On May 12, 2008 a magnitude 8.0 earthquake struck Sichuan Province in China.  At the epicenter, landslides buried villages and roadways, bridges and dams cracked, and buildings crumbled. An estimated 80,000 people died, many of them school children, not counting an unknowable number of unregistered Chinese citizens.  The world responded with cash and supplies.  The people of Oregon donated cash generously through several local and international non-profit organizations.  The Oregon Fujian Sister State Association (OFSSA), because of its unique relationship with Fujian Province, resolved to do more - to donate emergency response tools that would leverage Sichuan Province’s capacity to respond.  We chose a portable Gas Chromatograph, a common technology configured particularly for testing drinking water in disaster areas.

     OFSSA purchased an SRI Model 8610C Gas Chromatograph (GC) with Photo-Ionizing Detector (PID) and Flame-Ionizing Detector (FID).  The GC column and detecters are optimized for detection and quantification of the most common organic contaminants, including a wide range of spilled fuels, solvents, manufacturing chemicals, and biological threats.  Thomas Benke, an environmental consultant with international emergency response experience, carried the GC/PID+FID to Chengdu, the capitol of Sichuan Province and only 100 km from the earthquake epicenter.  On September 18, 2008, the device was donated to the Sichuan Institute for Environmental Sciences, a division of the Sichuan Environmental Protection Bureau.  Jenny Brown (a native of Sichuan Province) worked with Thomas to introduce the device to Institute chemists.  Institute and Fujian EPB leadership expressed their appreciation of the donation stating the following particularly: (1) the device is portable, making it a welcome addition to a new mobile response laboratory recently acquired by the Province; (2) the device included a PID, of which the Institute previously had none; (3) the Portland Water Bureau had sent with the device standard solutions of two compounds useful for identification of decomposing bodies in drinking water reservoirs (“putrescine” and “cadaverine”); and (4) the device came with a promise of continued support by the manufacturer SRI, by the Portland Water Bureau, and by ECO International LLC founder Thomas Benke.

     In Fuzhou, capitol of Fujian Province, provincial leadership praised OFSSA for its contributions.  The PRC assigned to each China province after the earthquake a county or city within Sichuan Province in which emergency relief must be provided.  OFSSA’s contribution of the GC, and sending of its delegation, reflected well upon Fujian Province.  The OFSSA delegation did go to the area assigned to Fujian Province,  the City of Pengzhou and surrounding areas, and met with local officials there. The delegation has returned to Portland with a greater understanding of the continuing needs of the stricken population.