LEPC to vote on action plan in December

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FOLEY — The Baldwin County Local Emergency Planning Committee presented an updated Hazardous Material Response Plan draft at its quarterly meeting held Monday, Sept. 20 at the Foley Civic Center and officials said the plan should be ready for approval in December.

The committee is comprised of local first responders, representatives from hospitals and health agencies, volunteer organizations and members of the private sector.

Meetings include committee reports, including a shelter report, medical health, law enforcement, fire services, industry and Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (VOAD).

An act of the State Legislature passed in 1986 requires that each county maintain an LEPC for the purposes of identifying companies that store and transport hazardous materials, provide oversight for the proper disposal of those materials and have an action plan in place should a disaster occur involving hazardous materials.

Revisions to the plan are required by FEMA every five years. The last revision to the plan was produced in 2015-16.

“One thing I want to point out is that this is a fluid plan,” said Foley Fire Chief Joey Darby. “We can’t just approve this and say, ‘We’re glad we got that done,’ and then put it on the shelf for five years without updating it. Our plans for responding to hazard mitigation are always changing and we have to keep looking at and updating the plan every year in order to stay current.”

A copy of the plan is available to view by the public at baldwincountyal.gov/departments/EMA/ema-hazard-mitigation.

An LEPC Steering Committee meeting is scheduled to be held as both an in-person and hybrid meeting beginning at 10 a.m., Oct. 13 from the Baldwin County EMA office in Robertsdale.

The next LEPC full body meeting will be held beginning at 10:30 a.m. Dec. 20 at the Central Annex in Robertsdale.

The LEPC also voted Sept. 20 to authorize the payment of $200 to provide lunch following the meeting.

In other business Sept. 20, Michelle Pennington with Baldwin County EMA gave a COVID-19 situation summary for 2020-21 that was presented recently to the Baldwin County Commission.

Following the meeting, Scott Wallace, shelter and training coordinator with BCEMA, conducted a Planning and Exercise Training Workshop to discuss upcoming training and ideas for additional training in 2021.

Upcoming training sessions include:

  • EOC Operations and Planning for All-Hazards training which will be conducted from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Oct. 26-28.
  • Hazardous Chemical Inventories in E-Plan: Tier 2 training for First Responders, noon to 4 p.m. Nov. 4.
  • Basic Inland SAR Course, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 5-10.

All training sessions will be held at the Baldwin County Emergency Operations Center, 23100 McAuliffe Drive, Robertsdale.

For more information contact Wallace at 251-972-6807, email swallace@baldwincountyal.gov or visit baldwincountyal.gov/ema.