Carbon County has a new primary hazmat response team/clean-up contractor.

On Thursday, the commissioners voted to designate Rapid Response Inc. of Northampton as the primary responder in hazardous materials emergencies in the county. Before the new designation, Carbon had contracted with Environmental Products and Services Inc. of Vermont.Commissioners' Chairman Wayne Nothstein, who has supported Rapid Response Inc. becoming the primary response team for the last four years, introduced Bill Michalik, general manager of Rapid Response, and Scott Soden, response manager.The pair thanked the commissioners for working with them as they went through the state certification process over the last four years."It's going to be a win-win situation for both of us," Michalik said.Rapid Response Inc., an affiliate of Environmental Waste Minimization Inc., has just completed a four-year certification process through the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, including going through numerous site inspections of its facilities, background checks of the approximately 85 employees, completing a massive response mock drill and other requirements.Nothstein said that what is a benefit for both parties is three of the five owners are from Carbon County and at least a dozen of the employees live in Carbon."Being local will certainly help with our response time," he said."It also helps give us insight on what the needs are here and what's going on," Soden said, adding that Rapid Response representatives already attend the county Local Emergency Planning Committee meetings so first responders already know who the company is and Rapid Response understands Carbon's needs.The agreement between the two entities comes at no cost to the county.The designation is effective immediately.