewood – Initial response

33. Ledgewood – Yellow tag to red

34. Dealing with Reporters/Being in the news

35. Ledgewood – Red Tag?

36. Anybody missing a dislocated frog?

37. Proper Postings / Precautions / Requirements?

38. Monitoring – Reference lines and observations

39. Ledgewood – LiDAR two days after slide

40. Ledgewood – LiDAR showing movement

41. Ledgewood – LiDAR contours pre-slide

42. Ledgewood – LiDAR contours post-slide

43. Ledgewood – LiDAR contours pre and post-slide

44. Ledgewood – Exploration Program

45. Ledgewood Drilling

46. Ledgewood – Cross Section

47. Ledgewood