Depot kits readied for Morrow residents

This story was published Sun, Feb 21, 1999

By the Herald Oregon bureau

IRRIGON - Morrow County residents closest to the Umatilla Chemical Depot can expect next week to begin receiving special kits designed to protect them during a lethal nerve agent leak from the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

The 1,200 sealed kits should arrive by mail.

The kits contain heavy plastic sheeting, scissors, rope type putty, duct tape and a towel. The idea is to use the materials to seal off a room in a house by covering doors, windows and vents so that no air can get inside during a chemical accident at the depot.

These so-called shelter-in-place kits should be kept in the designated "safe" room and used only in an emergency.

In a separate mailing, Morrow County residents also will receive a videotape and brochure that explains the sheltering process. Also, electrical outlet protectors will be provided.

"Only those living within the immediate response zone and within five miles of the depot will receive a shelter kit," said Dan Knoll, public information officer for Morrow County Emergency Management. "The items in the kit are inexpensive. For those citizens that will not receive a kit, we encourage them to gather the items now to put into their own shelter kit."

Safe-T-Tek Inc. of Beaverton used St. Vincent De Paul, an employer of the handicapped, to assemble the kits.

Emergency management officials in Umatilla County are still in the process of finding a vendor to put together the shelter-in-place kits for those residents.

For more information regarding Morrow County's sheltering program, call Knoll at 922-4437.

 

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