VOORHEESVILLE — One of the 24 Emergency Response Trailers deployed by state agencies to clean up spills across the state’s crude-oil transportation corridor will be stationed tomorrow at the Albany County Department of Public Works garage in Voorheesville, according to Lee Bormann, Unit Commander of the Albany County Sheriff’s Office Critical Incident and Emergency Management Division.

According to Bormann, the garage was chosen because it is centrally located in the county, and so the sheriff’s office may bring it to accidents throughout the area. The sheriff’s office is responsible for delivering and taking care of the trailer, but Bormann emphasized that any area emergency responders would be able to use it in the case of an accident or chemical spill.

Although Governor Andrew Cuomo’s office emphasized the trailers’ ability to respond to spills from derailed oil trains in a recent press release, Bormann said the trailers can be used for a variety of chemical spills, such as automobile accidents or gas leaks. The equipment provided will also be able to prevent spills from contaminating a water source, said Bormann.

Such equipment will include a boom, to reach across a waterway, and chemicals that will absorb spills.

“Any kind of spill response, to have that local, is just a necessity and wonderful,” said Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department Chief Bill Reddy.

Tankers transporting crude oil run through the center of the village on the way to the Port of Albany.

Voorheesville’s fire department had met with the county to prepare for situations like an oil train derailment before, but Reddy emphasized the use of the trailer for other types of chemical spills.

Representatives from the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, which coordinated the deployment with the New York State Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Services Office of Emergency Management, confirmed that the trailer will be stationed in Voorheesville. Albany County will also have a trailer stationed in the city of Albany.

Two other trailers will be sent to Buffalo and Rochester, the governor’s office said. There will also will a trailer dispatched in each of the 21 counties through which crude oil is transported by rail.

In the past few years, concerns over trains carrying crude oil through the Capital Region have been raised with news of train derailments in other areas and a lack of regulation on train safety.

Conor Bambrick, Air and Energy Director for the watchdog group Environmental Advocates of New York, said any cleanup system is welcome in the case of a spill, but the severity and size of an accident could determine how useful something like the Emergency Response Trailer could be in a situation.

According to Bambrick, a heavy crude such as tar sands could sink to the bottom of a waterway and be incredibly difficult to remove, while a light crude like Bakken crude is very volatile and can cause explosions.

“The only thing that’s going to keep our communities safe is getting these trains off our rail lines,” he concluded.

“It will be helpful,” said Voorheesville Volunteer Fire Department President and Deputy Mayor Richard Berger. “But if we have a true derailment, we’ll need additional resources, for sure.”

Bormann said in the case of a larger spill or accident, the trailer could be put to use until the DEC arrived with more cleanup equipment.

“We could get there first and get the bandage on it,” he said.