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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05041999 - D2 D.2. BOARD OF SUPERMIRS .1` CONTRA COSTA MONTY MM: W11119m B.Walker,MO Health Services Director DATE- Aprf12S,1980 OBJECT: Oommrrnity Warnino System and Commr€nity Alert Network SPECHIC NEQIESTISI ON NECOMMENBAT111IN€$3 a NACKPN8N1111 AND JUSTIFICATION Re-munendation: Accept the report of the Health Services Department on the Community Warming System and the Community Alert Network. Background: A need exists for full understanding of the Community Warning System and Community Alert Network, the emergency telephone dialing system. This includes how they work and how they relate to each other in the event of an emergency. During the April 6, 1999 Board of Supervisors meeting a request was made for a presentation on the two systems. Those reports follow, Fiscal-Impact: None ATTACHMENT. V SIGNATURE RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURES); ACTION OF BOARD ON May 4, 1999 APPROVED'X-S-R?CfrM%je ttyEB` OTHER X REFERRED to the Internal Operations Comm; ttee VOTE OF SUPERVISORS X UNANIMOUS iABSENTne N o I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD AYES: NOES: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. ABSENT: ABSTAIN: Contact Person: , ATTESTE CC: Lewis G. Pascaili, Jr. PHIL B ..ELOR, L RK OF THE BOARD OF SUPER` SORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR BY �' } »®i DEPUTY 1, Contra Costa County Board of Supervisors Presentation on the Community Warning System May 4, 1999 COMMUNITY WARNING SYSTEM Back nd: • Planning begun in August 1993. • Design Specification Adopted by Supervisors in December 1993. • Project Engineering Investigation initiated in January 1994. • CCC CAER Group,Inc. agrees to raise funds from industrial and other plant facilities that use,produce, or transport hazardous materials. • Contract with Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. signed in January 1995. • "Three system-wide acceptance tests conducted(October 1996, June 1997,and November 1998.) Status of Completion: • Until 1.2/98, it was believed that certain difficulties with transmission and reception could be corrected with uniquely designed solutions and infrastructure build outs. In:December 1998, it became clear that there was an essential flava in the design of the broadcast infrastructure for the CWS. • The Community Warning System has recently undergone a re- engineering aimed at addressing the broadcast infrastructure design flaws for the following: 1. Siren sounding. 2. Sending messages to the Media. 3. Alerting sensitive receptors. • Solutions have been found which include obtaining several new radio broadcast frequencies (license applications are being reviewed presently). • Work is underway to integrate County's proposed system with the California State Emergency Digital Information System (EDIS), the national Emergency Alert System (EAS), and the National Weather System (NWS). • Work is scheduled for completion late this year. Activation History: • In November of 1996, after negotiation with Sage Alerting Systems,Inc., CAER was given approval to use sirens during large emergencies(Level 3 incidents). • In January of 1997,following a Tosco Avon incident(1/21/97)the sirens were activated. The Avon siren sounded,the Clyde siren did not. • In March of 1997,following a Kern Water North America incident (3/11/97)the sirens in Antioch were activated. The system was successful in notifying residents to Shelter-In-Place. • In February of 1998,following a Dow Chemical incident(2/2/98) the sirens in Pittsburg and Antioch near the Dow plant were activated. The system was successful in notifying residents to Shelter-In-Place. • In March of 1999, following a Chevron incident(3/25/99)the sirens in Richmond were activated. The system was successful in notifying residents to Shelter-In-Place. In addition,during the Chevron event: 1. 5 sirens in Richmond and North Richmond sounded 3 times,3 minutes each. 2. Chevron Incident Timeline.for CVS alerting Accident: 2:28 p.m. CCHS Paged: 2:35 p.m. CCHS Logon: 2:38 p.m. Sirens Sounded: 2:39 p.m. Sirens Sounded: 2:51 p.m. Sirens Sounded: 3:01 p.m. 3. Intera2enc /Fy acility Communication usinp-the CWS • A total of 210 messages were sent via CWS terminals throughout the incident beginning at 2:45 p.m. until 8:45 pm. • Chevron sent 26 updates to CCHS/OFS, Sheriff s Office,Richmond PD(Fire), and Contra Costa Fire Protection District • CCHS sent 20 messages/instructions to Chevron Current Nofication Policy related to use of CWS In July of 1997, the hazardous materials incident matrix and incident definitions developed as part of the CWS were incorporated into the County's Notification Policy. 1. Facilities must notify the County Incident Response Team by paging the CCHS Hazardous Materials Division. 