CSEPP finds tough crowd in Irrigon

This story was published Fri, Mar 5, 1999

By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Oregon bureau

IRRIGON - Getting the message out is one thing. But getting people to accept the message is another.

Sometimes, that's the dilemma with the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.

CSEPP is set up to ensure communities surrounding the Umatilla Chemical Depot eight miles west of Hermiston are safe in case the worst happens - a leak from the depot of lethal nerve agents. The depot stores 3,717 tons of aging chemical weapons.

CSEPP members along with emergency management and health and Army officials spent almost two hours Thursday night trying to get the message out to 150 people - one of the largest crowds ever at a CSEPP town hall meeting - that everything is being done to prepare Umatilla and Morrow county residents in case of a worst-case scenario at the depot.

These emergency management and Army leaders tried to allay the audience's fears by explaining the CSEPP program, the incineration process to burn the chemical weapons and by answering a suite of questions. Some were esoteric. Some were pedestrian.

Question: What about the chance of terrorists bombing the depot?

Answer: There's always a chance, but it's easier for terrorists to make nerve agent on their own using the Internet.

Question: Are these chemical weapons totally potent?

Answer: "I wouldn't bet they aren't," said Lt. Col. Martin Jacoby, depot commander.

Question: If I'm a farmer out in a field and a chemical accident occurs, can my pickup become a shelter?

Answer: Yes. Most modern automobiles and trucks are airtight. But don't leave the air conditioner or heater running, and try to drive away from the depot.

Question: Will the soil and grass be contaminated after a chemical accident?

Answer: That's possible, but the Army plans a full-scale monitoring effort for all communities nearest the depot.

Question: What if my kid's on a school bus during a chemical accident?

Answer: CSEPP is working to have all school buses equipped with a radio or a cell phone. And parents should stay at home during a chemical accident. Students will be sheltered at the schools in a sealed environment that won't let in any contaminated air.

Question: How much chemical agent does it take to kill a person?

Answer: A pin drop of the right stuff if the symptoms are not treated immediately.

Question: Can you flush the toilet if you have sheltered in place by using duct tape and towels and sealed yourself near the bathroom in your home?

Answer: Yes. Most toilets that are up to code have air traps, and contaminated air from outside shouldn't come inside your home.

Question: Why doesn't the Army give everyone the antidote for chemical nerve agent exposure?

Answer: Because the antidotes are controlled substances, and that would be like giving drugs out without a prescription.

Even with all these answers, some in the audience still refused to accept the message that they can survive a chemical weapons accident.

"I feel like he was a peaches-and-cream guy," said Irrigon resident Michele Ball of Jacoby. "I think he makes the public feel overly safe, but I believe there's more to it than what's going on."

Ball was glad to learn she shouldn't shelter in place in her basement - because chemical agents are heavier than air and tend to float low to the ground. But Ball still wished she could overpressurize her home so no contaminated air would get inside.

"And how do you make a trailer door seal enough with towels?" Ball asked. "You know trailers - they're like cardboard boxes."

Hermiston High School students Lorena Carrillo, 16, and Maritza Sosa, 17, also were skeptical about what they heard Thursday.

"These weapons are really dan gerous," Carrillo said. "And I don't believe they won't have a little effect. (Emergency managers) also need to talk to more schools. And duct tape, I don't believe that. There are a lot of older homes, and I just don't think duct tape is going to work for those."

Sosa added: "We don't have all the food we need at the schools for an emergency, and I just don't think we're prepared."

 

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