Umatilla radios weather 1st test

This story was published Fri, Jun 25, 1999

By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Hermiston Mayor Frank Harkenrider didn't need a special radio Thursday afternoon to tell him a fierce hail storm packing 45 mph winds was about to blast through town. He just looked out the window at City Hall.

But with the special tone-alert radio hooked up at City Hall, Harkenrider and the rest of the city's staff knew the storm's wind speed and direction -Êand to stay off the road because of lightning and poor visibility.

What's more, the radio can warn of an accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

"That works great. It sure gives you the whole dope," the mayor said. "I'm going home right now to plug mine in."

Hermiston City Hall and Harkenrider's house were among 60 sites in Umatilla County where emergency managers began handing out the tone-alert radios this week for the first field test. Another 30 radios are being placed throughout Irrigon and Boardman in Morrow County.

The special devices sound an alarm and broadcast emergency information - in English and Spanish - to alert people in case nerve gas leaks from the depot, where 3,717 tons of aging lethal chemical agent are stored eight miles west of Hermiston. The Army is building a massive incinerator to destroy the chemicals.

The special radios also provide National Weather Service broadcasts and weather alerts, such as for Thursday's hail storm that swept through Hermiston for about 20 minutes. The radios operate electronically but come with a backup battery. They also include a flashing strobe light for the hearing impaired.

The radios are a critical component of the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program's early warning system and are designed to complement CSEPP's network of highway reader boards and outdoor emergency sirens that would alert residents to a disaster.

Once placed in homes throughout both counties, the radios will get a 12-day field test beginning next week.

Kaye Estes believes the radios will pass the test. "I've worked really hard on this project for a year and a half now, and I know the results will be good," said the communications planner with the counties' emergency management program. "I want to find out now what doesn't work."

Estes selected sites to test the radios where she suspects radio reception might be poor or in structures where it might be difficult to pick up a radio signal. Those tricky locations include mobile homes, which are made out of metal, and McNary Dam, which is surrounded by concrete and water.

If the radios don't work in those locations, Estes plans on "beefing up" the reception by installing external antennas.

Though the tone-alert radios blare a loud alarm, Estes also placed the radios in businesses where the noise level might be high, such as the Cozy Tavern in downtown Hermiston.

During the 12-day test period, Estes will sound the radios periodically using the National Weather Services frequency. Estes plans on testing the radios between 8 a.m. and noon. Business owners and residents who have been selected as a test site have to keep track whether they heard the tone and what time of day it occurred, she said.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency allocated $3.1 million to Umatilla and Morrow counties to be disbursed through the state's CSEPP program to buy the radios.

There were delays in buying the radios last year when two competing companies got into a legal squabble over who should receive the lucrative $3.1 million contract. In February, the lawsuit was settled out of court. Conditions of that settlement were not disclosed.

In March, Morrow and Umatilla County commissioners signed a contract to buy 17,000 tone-alert radios from Federal Signal Corp.

Harkenrider, an occasional critic of the CSEPP program, was relieved Thursday about receiving his tone-alert radio.

"The quicker they get this stuff in place, the quicker they'll get that incinerator running" to burn the lethal nerve agent stored at the depot, he said.

Once the first radios pass the field test, the rest will be distributed to residents and businesses closest to the depot. FEMA is handling the distribution contract for the radios and still is selecting a vendor to deliver the radios.

 

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