Emergency personnel at the Umatilla Chemical Depot in Oregon are scheduled to respond to a simulated on-site crisis with state and local responders during a three-day drill next week, the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program announced yesterday (see GSN, March 21).
Participants are expected to conduct emergency response maneuvers on Monday and then focus on re-entering the site and conducting recovery operations on Tuesday and Wednesday. Planning officials would establish teams to handle interagency communication inside and outside of the depot during the emergency, and a U.S. Army commander is expected to assist federal, state and local officials during the recovery process.
The annual exercise is expected to involve depot personnel, federal monitors, emergency responders from Benton, Morrow and Umatilla counties and officials from Oregon and Washington state.
This year's drill is one part of an emergency exercise led by the U.S. Northern Command and the North American Aerospace Command (see GSN, April 29). Smaller emergency response exercises are also planned around Seattle and Birmingham, Wash. (Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program release, April 30).