Anniston Star
July 5, 2003

Businesses on their own when it comes to planning for depot emergency

By Sara Clemence
Star Staff Writer
07-05-2003

Coy Callender's 16-mile drive to work takes him from Jacksonville to Anniston.

From yellow to orange.

From safe to vulnerable, he says.

It puts him within a few miles of the Anniston Army Depot, where tons of aging chemical weapons are stored and, the Army hopes, will soon be incinerated.

People who live in that area, colored orange on emergency planning maps, are entitled to federally funded gear - air filters, duct tape and plastic - that is supposed to protect them should an accident ever cause nerve agent to escape and blow beyond depot boundaries.

But Callender, general sales manager at Anniston Lincoln Mercury Dodge, said he was stunned to learn that he gets nothing, because the building where he spends his days is a car dealership and not a house.

"I spend more time here - and so do most of the other employees - than I actually do at home," Callender said.

Millions of dollars have been spent on protective equipment for residents. Stores, restaurants, movie theaters, banks, and other businesses are on their own.

"There is absolutely no provision for businesses," Callender said. "You have to make up your own."

When it comes to chemical weapons, all the Calhoun County Emergency Management Agency can provide is a packet of information.

"Businesses are responsible for developing their own emergency plans," said EMA spokesman David Ford. The document can serve as a template for that plan, he said. "That would be what we could provide to them."

Hundreds of companies could be affected by the exclusion.

Neither the Calhoun County Chamber of Commerce nor the county EMA knows how many businesses are close to the depot. But the Chamber of Commerce has a membership of about 1,200 companies, said the president, Sherri Sumners.

Talladega County, which is not providing equipment to businesses, has about 90 in the areas closest to the depot, said Deborah Gaither, spokeswoman for the Talladega County EMA.

County officials said businesses are not included in chemical emergency planning because of limited funds.

The response plan is "not perfect," said County Commissioner Robert Downing, in a recent interview. "I'm not sure if it could ever be perfect."

"I'm not worried"

Some business people say they don't care about being excluded, and aren't making any emergency plans.

"My wife and I, neither one has gone to get our equipment," said Jon Coulson, co-owner of Shooter's Headquarters, a gun shop on Alabama Highway 202. "I'm not worried about it."

Coulson, who was in the military more than 20 years, said the stockpile of nerve and blister agent needs to be destroyed as quickly as possible. But even the leaks that have occurred for decades have not harmed the public, he said.

Others, like Callender, feel they are unfairly being put at risk.

Callender said he considered buying the same protective hoods that are being given to some residents.

At $170, they are prohibitively expensive, he said. To outfit 20 employees would cost about $3,500.

There hasn't been a big demand for the masks at Alabama Safety Products, which stocks the equipment, said owner Tracy Rouse

"A lot of the people we sell other safety equipment to are employers in the pink zone," nearest the depot Rouse said. But so far, she has sold about a half-dozen hoods - technically called "SCape" hoods.

One company is considering purchasing more than 50 of the hoods, but the price seems to have deterred many customers, Rouse said.

"Some people think we're making a killing, but we're just selling them at the price they tell us to," she said. On the manufacturer's Web site (www.ilcDover.com), they retail for $239.

In a chemical emergency, residents might be told to stay in rooms sealed with plastic and duct tape and cleaned by portable filters. But at Callender's dealership, that is a difficult task.

"We've got a large problem as to where we're going to put 20 employees," Callender said. "I can't even get a price on an air filter."

Other employees at the dealership are planning to flee in their cars, he said.

"I think it'll be panic and chaos," he said.

Formulating Plans

Some businesses, as small as the local First Educator's Credit Union branch and as large as Honda, have come up with their own solutions.

"We're in a six-story building here," said Jim Robbins, president and chief executive officer of SouthTrust Market Bank in Anniston.

Robbins has been told that chemical agent vapors likely would settle low to the ground, he said. So the bank's plan, still in the works, probably will involve locking the building, turning off the ventilation system, and gathering workers on the top floor.

"We'll probably get some duct tape and plastic for a shelter-in-place kit," he said.

The plan is more for employee peace-of-mind than anything else, he said.

"I'd be very surprised if they had any problem" at the depot, he said.

Emergency planning is a highly individual process, said Dr. Bob Baker of the Weapons of Mass Destruction Preparation and Response Institute in Jacksonville.

"There is no solution to any one business that anyone can apply across the board," said the consultant, a retired Army colonel with experience in counter-terrorism.

But, he said, "if you can plan for tornadoes, the after-effects of hurricanes, and do it in detail, you can also plan for weapons of mass destruction."

Plans for any kind of emergency should take into account several factors, including the number of employees and the type of structure the company is in.

"Is the facility the safest place to be?" Baker said. Large steel warehouses aren't safe during tornadoes or hurricanes, he said.

Employers need to consider whether it is smart to put all their workers in one place. They need to think about disabled staffers, and figure out how to account for everyone.

"One of the worst things you can have is have the fire department show up and ask if anyone is still in the building," he said.

He said it is a good idea to contact the local EMA and have the agency review the plans. And, it is very important to put the plan into practice quarterly.

"Not only do you have to make people aware of it, you have to exercise your plan, so you know what the flaws are," he said. "If you don't have a recurring training-exercise plan, it's not going to work."