IE 11 Not Supported

For optimal browsing, we recommend Chrome, Firefox or Safari browsers.

Beaver County, Pa., Officials to Improve Emergency Communications

About 27,000 residents got notice of a shelter advisory Friday night after a fire at a former pool chemical site emitted pungent chlorine fumes in Rochester, but many residents didn’t receive the notice.

first responders
(TNS) — Beaver County officials plan to improve emergency communication after a series of alerts about last weekend's chemical release in Rochester left residents scratching their heads.

About 27,000 residents received notice of a shelter advisory Friday evening after a fire at a former pool chemical site emitted pungent chlorine fumes in a five-mile radius of New York Avenue in Rochester. But the alert was vague, residents said, and because it was sent via Swift911, a subscription service, many residents didn't receive it.

The Beaver County board of commissioners met with emergency services officials Tuesday to discuss how the situation was handled. Commissioner Tony Amadio said that while the situation was overall handled well, there were concerns. Two of the county's top emergency services personnel were out of state, which caused some issues, he said.

"Overall, everyone did what they were supposed to do," Amadio said. "A lot of the problems were because our top two guys were on vacation. So they're going to meet with their people and do some mediation."

A fire erupted Friday evening at the former Pool Doctor-Beaver Alkali Products location in Rochester. Officials from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection have been monitoring various unlabeled chemicals at the site and working to stabilize the buildings, one of which collapsed late last month, and remove the chemicals. State officials estimate that full cleanup of the site could take weeks.

Resident Jim Woolley of Beaver was upset that he didn't hear anything about the incident until a second chemical release occurred Saturday, when Beaver officials sent alerts out on their borough communication system. He wanted to know why the county didn't post anything sooner.

Woolley admitted he wasn't signed up for Swift911 alerts until after the chemical release.

"I never heard anything Friday," he told the commissioners during their work session Wednesday. "How come we can't learn about these types of emergencies through standard circumstances?"

Commissioners Chairman Daniel Camp reiterated that alerts were sent out via Swift911 as a courtesy to help Rochester officials. Each municipality has an emergency management coordinator, Camp said, who decides if an additional alert should be sent out to each community. All of those coordinators were contacted Friday night, Camp said.

"Beaver County assisted Rochester Borough on the situation," Camp said. "Other than assisting Rochester Borough, that's all Beaver County had in the game."

Resident Janet Feldmeier said it was confusing for many residents to receive an alert that only advised to "shelter in place," meaning to stay indoors. The initial alert sent out before midnight Friday said, "Anyone receiving this message, you are requested to shelter in place due to an incident until further notice."

Feldmeier told officials the alert should have detailed, at minimum, the nature of the incident.

Chief county solicitor Garen Fedeles said residents' concerns are being heard.

"One of the things discussed was including more details," Fedeles said. "We're looking at, in the future, how to better handle these situations."

———

©2019 the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.)

Visit the Beaver County Times (Beaver, Pa.) at www.timesonline.com

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.