2. When the responder calls,the following information will be asked foga a. level of incident(0-1-2 or 3) b. category of release(toxic gas,flammable non-toxic,various fires, or various plant upsets) c. name of chemical/chemicals being released d. if there are injuries, and if so, how many e. the wind direction and speed, E the CAN zones that may need to be activated. In addition,the County advised that for all Level 3 incidents,the County would use the information to sound sirens in the vicinity of the accident and activate CAN zones. Who Can Activate the Community Warning S stem? At present,only CCHS Hazardous Materials Division has authority to activate sirens. (An agreement was reached following the Chevron incident for Chevron to activate sirens using a push button control unit located on site. Work in underway to complete installation of the push button control unit. Will be available about May 15.) Who Pays for the System? At present,CCC C.A.ER.Group, Inc. with voluntary contributions from industry is implementing the system and its completion as paying for ongoing system maintenance. In the future, industrial facilities countywide will be assessed a fee to underwrite the costs of maintenance. Supporting background reading materials are provided as follows. 1. CWS Project: Final Design Fact Sheet 2. CWS Project: Written Description 3. CWS Project. History of Alert&Warning in Contra Costa County 4. CWS Project; Community Education about CWS and Shelter-In-Place CWS Project. Final Design Pact Sheet Project Cost: $5 Million (Project Cost $4.5, Education$.5) .Project Installations: • 22 Sirens 1 Conimand Center (1 Backup and J Ancillary) 24 Stationary 'Terminals 1 Communication.Node with Backup 4 "Store & Forward" Mountain Top Communication Sites New- San: • emergency Agital Information System (EDIS)Interface (statewide system) • Emergency Alert System (E S)Interface (national systema) • National Breather Service (NWS)Interface (national system) In addition, CCC CSR Group, Inc. wilt purchase National Weather Service Emergency Alert Receivers to be gafted to: 2011 Public Schools 65 Private Schools 206 Day Cares 11 Homeless Shelters 50 Senior Centers 4 Jails 49 Hospitals (includes convalescent and nursing homes) Total.: 586 Also, to make sure emergency information is provided as soon as passible to all locations, CCC CAER Group, Inc. will also gift EARS to: Bay Area Captioning Bay City Dews Service CWS Pr c ject: Written Description The Community Warning System (CWS) is an emergency warning system that consists of alert and notification features. The alert and notification features, linked by a radio frequency backbone, are designed to function even when telephone systems fail. Signals carried by radio frequency activate every part of the emergency system. The system's design features multiple back-ups so that there is an excellent chance of the system surviving an earthquake; back-pp power supports each broadcast point, multiple radio frequencies carry activation signals and four radio towers within the county receive and broadcast signals. ALERT 1. Sirens are placed in the industrial corridor of the county. The requirement for sirens at a plant was determined by a risk ranking process undertaken by the Cost Sharing Committee. At each location where sirens are required, the CWS design requires a one mile radius of sound coverage from the hazard source. The safety sirens will be used for Shelter-Shut& Listen alerts (chemical accidents) only. 2. Emergency Alert Receivers (EARS) will be placed in all schools (public and private), hospitals, daycare centers, convalescent hospitals and other sensitive receptors in the industrial corridor of the county. 3. Pagers for emergency response personnel which operate via the radio backbone (independent of the phone system)can be used for any emergency. NUTMCATIt`3N PORTIQN CWS will interface with radio and television stations and transmit Contra Costa-specific information to instruct citizens about the disaster and necessary actions to be taken by the public. This part of CWS can be used for any countywide emergency. The CWS can be preprogrammed for numbers of potential disasters. At present, all 4 refineries, 2 chemical plants, and 1 waste water treatment facility have purchased onsite workstations to report incidents to the appropriate emergency response professionals and in the case of preprogrammed level 2 or Level 3 scenarios, messages will be sent to the media to initiate public notification. CWS Project. History of Alert and Warning in Contra Costa County im Major Chemical Accident in Bhopal, India kills thousands. Chemical Manufacturers Association (CMA,.) initiates CARR.programs nationally. CAER Groups- Established on a voluntary basis with two primary goals: 1. To foster local plant development of community "right to know" outreach programs . To help industry integrate its emergency plans with those of local agencies. (A petrol-chemical mutual aid organization-PMAO has lin in existence in Contra Costa County since the late 1950's and with formal agreements since the early 1970's. PMA4 has recently become a functional group for the new CAER. organization.) 