Anniston Star
August 7, 2002

Governor supports Calhoun County's demands on school preparedness for chemical emergencies

By Matthew Creamer
Star Staff Writer

Gov. Don Siegelman expressed support for the Calhoun County government Tuesday, on the eve of a federal decision on its demands for the protection of schools from a chemical weapons accident.

Federal Emergency Management Agency officials are expected to reveal today which schools and other county facilities will receive equipment that will make them airtight during a nerve or blister agent leak.

For at least a month, the agency has been considering a plan county officials suspect won't match demands that now include schools out to 12 miles from the Anniston Army Depot.

"We don't know what the plan will be," Siegelman told The Anniston Star in an interview. "We do expect the federal government to live up to its commitment to providing maximum protection to the schoolchildren of Calhoun County."

The interview followed a telephone conference with a group of local schools officials who have been awaiting a decision on the matter for several months. Last month, after the Siegelman administration scaled back a lawsuit against the chemical weapons incinerator, Siegelman wrote several of the officials reminding them of his continuing interest on this issue.

Siegelman said that if FEMA's plan disappoints it won't necessarily mean a return to the
courtroom.

"Hopefully, it won't come to that," he said.

Calhoun County has demanded that 37 schools, a hospital, jails and other buildings be supplied with equipment that would pump clean air into the sealed areas during an accident. In past meetings, FEMA, acting on recommendations from the Army Corps of Engineers, said that not all of the buildings need the requested level of protection.

"I haven't seen FEMA's latest rendition, but it doesn't matter," said Jacky Sparks, Calhoun
County Schools Superintendent. "We are going to seek the overpressurization of schools within a 12-mile radius of the storage area."

Today's long-awaited meeting will assemble county school and emergency management officials, the heads of local private schools, and representatives from the governor's office as well as from FEMA's offices in both Atlanta and Washington, D.C.

The schools issue could be the final high-profile dispute in the contentious creation of an
emergency preparedness plan for Calhoun County. Last month, FEMA sent $7 million to
Calhoun County for protective respiratory hoods and suits for emergency responders.

Whatever the agency's recommendation, the Army will have to come up with the funds to foot what could be a expensive bill. The rumored price tag on the plan FEMA is considering is $45 million.