East Oregonian
May 14, 2002

CSEPP readiness decision to be made

By HEIDI SODERSTROM
of the East Oregonian

HERMISTON--A decision on whether the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program is ready to protect the community in case of a large-scale disaster in the region was expected to be made this afternoon by the CSEPP Governing Board.

Chairman Dennis Doherty said the board recessed its monthly meeting Monday evening until 12:45 this afternoon at the Hermiston National Guard Armory.

"I expect the decision will be yes, we do have the off-post emergency response readiness" needed to protect the community, Doherty said. He said he's been instructed to draft a letter to the Governor's Executive Review Panel on the matter.

That letter was to be handed to the Review Panel at 1 this afternoon.

The 20-member panel was scheduled to review results of the annual emergency response exercise held May 7 and hear public comments before evaluating the status of community emergency readiness in the event of an accident involving chemical warfare agents stored at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The panel will then deliberate and vote on whether to recommend to the governor that he notify the Department of Environmental Quality that CSEPP has achieved an adequate level of readiness to protect the general population.

Meg Capps, Umatilla County CSEPP program manager, agreed with Doherty about the likelihood of a positive recommendation to the ERP from the CSEPP Governing Board.

"We're very proud of the accomplishments we've made," Capps said. "We realize there is still a lot of work to be done ... But we've come a long way and we'll continue to get better."

Also at Monday's CSEPP Governing Board meeting, Doherty said two representatives from the Army assured all concerned that an apparent rift between the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Army concerning emergency preparedness programs across the country will not affect Oregon.

"They gave verbal assurance that the Oregon CSEPP successes have been duly noted by the Army and their support we feel we need to go forward is sure to be there," Doherty said.

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