With his agency locked in a dispute with local officials, Federal Emergency Management Agency Director Joe Allbaugh is considering a trip to Anniston next month.
An agency spokesman would not confirm the possible visit, but U.S. Rep. Bob Riley, who met with Allbaugh Thursday, said the director plans to come south in June.
Talk of the visit comes as FEMA figures prominently in two local issues. The agency is currently at odds with Calhoun County officials, the governor, and the county's congressional delegation over emergency preparations for the community near the Anniston Army Depot's stockpile of chemical weapons.
At the same time, the Bush administration is attempting to shift oversight of the Center for Domestic Preparedness from the Department of Justice to FEMA. Located at the former Fort McClellan, the center uses live chemical and biological agent to train first-responders.
Riley's meeting with Allbaugh was scheduled to discuss the emergency-preparedness disputes, which center around respiratory hoods for residents, protective suits for first-responders and protection for the county's schools.
Riley said FEMA has been reluctant to fund the hoods because of concerns about how residents would be trained to use them. And the agency has yet to announce how many county schools will receive equipment that would make them airtight in the event of a chemical weapons emergency.
"Allbaugh has the authority to get this done," Riley said.
