By Elaine Sanchez
The Star-Ledger (Newark, New Jersey)
Copyright 2007 Newark Morning Ledger Co.
All Rights Reserved
EDISON, N.J. — A pipeline explosion. A chemical leak. A terrorist threat. Although emergencies occur without warning, officials in Edison said they are taking steps to ensure residents know what to do should disaster strike.
For the first time in five years, the township’s Local Emergency Planning Committee met recently in council chambers. The 17-member LEPC has the task of implementing safety measures by looking at the community as a whole.
“The community is constantly changing, and we’re constantly looking at new potential hazards,” said Police Lt. Mark Anderko, committee chairman and the township’s emergency planning coordinator.
For the past year, officials have examined different scenarios that would require emergency responses and are discussing how best to train workers to deal with the situations, Anderko said. These include anything from pipeline safety to chemical agents introduced by new businesses.
“We’re not just concentrating on one thing,” Anderko said. “We are looking very broad-based at the community at large.”
After its five-year hiatus, Anderko said he is now hoping to reinvigorate the committee by bringing in new members and looking at new safety measures including counterterrorism. The committee is focusing much of its energy on the installation of a second rail line running parallel to an active pipeline, he said.
While dates have not been set, Anderko said the committee plans to conduct four quarterly meetings.
The committee also will be broken up into various subcommittees responsible for preparing training programs, developing functional drills, touching base with local businesses and identifying hazards. These smaller bodies will convene at least once every three months at their discretion, Anderko said.
“It’s important because it brings together folks from all different backgrounds,” Anderko said, regarding the committee’s expansive nature. “It’s more of an overall perspective, so we’re not looking at it from one side and possibly missing something.”
Brian Bennett, deputy coordinator of the township Office of Emergency Management, said the LEPC was established sometime in the late 1980s as mandated by the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act. The act, issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1986, focused on remedies and technologies that would be used in cleaning up hazardous waste sites.
One of the LEPC’s most memorable operations was a four-hour disaster drill held in October 1997, said Bennett, who is a member of the committee. Police, firefighters, first aid squads, hospitals, emergency crews, high school students and senior citizens participated in the elaborate production, which allowed community members to practice emergency response procedures.
Mayor Jun Choi said he would like to see similar training exercises planned for the future. Choi added that along with the reinstitution of the LEPC, the township is focusing on the revitalization of a centralized command center, located within town hall.
“We need a location where, in times of crisis, all of the key decision-makers are all brought to one place,” Choi said.
Members of the committee were appointed by Choi and represent a variety of areas, such as the Board of Education, Middlesex County Water Company, Health and Human Services, Public Works, Emergency Medical Services, Fire Company, Job Corps Academy and Bassell Chemical Company.