Hermiston, Umatilla should be stocked with depot tone-alert radios

This story was published Thu, Jun 29, 2000

By Mary Hopkin
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON - All Hermiston and Umatilla residents should have received a tone-alert radio by now. If they haven't, they are asked to call and request an installation visit.

Radio installers from Radio Services Co. have made their way through Hermiston and Umatilla delivering the tone-alert radios being distributed free through the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program.

The radios are used to alert those indoors about problems occurring at the Umatilla Chemical Depot and will provide safety instructions, such as such as notices to shelter-in-place, to residents.

The depot, seven miles west of Hermiston, stores 220,604 munitions and containers filled with 7.4Êmillion pounds of deadly nerve and mustard agents. The Army plans to begin burning the weapons in an incinerator in October 2001.

Residents typically are contacted door-to-door weekday evenings from 5 to 9 p.m.

Business should expect the installers during normal business hours.

But many people have different schedules and may not be available during those hours, said Jesse Seigal, an official with the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

If residents weren't home when installers were in their neighborhoods, they received a notice on their doors that said, "Sorry we missed you."

Those who received that notice, should call Radio Services Co. at 800-307-7708 and make an appointment with an installer.

Residents and business owners in Stanfield, Echo, Hinkle, Echo Meadows, Stanfield Meadows and surrounding areas should expect delivery by next week, said Mike Gerdes of Radio Services Co.

Installers wear special reflective vests and company identification badges. Recipients are asked to sign for the radios.

Each radio is used to augment CSEPP sirens, highway reader boards and the Emergency Alert System by providing notification indoors and giving important safety instructions during a chemical emergency or life-threatening hazard.

The radios are programmed to be placed in specific areas in the CSEPP region. If they aren't placed in the region they are programmed for, the radio siren might not be activated if a chemical event occurred. Residents should not remove the radios and take them if they move.

Radio Services provides residents with an informational pamphlet about the radios, printed in English and Spanish.

Those with hearing disabilities are given special strobe lights.

Installation takes about 20 to 30 minutes.

The radios work best when placed near a window, but they also must be near an electrical outlet.

The radios are equipped with a rechargeable battery that acts as backup when no electricity is available, Seigal said.

Seigal said some locations may also require special antennas for reception from two transmitters, one north of Heppner and the other in Washington.

For more information about the radios or questions about installation or the delivery schedule, call 800-307-7708.

 

Copyright 2002 Tri-City Herald. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.