Anniston Star
June 20, 2003

Protection stops at the Calhoun County line

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
06-20-2003

The Combs family lives just a couple of miles from the Anniston Army Depot, where tons of aging chemical weapons are stored and soon will be incinerated.

Their neighborhood is in the Immediate Response Zone, which means their lives could depend on government-purchased plastic sheeting, duct tape and air filters in the unlikely event that any of the deadly chemicals ever escape.

But recently, James Combs, 60, discovered that an invisible line separates his family from the protective equipment being given out in Calhoun County.

The family lives in Talladega County, just a hair over the county line.

Under the federal Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), each county is responsible for its own protective equipment program, officials said.

That means that although thousands of shelter-in-place kits containing plastic and scissors still await pickup by Calhoun County residents, people who live just across the county line can't have the extras.

"Each county is responsible for its own program," said David Ford, spokesman for the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency. "Our commissioners and Senator Shelby fought for our program. Talladega's commissioners have fought for theirs."

Combs and many other Talladega County residents say they resent being left out. And now that the incinerator may be weeks away from being lit, their nerves are tightening even more.

"I thought all the citizens that was in the IRZ would be taken care of," Combs said Thursday. "I didn't know it would be down county lines. I'm just a citizen out there that's caught up in this thing."

Nelson Bates, director of the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency, said Talladega County residents should start getting their equipment this summer. But the contract for giving it out has not been awarded yet

"All of our citizens that live in the same type zone will receive the same equipment as Calhoun County," Bates said.

The only difference is that no Talladega County residents will receive the protective masks that have been given to some people in Calhoun County. This is simply because the most critical zone around the depot, the pink zone, does not extend into Talladega County.

In March, Talladega County received $1.3 million, which will buy equipment for the 7,600 people who live in the county's IRZ.

The contract should be awarded Tuesday, Bates said. After that, people should begin receiving equipment within about 30 days, he said.

However, the funding has not yet come through to equip residents of more distant areas in the county, who are less at risk but still authorized for gear, Bates said.

The money for the equipment comes from the Army and is disbursed through the Federal Emergency Management Agency to the state EMA, then to the counties and their contractors.

Calhoun County got an earlier start than Talladega County because the former director of the Calhoun County EMA requested certain kinds of funds that the former Talladega County director did not, Bates said.

Eventually, the Combs family may, after all, receive some of the equipment that is warehoused in Calhoun County.

The Calhoun County EMA has agreed to let Talladega borrow some of the gear and then replace it, saving shipping time, Bates said.

"They're going to let us do an equipment swap so we can get it out to our citizens quicker," he said.