Federal officials announced this week the release of millions of dollars in funds that will go to pay for protective hoods for residents living near the Anniston Army Depot.The hoods have been long sought by the local Emergency Management Agency and the County Commission and have been long promised by the federal government.
So aside from the fact that these hoods may provide some psychological comfort to some area residents, at least this feud between local and federal officials may be coming to an end. Which is a good thing indeed, because our county has a very long way to go in order to be prepared for any incident or accident that could happen involving the chemical weapons stockpile at the depot.
Goodness knows we need more and better information about what we should do. This should have been taken care of a long time ago; something should be done now.
The best one can say about the state of emergency preparedness at the moment is that it is confused.
In the past, local EMA officials have told us that we should evacuate by zone in case of an emergency. That despite the fact that it would take hours to get everyone out of parts of the city of Anniston, while a cloud of nerve agent could arrive in just a few minutes.
Local officials have consistently refused to involve themselves in emergency preparedness exercises and have stayed out of region-wide public information campaigns. They argue that a number of issues and items need to be addressed before they will participate. That tactic is dangerous and assumes that the danger begins when the incinerator becomes operational. The danger, as they should know especially in the wake of Sept. 11, is now.
So will this latest development cause our local EMA to start working more closely with other agencies and sorting out a feasible preparedness program for our county?
If the statements of EMA director Mike Burney are any indication, the answer is no.
Referring to the release of the funds, Burney told The Star, “While this is encouraging news, we must be clear that it does not solve all our problems…. The community needs to understand that this is not ‘maximum protection’ as dictated by law, and it is not sufficient to protect the community.”
We appreciate Mr. Burney doing what he can to secure the safety of this community, but delaying emergency preparedness because you don’t have everything you want is the height of irresponsibility.
Local EMA officials and those on the commission who are continuing to hold up emergency preparedness have to stop this game now.
We need a confidence building move as soon as possible, and there is no better way to do that than for the local EMA and the commission to announce a full-scale emergency preparedness program and full cooperation with the Army and the federal government.
