Showdown looms between CSEPP, feds over radios

This story was published Tue, Feb 15, 2000

By Terry Hudson
Herald Oregon bureau

PENDLETON - Umatilla and Morrow counties are nearing a showdown with the Federal Emergency Management Agency over who will pay for several items and services related to distribution of tone alert radios.

For now, the counties have postponed buying 1,500 more radios for fear they may have to cover certain distribution costs, even though they believe those costs are FEMA's responsibility.

On Monday, members of each county's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program team met with Oregon Emergency Management officials to discuss the radios, communication issues and the county-imposed moratorium on inter-agency meetings on CSEPP.

Myra Lee, director of Oregon Emergency Management, came from Salem to attend the meeting at the Umatilla County Justice Center.

Morrow CSEPP coordinator Casey Beard and Meg Capps, his Umatilla counterpart, explained that several costs have arisen connected with distribution of the radios, which are a main component of the accident warning system for the Umatilla Chemical Depot.

FEMA secured a contract with Radio Services Inc. of Kennewick for distribution of the radios. But as distribution nears, several hidden costs are popping up.

"The only funding we have is what the counties have for tone alert radios," Beard said. "FEMA has no money."

Items and services the counties fear they may end up paying for are industrial strobe installations for businesses where loud noise may affect the ability to hear the tone alert radio; cables and connectors for the strobes and for external mount antennas; and wall mountings. The counties also fear they may have to cover the cost of background checks and drug testing of people hired to install the radios in homes and businesses.

More than 3,000 radios are stored in Umatilla County awaiting distribution. Nearly 6,000 more are in transit from the maker in Hong Kong and another 6,000 are to be shipped next week.

The rest of CSEPP's original order of 17,000 radios should be shipped by the end of next month.

But CSEPP planned to order 1,500 more to handle growth over the distribution period, bringing the total to 18,500.

"We need to put pressure on FEMA and Radio Services to comply with their contract," Lee said. "then come up with a list of expenditures for them to pick up. We have to do that fairly rapidly."

Beard said the counties had about $250,000 left in the radio budget, which they planned to use to buy the additional radios.

County and state officials also are waiting for FEMA to produce a project officer to work on site to supervise the radios' distribution.

"It's imperative this person should be on site immediately," Beard said. "We're already doing work they should be doing."

Capps said FEMA has rejected four people interviewed for the job and getting a project manager here could take two more months.

"We need to hold FEMA's feet to the fire on this," said Morrow County Commissioner John Wenholz. "They need to take their share of responsibility."

The moratorium, which blocks county involvement in some inter-agency meetings, also was discussed Monday. Commissioners from both counties have agreed to vote before Wednesday on whether to lift it.

The commissioners decided to put the moratorium into effect Jan. 6, a week after the Alert & Notification System - run by Oregon Emergency Management and CSEPP - mistakenly activated sirens and reader boards warning of a chemical accident at the depot.

The commissioners have called the moratorium a wake-up call about the inadequate state of emergency preparedness.

"I would vote to lift the moratorium," Umatilla Commissioner Bill Hansell said Monday. " ... We can extend it as long as we want to if the reason is to take care of the problem. But the problem will always be there. It's really a moving moratorium, where we pick what meetings we go to.

 

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