Gov. Don Siegelman is confident the Federal Emergency Management Agency will ultimately deliver on its promise to fund protective hoods for residents living near the chemical weapons incinerator, a spokesman for the governor said Friday.
The comments come a day after Sen. Richard Shelby threatened to withdraw support for the startup of the incinerator because of FEMA stipulations he described as unnecessary, bureaucratic and counterproductive.
Despite local protests of those stipulations, Rip Andrews, a spokesman for the governor, said, "We are confident that FEMA is going to work with the state and with the local officials to provide the safety measures that were demanded by the governor."
Siegelman recently withdrew part of a lawsuit he filed seeking to halt the startup until the hoods were supplied and other protective steps were taken.
"There are no concerns serious enough that we feel any move in that direction would be necessary," Andrews said of reinstating the dropped portion of the lawsuit.
"As the process moves forward, the governor's office will be available to help the local officials in devising their plan and addressing other concerns," he said.
No other local government in the United States has ever been asked to do what FEMA is asking Calhoun County and Anniston officials to do: choose what type protective respiratory hood best protects residents living near a chemical stockpile and weapons incinerator.
Indeed, before now the federal government has never indicated it would fund protective hoods for a civilian population.
One of its 15 conditions for doing so now is that local officials pick the hoods, a requirement that is drawing some fire locally and from Shelby, R-Tuscaloosa, as well as and Rep. Bob Riley, R-Ashland.
After a meeting Friday of the Local Emergency Planning Committee, county officials admitted they lack the expertise to choose the protective gear - even if they did have the money the federal government reportedly has earmarked for the equipment.
"All we've ever gotten is hearsay," Emergency Management Agency Director Mike Burney said of the $5 million in federal funds promised for the hoods. "I have not seen a document that says yes we have the money."
Many local officials insist hoods are needed to save lives in the event of an emergency at the Anniston Army Depot.
Among its other stipulations, the federal government wants local leaders to inform residents that using duct tape and plastic sheeting to seal windows and doors would provide better protection than the hoods. This form of protection is known as shelter-in-place.
"If you were at a T-Ball game how do you shelter-in-place?" asked County Commissioner Eli Henderson during the planning committee meeting. "How would that protect you? You have no protection."
In an emergency, a hood stored in the trunk of a car could offer temporary safety for residents caught away from their homes, Henderson argued.
FEMA is shifting the task of choosing the hoods to local officials without providing any hood specifications and before FEMA releases any money for the equipment, Burney said.
The federal agency previously agreed, in a document to the county, that it would "provide technical assistance to state and local governments in the development of site specific emergency preparedness programs."
County officials maintain technical assistance includes helping local leaders develop specifications for the hoods.
Late attempts to reach FEMA for comment were unsuccessful, but to date FEMA spokesmen have been reluctant to provide details as to how the protective hood program will be fashioned.
Without the specifications or more official guarantees of funding, local officials say they face a catch-22 proposition.
Specifications are needed before the competitive bidding process can begin, Burney said. A contract cannot be awarded to a low bidder until federal money for the equipment is available, he added.
"We are working on putting some bid specifications together," said Brian Lazenby, an EMA spokesman. "But they may not be as specific as they could be without input from FEMA."
