Richmond Register
July 14, 2003

CSEPP executive director helps protect county during neutralization

By Jodi Whitaker

In his role as executive director of Madison County's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program, Steve Popyach said he has one mission - to protect Madison County.

"That's going to be CSEPP's primary mission," Popyach said.
Popyach, a former consultant for several companies including IBM, was named CSEPP's executive director in June. He said he feels his experiences in consulting, managing of chemical production and information technology directing will help him with his new duties in the county.

"I've always been interested in how we would deal with the various chemical agents stored in Madison County," Popyach said. "When it became obvious we were going to have to deal with not only storage of these agents but the demilitarization of them as well, that became very interesting to me."

When he heard the former CSEPP director was leaving for another job, Popyach immediately said he was interested.

"I felt that I was in a position in my life where I wanted to give something back to my community," Popyach said. "One of the ways to give something back is to do good for the general population."

In his previous roles, Popyach said he has facilitated a number of different groups coming together for a common interest, which is exactly what he will do in his CSEPP role.

"I've facilitated a lot of different kinds of people coming together to solve problems," Popyach said. "This is not new to me."

The coming together of several groups is one of the main keys to keeping the county safe, Popyach said.

"There can be no us and them attitude," he said. "There is and must be a total commitment by both CSEPP and the depot to protect Madison County during the time that chemical agents are stored and destroyed. Everyone, including the county judge, magistrates and the state understands the importance of what we are doing."

Since he began his new job, Popyach said everyone he has worked with has been open and willing to help.

Popyach wrote a critique of an accident simulation that he participated in, and said he received very good feedback from that document.

"I wrote a critique of their process, and instead of becoming defensive, they accepted my report," Popyach said. "They sent it up the chain of command, and now, we are going to
run tests more frequently until we become perfect.

"I don't think I could ask for any more," Popyach said.

His main role in making Madison County safe, as Popyach sees it, is facilitating the key players in the process.

"I'm here to facilitate that type of discussion and problem solving," he said. "It will take coordinated efforts to make Madison County safe, because there are so many different players in this game."

When Bechtel Parsons Blue Grass begins their process of neutralizing the chemical weapons stored at the Blue Grass Army Depot, Popyach said he feels confident that the process will be successful.

Popyach said he thinks the incineration process, a demilitarization used at some chemical weapons sites which groups have fought to do away with, is a safe process as well.

"I think both incineration and chemical neutralization are safe processes," Popyach said.

"What's important to understand is incineration is a rapid chemical process. Unfortunately, when people were told about incineration, they pictured a big furnace with a chimney on top."

Popyach, who is married to local author Barbara Popyach, said he plans to do everything he can to make sure the process in Richmond doesn't wind up being stalled like what's happening currently in Anniston, Ala.

"Our discussion is always how smoothly the entire project is going to run," Popyach said.

"The real fear is that is something goes wrong, the people injured will be at the depot and not out in the community. We need to know how we can best help these people."

As far as the community is concerned, Popyach feels like everyone will be safe.

"I see very little chance of something coming out in the community," Popyach said. "But we do need to be prepared for that little chance."

CSEPP's biggest challenge, Popyach said, will be educating the community.

"Our biggest challenge is not our relationship with the depot, but our major task is to educate the public and have them act quickly in the event of a problem," Popyach said.

Jodi Whitaker can be reached at jwhitaker@richmondregister.com. Story created Monday, July 14, 2003.