1 6 A few Contra Costa County industries began meeting as a local CAER Group. Im County agencies and;fire departments began participating in CAER Group meetings. Additional industries joined the CAER Group and began participating on a regular basis. CMA established "Responsible CAER". (In order to remain a member of CMA., CEOs were required to sign an agreement to foster the rales of their companies in establishing six CAER Program areas.) More local industries begin participating in CAER Group. CAER Group begins looking at sirens as a means of community alert and notification. Dow Chemical Company installs warning siren and emergency communications system with adjacent industries and others. County Office of Emergency Services initiates efforts to improve countywide alert and notification. CAER Group meets to address County plans. Industries agree to financial support of contract with CAN, automated telephone call dawn system. May County Board of Supervisors adopts aresolution to increase AB2185 fees to fund CAN and 60% of a Sr. Emergency Planning Coordinator position, supported by local industry. County Office of Emergency Services and Health Services Department agree to pursue a community notification system with a 4-point program: 1. Countywide radio notification via KKIS AM 990 (now KATO)1FM 92.1 (now KSFO) 2. Establish Traveler's Information Stations to reach areas with poor KKIS reception 3. Adoption of the CAN System, an automated telephone dialing system. 4. A feasibility study for installing sirens in certain locations. September City of Martinez begins to air 530AM Traveler's Information Station for use also during local emergencies. January Chevron Refinery established committee to develop local siren alerting system in conjunction with their CAF (Community Advisory Panel), fire and police, County OES and HSI . June Chevron Refinery purchases KCOR 790AM, Travelers Information System, for City of Richmond. Begins airing in September of 1995. July General Chemical Richmond chemical release has significant impact on community. Board of Supervisors hears report from CIES and HSD concerning General Chemical Release. Board of Supervisors directs OES and HSD to develop a siren alert system. in.industrial areas. 7193 Members of the County Board of Supervisors and Dr. William.Walker meet with industry leaders to discuss the need for a community vert and notification system. Industrial leaders from Chevron, Dow, DuPont, General Chemical, Rhone Poulenc, Shell, and Tosco form the r m& SAA(y 5-hadu B erin S' tr 'ttee to facilitate support for countywide alert and notification and to develop improved safety sharing among plants. Aust CAER Group combines efforts with Richmond Group and establishes 15 member Commqnrty&#&gtkn + nrnmittee (C ) with 3 agency representatives, 8 city representatives, and 4 industry representatives. September Dow Chemical Company purchases 990AM, Travelers Information Station for City of Pittsburg. .Begins airing in late 1995. December ber CNC submits report and recommendations for Community Warning tem to the Hazardous Materials;Commission, the Commission unanimously approves report, and forwards it to the Board of Supervisors. CNC 12.enort Rec-mendtions • Provide a project of enhanced alerting to include sirens in the industrial corridor and ability to activate pagers, tone alerts and car radios. $ Contract for engineering Study to develop final design criteria. • Funding to come from industrial community. • Develop comprehensive and ongoing educational program. 12193 Board of Supervisors: approve CNC Report • authorize HSD to work with CAER subcommittee to recruit and select Pioject Manager appoint CYQr muajv 1iotamden Addaa Boa. (CNAB) to oversee implementation of the proposed Community Warning System on behalf of the Board of,Supervisors January Board of Supervisors Appoint Community Notification Advisory Board:Floyd Cormier,Fire Chief, City of Richmond, retired, Agency Representative(replaced by Harley Thompson, Richmond Fire Department) Tracy Hein-Silva, Sr. Emergency Planner, CCHS, Agency Representative (permanent alternate Randy Sawyer, CCHS) Donna.Powers, Community Representative, West County Sabiha Gokcen, Community Representative, Central. County, Vice Chair (replaced by Leslie Stewart, Chair, CCC Hazardous Materials Commission) Sherri Anderson, Community Representative, East County Eric Brink, HS&E Director, Shell Catalyst Plant, Industry Representative Tony Semenza, Fire Chief, Chevron Refinery, Industry Representative, Chair CNAB hires Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. to develop engineering study and proposal. CAER group initiates effort to form a non-profit public benefit corporation (501 C3) to facilitate funding of the proposed community warning system project. February ISSF Steering Group establishes "seed funding" for Community Warning System project. April CNAB employs Project Manager. [Group, and project manager develop a Mission Statement that has guided its work hout the course of this project. Although the group has retained its autonomy, AB has coordinated its decision.making with the Centra Costa County CAER Inc. Beard of Directors and concerned County officials. This Beard who has ontinually throughout the course of the project has guided the development and entation. Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. provides engineering study for $4.8 million Community Warning System Project (plus $1.2 million for CALTRANS Road Sign Interface). ISSF Steering Group: • initiates communication with plants that use, produce, or transport hazardous materials to develop funding base for Community Warning System project. • sponsors industry wide meeting, and invite more than. 80 different plants and companies to participate. the Steering Group continued to meet until the CAER Group, introduced a more formalized Board of Directors (1 Community Representative, 2 Agency Representatives, 4 Industry Representatives) County Administrator, County Department Heads and ISSF Steering Croup meet to determine whether County will accept gift of Community Warning System and develop a gentlemen's agreement about post project" maintenance and operation costs. Project Manager initiates Management Advisory Group team to keep open lines of communication among CNAB, the ISSF (funding team) and the County agency departments who will ultimately own and operate the system. Meetings were held monthly until October of 1995. By then the ISSF Steering Committee had disbanded and the CAER Group had developed a Board of Directors with County Representation. Mann e ent A iy sor _Groue Dr. William Walker, Health Services Department Mr. Bart Gilbert, General Services Mr. Gary Brown, Office of Emergency Services Mr. Pete Jurichko, Rhone Poulenc, ISSF Mr. Bob Andrews, Shell Oil Refinery, ISSF Mr. Ikon Manning, Tosco Avon Refinery, ISSF Mr. Mike Hannan, Chevron Refinery, ISSF Mr. Tony Semenza, CNAB Ms. Kathleen Imhoff, CWS Project Manager May ISSF establishes Cost Sharing Committee to develop an equitable formula for assessing voluntary cost sharing across all Contra Costa County facilities that use, produce, store or transport hazardous materials. Mr. Floyd Johnson, City of Richmond, City Representative Mr. Ritchie Kirkpatrick, Manager, Chemical'Plant Hayward, Industry Rep. Dr. William Walker, health Services Department, Agency Representative Mr. Randy Sawyer, Health Services Department, Staff Mr. Eric Brink., Shell Oil Refinery, Staff Ms. Kathleen Imhoff, CWS Project Manager, Facilitator June IF hosts a Countywide meeting of facilities that use, produce, store or transport hazardous materials ("'all industry") to present draft cast sharing formula and to present information abut the design plans for the Community Warning System. Judy Project Manager initiates value engineering of the proposed Sage project todetermine technological feasibility. Technical. Subcommittee included: Chief Ted .Barnes, Pinole; Ms. Janet Grenslit, Office of Emergency Services; Dennis Matzen., County Sheriff Communications Manager; Al Nielsod, Con Fire Communications Manager, .lack Woycheese, gage-Babcock Engineers; Randy DeMerse, County Communications Technician; Pat Burke, CCTV, Randy Pugsley, Chief Engineer KOIT Radio; CN'AB Representatives Sabiha Gokcen and Eric Brink; Para Sawyer from Supervisor Jeff Smith's Office, and Kathleen Imhoff, CWS Project Manager. CNAB establishes final project scope that includes a base project and future enhancements (dependent on fund raising). August ISSF hosts a countywide "all industry" meeting to present final cast sharing formula. October 1994 ISSF hosts an "all industry" meeting to kick off Community Warning System Project with funding commitments of$2.9 million. January Contract completed and signed.between CCC CAER Group, Inc. and Sage.Alerting Systems, Inc. February COMMUNITY WARNING SYSTEM PROJECT BEGINS: Project Cast: $4.4 Million Base Project Scope: 24 Sirens 500 Emergency Alert Receivers 5 Actuation Centers 19 Stationary Terminals 4 Communication Nodes (without backup) 3 Primary Radio Stations (CWS uses RDS to transmit) 8 Secondary Radia Stations 7 Secondary FM Roosters 4 TY Networks Cable Service Co. Project Schedule: Completion.3/31.196 May Siren installations began countywide. June/July Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. developed ENDEC to respond to FCC regulations concerning new requirements for EAS (formerly EBS) Requirements. (CWS is now in compliance with new EAS.) Equipment installations at plants, 911 dispatch centers, and primary radio stations begin. August Sage redesigns communication node system to incorporate ENDEC and also to address complicated radio frequency problems throughout Contra Costs. County (system changed from 4 nodes to 2 nodes). November CWS safety sirens begin