Safe room would keep air clear, expert says

This story was published Tue, May 7, 2002

By Karen Zacharias
Herald Oregon bureau

HERMISTON -- Jan Taylor's Virginia home is bordered by a river, two mountain slopes and four chemical plants.

She's a firm believer that duct tape and plastic can be a lifesaver.

"If there was an accident, I can't evacuate. I have a shelter in place kit in my home. My plastic's precut to fit my windows and doors. I believe in it very strongly," she said.

Taylor, who's vice president of the National Institute of Chemical Studies, has the credentials to back up her beliefs. She was in Hermiston recently to help educate people about the effectiveness of a safe room to protect against a chemical weapons release.

Taylor said studies at Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee have proved the effectiveness of duct tape and plastic -- even against extremely lethal VX nerve agent.

"They squirted nerve agent directly at the material and it would hold for hours. The duct tape and plastic didn't break down," she said.

Hiding out at home to escape a deadly plume is not untested. Taylor said there have been hundreds of cases that show it works.

For instance, she said, when a tanker truck overturned in Houston in 1974 and released toxic ammonia, pigeons on the rooftops of nearby buildings died. But people inside were unharmed.

Taylor said she understands that people who hear an emergency siren blast may want to run outside. "But the right thing to do is to stay inside and turn on the television or radio for information," she said.

Even if plastic and tape aren't available, people can protect themselves by just closing everything up, she said.

"What do you do during a dust storm? You shut the windows and close the door. You try to keep the indoors air clean. Well, it's the same idea with a chemical plume," she said. "You want to make your home as airtight as you can get it."

Emergency planners have purchased mobile monitors that attach to emergency vehicles. If an accident occurs, they can use the monitors to help determine when the air is clear. They will then let people know by the radios that it's safe to come out.

Evacuating before the "all clear" could endanger your life and the lives of others, said Casey Beard, Morrow County's emergency manager.

"If you're clogging up the roadway just because you've panicked, you might be putting a neighbor at risk who really does need to evacuate."

For information about how to obtain a shelter in place kit or tone alert radio, call 800-307-7708. Or check out the Web site for the National Institute of Chemical Studies at www.niscinfo.org.

 

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