LOCAL
Wednesday, June 02, 2004
Doherty defends
air filter decision
By TERI MEEUWSEN
of the East Oregonian
tmeeuwsen@eastoregonian.com
UMATILLA — Members of
the Umatilla City Council told Umatilla County Commissioner Dennis Doherty
that they want to see as many measures as possible taken to keep residents
safe during a chemical accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Doherty told the council Tuesday night that the commissioners decided
two weeks ago not to spend at least $500,000 to distribute recirculating
air filters in 1,420 buildings through the Hermiston Fire and Umatilla Rural
Fire districts. Those districts include the areas in Umatilla County which
could be affected the quickest by a chemical release at the depot.
Instead, the board sent the discussion back to the Citizens Advisory
Commission and governing board for more justification on spending the money.
The air filters are conventional home carbon filters and cost $300
apiece.
Residents in Irrigon already have the air filters in their homes
as part of a pilot project approved by Morrow County Emergency Management.
But Umatilla County commissioners aren’t convinced the air filters,
which could make residents somewhat safer during a chemical accident, offer
enough value to justify the expense.
According to staff reports, there is a 1 in 270,000 chance of a chemical
impact on the city of Umatilla from a Depot accident.
With the addition of the air filters, that risk would decrease to
a 1 in 290,000 chance, Doherty said, because the filters would allow about
30 additional minutes of shelter-in-place time for residents.
Those figures compare to a 1 in 250,000 chance of being hit by an
airplane, or a 1 in 910,000 chance of being struck by lighting, he added.
“A lot of money gets spent at making people safe and feel safe,”
Doherty said. “This is just one case that got the commissioners on the line.”
Council member Rick Funderburk said it’s important to do everything
possible to keep residents safe and feeling safe.
“We need to have any bit of protection we can get, even at a half
a million dollars,” he said.
Doherty agreed it’s important to keep as many people happy as possible.
“But at what cost?” he asked.
The filters, which could have been used every day, proved to be the
most effective at removing chemical agent simulates in tests by the U.S.
Army. The filters include an exterior carbon fabric and two filters. The
filters would also be distributed with an additional carbon filter for use
in case of an accident, which would provide additional filtration.
The initial distribution would have begun in October.
Funding for the air filters would come from the Chemical Stockpile
Emergency Preparedness Program.