monthly testing cycle. (Sirens are tested the first Wednesday of the month at 11 a.m. countywide.) . Discussions between CAER&County concerning gift of CWS begin. April Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. sells assets (including CWS technology) to American Signal Corporation. CNAB agrees to include cable system connection. Sage/CWS Project team targeted October for the Acceptance Test. June Gage-Babcock hired to develop acceptance test protocols. July Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. advises CCC CAER Group, Inc. about We of assets. AugusttSeptember Sage Alerting Systems, Inc. and. Gage-Babcock finalize acceptance test protocols which includes both measurement tests (measures performance of each individual piece of equipment to assure the equipment meets the requirement of its part in overall system) and observation test (tests the operation and flexibility of the overall system to accommodate the contract and design requirements). October Systemwide measurement test conducted, three minor improvements requested and agreed to by contractor. Systemwide observation test conducted. Software problems uncovered. System was unable to multi-task. (activate multiple incidents at the same time) and when one of the communication nodes was turned off(to model a "worst case" situation such as a major local earthquake), communications were not rerouted through available nodes efficiently causing a "jamming" of communication attempts. December The node communication system routing was redesigned and the software for the communications portion of the system was redesigned. January The revised software began a "de-bugging" Process. February The revised software is completed, loaded and contractor testing is begun. Changes in the system require rebalancing of audio transmission points at each node site and all FM radio stations. .dune The third acceptance test including a live audio broadcast was attempted and failed. September Contracted with.American Signal to design a Push Button function and add printer capability for the system. December Special meeting with SAGE and American Signal, to explain to SAGE the GAEI<2 concerns about the Project. 19-98 February CGMMI was relocated to a temporary site to allow renovations at the primary dispatch. March C:AER negotiated with Sage and American Signal to improve the following: • Upgrade the Audio Speed of the system to improve reliability during activation/ • Upgrade the communication speed from 1200 to 2400 Baud. • Install a siren feedback system to monitor the siren system operation. April Completed installation of the Push Button boxes and the addition of printers. May The Audio Speed upgrade feature passed the factory acceptance tests. June The communication speed upgrade to 2400 was completed. July The "As Built" documents of the system were provided. System Design and Technical installation course was conducted for the County Communication department technicians. August The siren feedback system installation was completed. The seismic bracing of all the monitors, keyboard etc. was completed. Began renewed efforts to improve RDS reception in East Coin and to find a replacement for KOIT FM as a primary radia station in West County. (Employed Greene Engineering and involved KQED's Principal Engineer Fred Krock.) November Conducted acceptance tests for the system minus the audio broadcast. A problem was found in the alternate route (backup) for Tosco Rodeo communications. Completed reviews of the passible integration of MIC FM (and sharing with Q-Paging) to salve East County RDS reception problems. It was, ound that KUIC M could not provide service to the CWS. December *"""Conducted RDS coverage study far west county and found hack of RDS coverage******* Completed review of KEDR assistance for East county and conducted.RDS coverage test. KEDR"s signal strength into East Caen was not reliable.. January _ A study to find solution to the CWS RDS problems was conducted. February Study of various solutions for the CWS RDS problems were completed and presented to the CAER group Board of Directors. March Another Engineering Consultant was employed to review the validity of Option 3. The review was completed and Option 3 was established as the most effective and efficient solution.available. Option 3 (no RDS) was approved for funding by the CAER Board, the CAO and other County administrators were briefed and the new scope of work began. New frequency license (37.98 MegaHrtz) applications were drafted and provided to the County for their approval. April Option 3 development continued. New frequency licence (450-455 MegaHrtz) applications were drafted and provided to the County for their approval. CAER Board began new negotiation with Sage Alerting System. CVVS Projects Community Education about C`'VVS and Shelter-In-Place Can July 1, 1996, the Contra Costa County CAER Group, Inc. Public Education Committee, adopted the Community