Umatilla depot protection kits to be mailed soon

This story was published Fri, Jul 9, 1999

By Theresa Goffredo
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - Umatilla County residents should soon have their own personal arsenal of "tools" to protect them in case of a lethal nerve agent accident at the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

Those tools are part of the shelter-in-place kits which could be mailed to Hermiston, Stanfield, Umatilla and Echo residents by the middle of August.

The cardboard boxed kits are each packed with duct tape, 100 square feet of plastic, a towel, scissors, coloring books and a video tape. The video explains to residents how to use the tools in the kit to create a shelter out of a room in their homes should nerve agent escape from the depot near Hermiston.

The depot stores 3,717 tons of chemical weapons scheduled to be burned by 2005.

On Wednesday, Umatilla County commissioners approved a contract with St. Vincent De Paul in Portland to manufacture 17,000 shelter-in-place kits. Once the kits are assembled, they will be delivered to Umatilla County to be mailed to residents, said Tom Groat, the county's emergency operations supervisor.

The cost for manufacturing and delivering the kits, including postage, is just under $260,000. The kits are being paid for by the Federal Emergency Management Agency as part of the county's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.

Though the kits come with coloring books, residents will have to supply their own crayons. But the kits are being designed with enough room so that they can be "customized," Groat said.

"We like to think you can include your own stuff in the kit, like put a game in there or a book your kids want to read or snack foods," Groat said. "That's the idea of making it real easy to get in and out of the kit. And should there be an emergency, everything you need is in the kit, and you won't be hunting for crayons because they'll already be in the kit."

Morrow County residents closest to the depot already have received shelter-in-place kits.

Also Wednesday, commissioners approved a $21,300 contract to provide meals ready to eat, or MREs, to students who might have to shelter at school during a chemical emergency.

Sopakco Co., out of South Carolina, is preparing the 5,000 meals. The meals are expected to be delivered to overpressurized schools in Umatilla County's west end by the time classes begin, Groat said. An overpressurization system keeps contaminated outside air from a chemical accident from entering a building.

And, judging by some of the meals, the kids who need to stay sheltered during a chemical emergency are going to be eating well.

Typical meals include Tai chicken, Jamaican pork chop and beef ravioli. The meals also come with condiments, dessert and a drink. Students can eat the meals right out of the bag or the MREs can be heated in boiling water.

Overpressurized schools in Morrow County already have received MREs, Groat said.

 

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