East Oregonian
March 26, 2002

CSEPP plans to renew advertising campaign

By HEIDI SODERSTROM
of the East Oregonian

HERMISTON--The 2002 budget for the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program will allow a suspended advertising campaign to start up again.

The television, radio and newspaper media blitz will resume in April, Umatilla County CSEPP Public Information Officer Cheryl Humphrey announced.

CSEPP is responsible for preparing citizens nearest the Umatilla Chemical Depot in case of a disaster involving the chemical weapons stored there.

Program officials have to prove to that state that they area is ready to respond to a disaster before the Army can start destroying the more than 220,500 chemical munitions and containers of nerve and mustard agents being stored at the depot.

Incineration is slated to begin February 2003, and the process would last through December 2008.

A telephone survey will kick off the advertising campaign.

"We've had a gap, since funding ran out in November, so we want to start with a baseline survey and reset the baseline to see where the public is at," Humphrey said.

She said an independent survey firm out of Portland has been hired to conduct the survey of 800 Eastern Oregon residents who could be effected by an accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

More telephone surveys, every 90 days, will follow. She said the calls will be random and to different people for each survey.

She said the calls will reach a little more than 10 percent of the population in four months.
"That should give us a pretty clear picture of where the public stands in understanding the program," she said.

As for the advertising about the CSEPP program itself, "We'll coordinate the print, radio and TV so it runs heavy two weeks per month," Humphrey said. "In April, May and June will be the print and TV ads. The radio goes all year around, especially since it's a summer-time medium."

Reporter Heidi Soderstrom can be reached at 1-800-522-0255 (ext. 1-303 after hours) or e-mail hsoderstrom@eastoregonian.com.