Original firm to make counties' tone-alert radios

This story was published Thu, Feb 18, 1999

By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Keeping up on the status of the special tone-alert radios is getting to be like watching a pingpong match.

Initially, Umatilla and Morrow counties agreed to handle the bidding process and award the contract for the special tone alert radios - the first line of defense in case of a lethal nerve agent leak at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

But TFT Inc. of Santa Clara, Calif., sued when it didn't get the lucrative $3.1 million contract.

Then, two weeks ago, Federal Emergency Management Agency officials decided to take the tone-alert contract out of the hands of the counties, fearing the lawsuit would drag on too long.

On Wednesday, county officials announced they were taking the tone alert contract back when the lawsuit was settled out of court. The conditions of that settlement were not disclosed.

County officials then agreed to go with the company they originally selected, Federal Signal Corp., to produce the 17,000 radios needed by Umatilla and Morrow county residents who live closest to the depot.

By allowing Federal Signal to produce the radios, county officials believe they can get the radios out to the public quicker. Federal Signal has promised it can have the first batch of 100 radios ready in 30 days, said Meg Capps, spokeswoman for Umatilla County Emergency Management.

Those radios must be tested before they can be distributed to the public. FEMA still has agreed to handle the distribution and maintenance of the radios, but Capps couldn't say how soon residents would have the radios in their hands.

"We felt taking the contract back was a win-win for everybody," Capps said.

FEMA allocated the $3 million to Umatilla and Morrow counties to be disbursed through the state's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program to buy the tone-alert radios.

These special devices sound an alarm to tell people indoors that a nerve gas leak has occurred at the depot, where 3,717 tons of aging lethal chemical agent is stored eight miles west of Hermiston.

The radios are a critical component of CSEPP's early-warning system and designed to complement CSEPP's suite of highway reader boards and outdoor emergency sirens, which alert residents to a disaster.

 

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