Just over a year ago, a train derailment near Palestine, Ohio resulted in the emergency evacuation of area residents because of toxic gas released from the site. It involved emergency responses from Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Virginia agencies.
“That incident is still open,” said Adams County Department of Emergency Service Director Warren Bladen. Bladen said the county keeps up with commodity flow studies, which measure the type, quantity, volume, and spatial distribution of hazardous materials traveling via rail and highways.
Speaking to the Adams County Council of Governments Thursday, Bladen urged members to amp up their emergency preparedness plans.
“Each township and borough are responsible for having an emergency preparedness plan, an emergency management coordinator, and a plan for an emergency center, should one be needed,” Bladen said.
Every municipality should ensure its emergency management plan is up to date. Some, he added, have probably not been updated in several years. The emergency center could be anywhere, but it must be a place where tables, chairs, and computers can be quickly set up.
Regarding an emergency management officer, Bladen believes the best qualifications is an individual who “has a deep interest in serving the community, can be available at all hours, is a logical thinking person, and has great people skills.” It can be anyone from the community, he added.
Bladen said that training is another area in which municipalities need to stay current. Every elected official must be trained in emergency preparedness, which includes four classes that can be accessed and tested online through the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Those who complete the training receive a certificate of completion.
Bladen encouraged senior elected officials to take additional classes.
Bladen began his career as an emergency medical technician in Baltimore and has been with Adams County for seven years. While most of the emergencies in this area have been weather-related, the pandemic tested local emergency plans, he said.
Most of the hazardous materials events that occur in the county have to do with spilled diesel fuel. Although the county emergency planning office will respond to help in those situations, it is up to the local authority’s Emergency Management Officer to be in charge. Costs for clean-up are the responsibility of the company responsible for the spill.
The county emergency center oversees the 911 Call center, Emergency Management, and Hazardous Materials events. However, Bladen emphasized that their role is to support local governments, not be the primary response team.
@Home in Adams County
To meet the challenges of affordable housing, employment, an aging population, and a decrease in service and hospitality jobs, and to encourage a hyperlocal approach to zoning, a “Thoughtful Community Development Program” has been developed to impact the community’s future.
@Home in Adams County Coordinator Stacey Rice asked local municipalities to support them as they partner with Novak Strategic Advisors to create a survey to raise awareness of the need for affordable housing and economic development.
A letter of support, signedby Ron Harris, ACCOG president, said “We find ourselves at a crucial juncture where the gap between the cost of living and wages earned without our county is increasingly unsustainable.”
Judith Cameron Seniura is a freelance reporter. She began her journalism career in the early ‘70s and has written for newspapers, magazines, and other media in Ontario, Canada, Alaska, Michigan, Nebraska, San Antonio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania.