Anniston Star
February 12, 2003

Getting ready

By Jason Landers
Star Staff Writer
02-12-2003

Wellborn Elementary Principal Nancy Grogan calls for a drill Tuesday at the school. Photo: Stephen Gross/The Anniston Star

The Calhoun County school system conducted its first system-wide chemical protection plan drill Tuesday.

Following their teachers' instructions, students filed into hallways at all 19 schools and made their way to designated safe rooms.

Superintendent Jacky Sparks said the system's 9,500 students and 1,300 faculty successfully completed Tuesday's drill in the allotted time. Fewer than five minutes passed from the beginning of the exercise to the time participants at each school reached their assigned sheltering areas and were accounted for, he said.

Sparks said school officials also are educating parents about the emergency plans through letters and presentations at PTA meetings.

Officials anticipate that future chemical protection plan exercises will become as routine here as fire and tornado drills.
Doug O'Dell, Wellborn Elementary vice principal, locks a pressurization door.
The drills are necessary because of the more than 2,200 tons of chemical weapons the government stores at the nearby Anniston Army Depot. The Army has plans to burn the aging Cold War relics in a billion-dollar incineration facility, but a startup date for that operation has not been set.

Emergency plans at the schools vary based on a school's proximity to the depot. Those closest to the depot are equipped with massive over-pressurization units that filter chemical agent from contaminated outside air and pump clean air into a sheltering area (typically a gym or cafeteria). Those farther away use duct tape and plastic to prevent outside air from entering an interior room.

Wellborn Elementary School is one of five schools in the county equipped with the costly over-pressurization system. Six other county schools will receive the technology later this year.

The youngest students at Wellborn view the exercises in much the same way as a fire or tornado drill, explained elementary principal Nancy Grogan. "They just follow their teachers' instructions."

Older students "want to know more about the incinerator," Grogan said, adding that the incineration facility is a frequent topic in Science Club meetings at the school.

At Wellborn, the cafeteria and the third- and fourth-grade hall are over-pressurized.

Before the safety technology is activated, a team of school employees walk the empty halls to make sure no one is left behind. Teachers raise their hand as a way of giving notice that all the students in their classes are present.

Just over four minutes into the drill, Grogan got word that all of the students and faculty were safely in the sheltering area. With the push of a red button, she switched on the over-pressurization system.

In the event of a chemical weapons incident, school system administrators and emergency management officials can communicate with each school using digital 800mhz radios.

Sparks anticipates the school system initially will drill every three weeks. He said drills will be less frequent once students are familiar with the exercises.

About Jason Landers
Jason Landers covers chemical weapons and writes investigative reports for The Anniston Star.

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