Education Master Plan.. Contra Costa Health Services Department authorized the plan. Implementation of the master plan began in 1997, was budgeted to cost $572,000 and to be completed over a two-year period. THE PAST The education of the community about the Community Warning System and Shelter-In- Place has included the following: The rights (were purchased) to use Wally Wise Guy as a mascot for shelter-in-place. Develop IdUgfty and RecomMon of P `�. ation — Com i • Establish identification/service mark--Safety Siren Logo Logo Posters: Distributed to all elected officials countywide, all industrial plants, all project volunteers, all Community Advisory Panel members, CCHS, CIES, all police chiefs, all fire chiefs and all school superintendents in the County. Cqnmdud Eggm Gra= lookatmm m- v smftlyft concemm' Completed CreateAwareness of Proiect and its implementation a-Completed • Magnet Mailing to all deliverable addresses countywide • Bus Sign Advertising • BART Station Sign Advertising Inemomae sheftcdmm1ac&W10r n plan= • Create SHELTER.-SHUT-LISTEN template for children's education • School Board Resolutions (18 school districts) were endorsed throughout County agreeing to incorporate shelter-in-place training,arid drills into the curriculum, agreeing to send principals to free training provided by CAER, and agreeing to keep Emergency Alert Receivers (when provided) in a safe place. Seven 1!2-day Train-the-Trainer sessions were conducted for school principals countywide. Principals and facility personnel from the schools were educated about the need for Shelter-In-Place and what shelter in place is. Each attendee was told about chemical hazards, what kinds of chemical accidents are possible, what impacts can occur. Education was provided about how to shelter-in-place and how to prepare for aro alert. Each school was assigned a "trained" helper from industrylagency to assist in preparation and implementation of"shelter-in-place" drills. • Two education videos were developed one for all ages and one for children.. Copies were provided to all public and private schools countywide, all libraries countywide, all chambers of commerce offices countywide, and all project participants. • An insert for shelter-in-place was developed for public and private school disaster preparedness plans and also a Model Emergency Plan for Schools (this document was also made available on computer diskette for major word processing software) was developed and distributed countywide. • A one-page teacher shelter-in-place education guide was developed and distributed countywide. • In class emergency response wall hangings provided for all public and private school classrooms countywide. • Nally 'mise Guy Coloring sheets and Comic Strips were developed for use with school children training about shelter-in-place. D Ilm Qn-going Shelter -Place edu tac-n effort -- COM eted • CWS Brochures + Marina Brochures • CAER Speakers Bureau established., notifications forwarded to all public and private schools, churches, clubs, organizations, civic groups, hospitals, day cares, homeless shelters, senior centers,jails, businesses with 100 employees plus, all marinas and chamber of commerce offices. In addition to copies of the brochure, newsletter inserts and speakers bureau applications were provided. • Model for Community-wide Shelter-In-Place drill developed: with Bayo Vista Housing Project in Rodeo. • Madel for citywide all schools drill developed in Crockett and Rodeo • SIP drills and emergency preparedness plans were developed for all Headstart Programs throughout Contra Costa. • Numerous schools developed SIP drill plans with "SIP" mentors (volunteers from industry/agency who were specifically trained to assist principals and teachers) provided by CAER. • Attend city and county fairs and events to promote shelter-ice place and educate the community about SIP. • Public Service Announcements were developed for radio, TV, and cable. (These will begin airing once the project is operational.) Contra Costa County CAER Group, Inc. has just commissioned a revitalized Community Outreach Group. The group is led by Ms. Tracy Hein-Silva, CCHS Hazardous Materials Division Public Information Officer. Membership includes representatives from the American Red Cross, City of Antioch OES, CCHS, CIS Coast Guard, the Contra Costa Fire Protection District, the Martinez Refining Company Community Advisory Panel, and many of the large industrial facilities in the County. The objectives of the Community Outreach Group are: • Provide ongoing emergency response training and education including" 1. Placement of"Kid's CAER" in schools, 2. Shelter-in-place education. 3. Shelter-in-place training drills. 4. Updates for community groups (e.g. CAPs, service clubs). • Respond to community concerns about the safety of industrial operations and about emergency response. • Maintain interface with the Hazardous Materials Commission. • Share information with the community, including: 1. Pacts on chemical-related hazards. 