While the above are trying to sort out the emergency preparedness issues, we note with utter disbelief the behavior of Army officials surrounding an industrial accident last Monday at the Nicholas Industrial Complex on the Depot.On July 30, nitric acid, a poisonous, strong oxidizing agent was spilled at the Depot sending four workers to the hospital; one still remains there.
A run of the mill industrial accident? Hardly. Aside from people being injured, any event at the Depot of this nature needs to be reported immediately and all aspects of it need to be known.
We note that the Nicholas Industrial Complex is far from the chemical weapons stockpile, but that does not change the fact that the Depot did not bother to mouth a word about it to the public. More importantly, however, Depot officials also apparently did not notify the commander of the Depot, Col. Aaron Hayes, of the incident nor did they not notify the county emergency management agency.
Emergency preparedness guidelines do not specifically say the local EMA officials should be notified of a non-chemical related accident, but they should have been told about it anyway.
Yes, nitric acid is not nerve agent. But what does this say about how officials will react to something more serious. This part of the Depot is separate from the stockpile, but the emergency procedures are integrated to a degree.
Joan Gustafson, the public affairs officer at the Depot, informs The Star that she can't really talk about the incident as it is under investigation. Does that also mean she is prohibited from alerting the public that it has occurred?
This is unacceptable behavior. It further violates the trust with the community and is insulting.
Perhaps Depot officials are within their rights to have kept this to themselves. But seeing how this doesn't seem to be a question of state security, why should they?
This kind of secrecy is exactly what breeds distrust.
