LOCAL
Sunday, June 27, 2004
Preparedness of
local emergency teams are state example
By AMYJO BROWN
of the East Oregonian
HERMISTON — Oregon’s new
director of its Office of Homeland Security will be in town next week, participating
in several of the last community meetings scheduled before incineration begins
at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.
Beverlee Venell was recently appointed by the governor to lead the
new agency, which will coordinate all state government agencies responsible
for preventing, planning for or responding to disasters and acts of terrorism.
Venell has many ties to the area, including being a member of the
CSEPP Governing Board and the Executive Review Panel, a group that meets
about once a year.
The new office will have no impact on the start up decision, Venell
said, or on any security measures after it begins burning.
“It’s a federal facility so security lies with the Army,” she said.
“The state has no jurisdiction.”
But, the office will employ the expertise of the area’s CSEPP program
and its first responders — Umatilla and Morrow County have already accomplished
locally what the office hopes to accomplish state-wide, a cooperative relationship
among fire, police and emergency response personnel and agencies.
“They are very, very well-prepared,” she said of CSEPP’s members.
“Their knowledge transcends just an event at the depot. What they have in
place would work for any disaster. They will be looked at as subject matter
experts as we move toward integrating state agencies.”
Craig Campbell, senior policy analyst, said, too, that the depot’s
security is a federal matter, but he said the state will consider it an area
of concern for possible state-wide disasters or terrorism targets.
“And we always take into account that CSEPP is there,” he said.
Campbell, too, will be at the meetings next week.
Lance Englet, deputy director of the military branch of Oregon’s
Office of Homeland Security, said the depot will definitely be on the state’s
radar.
“We’ll be prepared to provide support in the event of an emergency,”
he said.
He said every community in Oregon is at a different stage of preparation
for handling large-scale emergencies, and placed Umatilla and Morrow counties
at the top of the list in preparation because they’ve had plenty of time to
become so.
“Umatilla and the surrounding areas are very well-prepared and practiced,”
he said. “The potential for disaster is in their backyard and prior to September
11, CSEPP was already happening.”
Security at the depot is at a higher level than before the events
of Sept. 11, 2001, said Mary Binder, spokesperson for the Army at the depot.
More barriers at entrances and fewer tours of the facility are just a few
of the measures taken. Most importantly, national guard soldiers are now
stationed on site to provide protection and will continue to be there throughout
incineration of the depot’s stockpile of chemical weapons.
“We expect to remain at that heightened level of security,” Binder
said.
Public meetings
•CSEPP Governing Board Meeting is from 3-5 p.m. Wednesday at Stokes
Landing in Irrigon.
•Executive Review Panel Meeting is from 1-4 p.m. Thursday at 78760
Westland Road, Hermiston.
•Both meetings are open to the public.