Emergency preparedness in the event of an accident at the chemical weapons stockpile at the Anniston Army Depot has just gotten more confusing.First, we had a situation where the Calhoun County Commission was refusing to participate in a public education program with the surrounding counties. Now the commissioners want to carry out their own program of educating the public of what to do in the unlikely even of an emergency.
That would be all fine and well, except the commissioners want to do something totally different from the other counties. And what is worse, another group, the Citizens Advisory Committee - an appointed body meant to act as a liaison between the Army and the public - is embarking on another plan which is contradictory to the commission's plan.
The commission wants to advocate limited evacuation while the CAC will go along with the existing plan in the surrounding counties of shelter in place.
Imagine the confusion this will cause.
Now the commissioners have their reasons for going this route. And their concerns, which involve about $30 million worth of emergency preparedness equipment, need to be addressed by the federal government agencies.
But Pentagon officials, in town this week, are attempting to set in place a mechanism to deal with those concerns. The proposal, a two-tiered committee, is an acceptable idea, but we should insist that it has to be put in place as quickly as possible and needs to make its recommendation to buy additional equipment - including protective hoods - or not by December 1.
The reasonable thing to do here is for the County Commission to join in the program run in the neighboring counties and to drop the idea of running their own.
In the meantime, the two-tiered committee can meet and consider the commission's very reasonable issues.
There is no doubt at this point that a great number of people in our community do not know what to do in case of an accident. There is also a great likelihood that most do not even know what zone they live in.
The very unscientific poll community leader David Baker took at a rally this week is telling indeed. Baker could hardly find a soul who knows his or her emergency zone.
Delois Champ, the public information officer for the county emergency preparedness agency, doesn't agree. In fact, Mrs. Champ tells The Star there is no excuse for not knowing what zone you live in or which evacuation route you should take. David Baker and anyone else who doesn't know should take offense at Mrs. Champ's obnoxious scolding.
The danger of a chemical accident has always been with us. We should have had a plan in place years ago. Blame for that can be spread far and wide, way beyond the County Commission.
But now is certainly not the time to cause even more confusion. The commission should join the other counties in the existing public education campaign immediately.
