ASPECT Program History
EPA’s Airborne Spectral Photometric Environmental Collection Technology (ASPECT)
Previous Deployments
- Summer 2025: Smitty Facility Fire (Hamond, LA)
- Summer 2024: Erie and Niagara Counties Radiological Assessment (Niagara, NY)
- Winter 2023: East Palestine, OH Train Derailment (East Palestine, OH)
- Spring 2022: Cobalt Magnet Radiological Exercise (Austin, TX)
- Spring 2022: Journey to Justice (Gulf Coast, LA/TX)
- Summer 2022: Hurricane Ida (Gulf Coast, LA)
- Winter 2022: Department of Energy Nuclear Incident Response Teams (NIRT) Radiological Calibration (Grand Junction, CO)
- Winter 2021: Winter Storm Uri (Houston, TX)
- Summer 2020: Hurricane Laura (Beaumont, TX)
- Summer 2020: Bio-Lab Fire (Westlake, LA)
- Summer 2020: Poly America Fire (Grand Prairie, TX)
- Spring 2019: KMCO TEG Release (Crosby, TX)
- Winter 2019: ITC Fire (Deer Park, TX)
- Summer 2018: Valley Feed Fire (Winnsboro, TX)
- Summer 2018: National Governors Association Conference (Santa Fe, NM)
- Spring 2018: Navajo Radiological Survey (Arizona)
- Spring 2018: Clean Solvents (Mansfield, TX)
- Winter 2018: Tri-chem (Cresson, TX)
- Summer 2017: Hurricane Harvey (Houston, TX)
- Summer 2017: Ammonia Release (Plano, TX)
- Winter 2016: Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game Pre-Deployment (Pasadena, CA)
- Fall 2016: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque, NM)
- Fall 2016: Jackpile Mine Radiological Site Survey (Laguna, NM)
- Summer 2016: Convert Refinery Fire (Convert, LA)
- Summer 2016: Bloomfield Oil Fire (Nageezi, NM)
- Summer 2016: EPA Region 2 Radiological Surveys (Niagara, NY)
- Summer 2016: FEMA WINGS Radiological Exercise (New, Jersey)
- Summer 2016: Cascadia Rising Field Exercise (Seattle/Spokane, WA)
- Fall 2015: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque, NM)
- Fall 2015: UCI Bike Race (Richmond, VA)
- Fall 2015: Gold King Mine (Silverton, CO)
- Summer 2015: FEMA WINGS Radiological Exercise
- Summer 2015: Tronox Radiological Assessment (Cove, AZ)
- Spring 2015: Tournament of Roses Parade and Rose Bowl Game Pre-Deployment (Pasadena, CA)
- Winter 2014: Tronox Radiological Assessment (Cove, AZ)
- Fall 2014: National Guard Field Exercise (Spokane, WA)
- Fall 2014: Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta (Albuquerque, NM)
- Fall 2014: Hoxie Train Derailment (Hoxie, AR)
- Summer 2014: 64th CST WMD Exercise (Santa Fe, NM)
- Spring 2014: Grand Canyon Radiological Survey (Arizona)
- Spring 2014: Boston Marathon Pre-Deployment (Boston, MA)
- Spring 2014: Tournament of Roses Parade, Rose Bowl, and BCS National Championship Game (Pasadena, CA)
- Summer 2013: 64th CST CBRN Field Exercise (Santa Fe, NM)
- Summer 2013: 2013 Boy Scouts of America Jamboree (West Virginia)
- Spring 2013: West Fertilizer Explosion (West, TX)
- Spring 2013: Westlake Landfill and Coldwater Creek Radiological Survey (Westlake, LA)
- Spring 2013: 2013 NFL Super Bowl (New Orleans, LA)
- Winter 2013: 2013 Inauguration Pre-Deployment (Washington, D.C.)
- Winter 2013: 2013 Chemical Background Survey of the National Capitol Region (DC, VA, MD)
Program History
During the 1994 Terra Industries accident, 5,000,000 pounds of anhydrous ammonia were released, resulting in a 50-mile-long plume. The only systems capable of assessing the plume included Draeger tubes, ionization potential handheld detectors, and organic vapor analyzers, none of which were capable of assessing the scale of the response. As a result, the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) requested EPA assistance along with the SAFEGUARD program. Prior to this incident, DoD’s SAFEGUARD program had developed an airborne chemical sensor for a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) response. EPA Region 7 saw the benefit of an airborne chemical sensor, so in 1999, EPA Region 7 and ERDC agreed on a joint technology venture. After September 11, 2001, the US Army transferred all systems to EPA.