A community’s ability to achieve recovery outcomes in the aftermath of a chemical incident rests on several important considerations. People, businesses, property, and the environment may all have been harmed by the incident. The operation of critical infrastructure may be disrupted or otherwise limited due to the injury of personnel, lack of resources, physical damage, and/or contamination of impacted facilities. Medical care for the injured, health surveillance for those exposed, and housing options for those displaced by the incident may be needed for the long term. The whole community, including local businesses, may be suffering economically. Cleanup activities (site remediation) may generate large quantities of contaminated waste that require long-term disposal. Costs to achieve recovery outcomes may be substantial. Plans made and actions taken early during the response can help mitigate these and other long-term consequences, including potentially reducing the time to and cost of achieving recovery outcomes following a chemical incident.
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