2. Ongoing risk management dialogues. • Plan and coordinate outreach events. • Publish aperiodic newsletter for non-CAER members. • Develop brochures for the community outreach about CAER. BOARD OF SUPERVISORS' REPORT CONTRA COSTA COUNTY'S COMMUNITY ALERT NETWORK Timely and accurate community notification is critical in the event of an emergency. In Contra Costa County the Health Services Department,the Office of Emergency Services and the Community Awareness and Emergency Response(CAER) group worked together to identify a combination of ways to effectively alert and inform the public in all types of emergencies. While researching the alert and notification tools available, it became clear that there was no one system to meet all notification needs. Because of this, an integrated approach of using a combination of local media, city owned radio stations; telephone calling system and eventually sirens was proposed and adopted by the County Board of Supervisors. This integrated approach became known as the Community Notification Network and officially went on line October 1, 1991. The primary tool of the Community Notification Network was the Community Alert Network, the telephone notification system. Its primary purpose,related to hazardous materials incidents was, and still is, to let people know when they need to take the protective action of Shelter-In- Place and help limit their exposure to hazardous materials. Community Alert Network Inc. (CAN), is a company based in Albany,New York which provides telephone alert and notification capabilities to Contra Costa County. In investigating the use of call down systems Community Alert Network was chosen for several reasons. One of the primary reasons was that CAN does not sell equipment. They sell a service. They maintain the necessary equipment, as well as the data base for the entire County,keep staff trained in operating the system around the clock, and take care of the calling based on one single call made to them. This system is activated by trained local emergency responders who call and inform the CAN operator of the area to be notified,what the appropriate message is and other necessary details. CAN does the calling as emergency responders handle ether important tasks related to the emergency ACTIVATION HISTORY Since going on line with CAN in 1991the system has been activated 57 times. The breakdown is as follows: • 21 times for chemical incidents; 20 times for public announcements of walkaways from the Marsh Creek Detention Facility; . 11 times for pre-arranged drills and tests of the system; 1 time for flooding; 1 time for a train derailment; 1 time for a lost child; 2 other times for miscellaneous purposes. WHO CANT ACTIVATE CAN There are 24 people trained and authorized to activate CAN for community notification purposes. Those people come primarily from Health Services (HS) and the Office of Emergency Services (OES). For hazardous materials incidents requiring Shelter-In-Place requests for activation of CAN may come from a facility or the Incident Commander and must go through the trained HS staff. If no request is made, but activation is appropriate, HS staff will activate the system. CAN activation for hazardous materials incidents is appropriate when a Community Warning System Level 3 incident is declared and Shelter- In-Place advised. Requests associated with all other types of emergencies go through the trained staff from OES. The exception to this, as it relates to community notification, is the Marsh Creek Detention Facility. Staff there is trained and authorized to go to CAN directly or through the Office of Emergency Services to notify the public around their facility that there has been an escape. NOTIFICATION AREA When the system is activated calls are made to an identified notification area. The notification area for hazardous materials incidents is typically the area downwind or closest to possible impact. The notification area for the Marsh Creek Detention Facility is the nearby surrounding community. During activation,phone numbers in the system are typically attempted three times. At the end of the calling session a fax is sent by CAN to the activating agency. Contained in this fax are all the phone numbers and addresses that were attempted and the results of the call to that number. Should the situation call for it, it is possible to request CAE's to call the numbers again that were busy each of the prior attempts. REST IT TS OF THE_CALLS Upon completion of a calling session CAN faxes a report to the activating agency detailing what occurred as the calls were made. The report shows every address and phone number attempted and whether the message was delivered or the number was busy, not answered or interrupted by an operator intercept tone possibly indicating a disconnected number. The report also details the number of calls that were made and the amount