December 24, 2003
Umatilla Chemical Depot has new evacuation plan
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The Army depot stores about 12 percent of the national arsenal of obsolete chemical weapons. They are scheduled to be destroyed after tests are completed for the incinerator that will be used to destroy the stockpile.
The previous accident plan called for taking steps to protect homes and buildings and avoid evacuation if a chemical accident were to occur - a plan emergency officials call "sheltering in place."
The Hermiston City Council signed an agreement on Monday with the Oregon Department of Transportation and Morrow County to implement the first phase of the evacuation plan.
The $1.5 million project will help create a wireless broadband system that would allow Hermiston police to control traffic lights during an evacuation. That would improve traffic flow and allow the maximum number of vehicles to move out of town as fast as possible.
Police Chief Dan Coulombe stressed that the police department only has the authority to control traffic lights at heavy traffic areas during an emergency evacuation.
City Manager Ed Brookshier said control of traffic equipment from the emergency operation center within the Bob Shannon Safety Center will speed any evacuation.
"It's like a hose," Coulombe said. "You can turn it any way it needs to flow."
The wireless broadband system also would allow Hermiston emergency personnel to control mounted cameras at nine busy intersections in town.
Emergency preparedness projects for the Umatilla Chemical Depot received an additional $4.1 million in federal funding last week.
