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-2- At 3 : 40 p.m. a call was placed to the National Response Center , (800) 424-8802 . The call and all report information was taken by Lt. Gass. He said that he , in turn, would report the spill to EPA Region #9 . He advised that I call Chemtrack, (800) 424-9300 , for information on how to deal with attempts to buffer the caustic. Also, at 3 : 40 p.m. test results of all water's surrounding the plant indicated a ph of 7 . At 3 : 55 p.m. a call was placed to Chemtrack and was taken by Mr. Gene Wilson , who in turn referred me to Mr . Morris Runsberg of Dow Chemical , (517) 636-4400 . At 4 : 00 p.m. , Mr . John King of EPA, Region #9 called requesting information concerning the incident. He had been called by the National Response Center . Shortly after 4 : 00 p.m. , we attempted to get information regarding the outfall of a standpipe located in the irrigation pond. At 4 : 05 p.m. Mr . Mohinder Sandhu of the State Health Department called to advise that we should buffer the caustic by the use of sulfuric acid. At 4 : 16 p.m. the standpipe plug was inserted as a precaution to • contain liquids accumulating in the pond. At 4 : 45 p.m. additional testing of waters surrounding the plant showed no trace of the caustic. At 5 : 05 p.m. Mr. Jack Delconte of the Central Valley Water Quality Control Board called. He was briefed as to the status of the spill. At 5: 05 p.m. confirmation of the fact that Chemical Waste Management, Inc. was enroute was obtained with anticipated arrival at 8 : 00 p.m. At 6 : 00 p.m. information regarding the outfall of water from the standpipe was obtained. It was found that due to a less than perfect fit on the standpipe plug, a trickle of water was being discharged into the Westside Canal . A ph test of this outfall had a ph of 11 , but water in the canal at a radius of 2 feet from point of entry had La ph of 7 . Additional calls were received from Mr . Ron Baldwin of the County L Office of Emergency Services offering assistance and from Mr . Mervin Hel of the Department of Fish and Game . At 7: 20 p.m. , representatives of the EPA, Region #9 arrived at the Lplant to monitor and assist the clean-up effort . At about 9 : 00 p.m. , Chemical Waste Management arrived at the plant. The clean-up effort proceeded in three directions; removal of caustics ` in liquid state , neutralization of effected areas , and removal of contaminated solids .