Vermillion County seeks enhanced shelters in case of VX incident

By Patricia L. Pastore/Tribune-Star/Newport

February 21, 2004

Four months before the Army's target date to neutralize VX stored at the Newport Chemical Depot, the Vermillion County Board of Commissioners and the Emergency Management director are trying to get more safety measures in place.

If a project for enhanced shelters is approved and funded, it will make two specific sites near the depot more secure in the event of a VX accident, said Ramon Colombo, director of Vermillion County Emergency Management Operations.

"This isn't the first time we've looked at better protective measures for the school and the courthouse," he said. "The Federal Emergency Management Agency thought it was not cost-effective on the first go around. I've tried for the past several years to get the people in the courthouse and the kids at school better protected. Now they are taking a second look at it."

The courthouse, a former bomb shelter, is in the immediate response zone should such an accident occur. Ernie Pyle Elementary school is on the border line, according to Emergency Operations Center maps.

The decision was made Feb. 10 to explore an enhanced sheltering project when officials visited both sites. The visitors included Colombo; Richard Card, director of operations for the State Emergency Management Agency; school officials from South Vermillion School; and representatives from the Army Corps of Engineers and Federal Emergency Management Agency Area 5, Colombo said. He said the school has 282 students and the courthouse has a staff of more than 40 people with an average visitor count of 50.

A major factor in enhanced sheltering is shutting off the air current into the buildings and securing them so no one can enter or exit until an "all clear" is sounded or a safe evacuation can be done.

Card said staying in the shelter for more than two to four hours is not an option since it is believed VX might permeate both buildings through small flaws in the construction.

"The main plan is to shut down the heating and cooling system, make sure the windows seal properly and to close and seal doorways," said Card. "Two to four hours after the incident, a decontamination unit would clear the area as best they can and an Army response team and hazmat people could get the detainees on buses for transportation to a safer place."

Army engineers are looking at identifying a safe room that could be completely sealed off from the outside world.

The library in the school and the third-floor courtroom in the courthouse are under consideration by the Army engineers, Colombo said.

"There is one thing some people aren't going to like," he said. "Parents can't pick up their kids at the school. The kids have to stay at school until they are transported by bus to St. Mary-of-the-Woods college, which is a designated evacuation area."

Until the Army engineers file a report, no one knows the estimated cost of the projects or how soon work might get under way, Card said. He said the additional safety measure can be in place before nerve agent VX neutralization startup, scheduled by June.

"It could be done in a matter of a few days," Card said. "They'd have to install a switch to kill the heat and air handling system and do a few other things."

In the worst possible scenario, an airplane crash or explosion of some type would cause VX inside the carbon steel containers to burn, causing an airborne plume of the lethal nerve agent, Colombo said.

"We were told once the plume passes over, we need to get the people out of those buildings," Colombo said. "We are told it would be safe to bring people out after a two- to four-hour period."

The Army, in conjunction with the state and county officials, will make the determination about moving the school students and moving the people sheltered inside the courthouse, said Dennis Lindsey, Army spokesman.

"Once that plume moves past the place, it is better to move the folks out and get them out of the small amount of VX they might be exposed to than have them inside" for possible further exposure, Lindsay said Friday.

He said the enhanced shelters are good for all types of hazards, including chemical spills from tanker trucks.

South Vermillion School Superintendent Steven Miller could not be reached Friday for comment.

Patricia Pastore can be reached at (812) 231-4271 or pat.pastore@tribstar.com