of time it took in addition to other details. WHO PAY F'OR CAN Contra Costa County industry pays for the annual contract fee for the CAN system. If the system is activated,the responsible party or the requesting agency, such as the Sheriff for the Marsh Creek Detention Facility, is billed for the activation cost. IMP YEMF.NTS EL ATF.I�}` TQ C With each activation of the CAN system, a review and evaluation is done to determine if there are ways to make its use even more effective. Listed below are some of the improvements that have been made as a result of and since going on line with CAN in October, 1991. County Notification Policy Developed in conjunction with CAER to assist in clarifying notification requirements already in existence and emphasize the importance of the speed of getting information to the community. Facility Incident Checklist Developed to speed information from the facility or Incident Commander to the HS Incident Response(IR) Team. This information helps determine whether CAN activation is appropriate. Notification Checklist Used by HS IR staff to help speed the process whereby CAN, media and thus the community are notified. Increased calling ability ® The number of calls that can be made atone time has increased from 25 to 140 and is soon to be increased to 200. Programmed Notification zones • Zones for most of the major refineries and chemical companies have been programmed into the CAN system to speed the decision making process and make calls in a priority order, working from the facility outward. Zones have also been set up around railroad lines through the City of Richmond and, as referenced before, around the Marsh Creek Detention Facility. If no programmed zone exists, street boundaries or an entire zip code are given to CAN and calls are made by streets in numeric and alphabetical order within those boundaries or zip code. Pre-recorded Messages in the System • Having pre-recorded messages saves having to record the message at the time of the incident, which delays getting the information out to the public. If a pre-recorded message is not appropriate, however, a message will be recorded at the time of the incident. As an example, during activations for the Marsh Creek Detention Facility a message is recorded at the time giving a description of the prisoner that escaped. Acquisition of the Unlisted Numbers and Addresses • With over 50% of phones in the county unlisted,the County sponsored legislation (SB 222 in 1994) allowing acquisition of unlisted numbers for the purpose of emergency notification by telephone calling systems. This legislation was the first of its bind in the nation. The system database now contains the entire 9--1-1 database and is updated monthly. • The County also sponsored legislation assuring the phone numbers can be Dept confidential under the Public Records Act. FOLLOW]UP TO PUBLIC CQNCER-N" REULAMING THE CANT Y TE After each hazardous materials incident where CAN activation has occurred it is not uncommon for Health Services to receive calls from people concerned that they did not receive a call from the system. Each of those calls is followed up on by Hazardous Materials staff. Staff first needs to determine if the person calling was actually located in the notification area. The system can make 144 calls at one time and those calls are focused downwind of a release or closest to potential impact. It is a common misperception that if a person can see something occurring, such as a large refinery fire, that they should get a call. This is not necessarily so. Once it has been determined that the person was in the notification area, the faxed report from CAN is checked for the specific address and phone number of concern. From the report it can be determined what the result of the calling attempts were. Prior to acquisition of the 9-1-1 data base most of the follow up determined that numbers in the notification area that were not called were because they were unlisted. Other follow up has found that people were on the phone each of the three attempts the system made to call. Less than five times since October 1, 1991 has staff followed up on calls and found that they should have received a call but could find no explanation as to why they did not. CANTANDLUM COMMUNITY WARNIti 7 SYS'CEM The CAN system is also one of the critical tools of the forthcoming Community Warning System (CWS). As a tool of the CWS, CAN will continue to be used in incidents requiring the protective action of Shelter-In-Place. In Shelter-In-Place situations sirens will sound to alert people outside to go in and seek additional information from radio and television. CAN will notify residents and businesses downwind or closest to potential impact of the protective action to take. In addition, the CWS will automatically notify the media, alert sensitive receptors (day care centers, hospitals, nursing homes and schools) through special radios called Emergency Alert Receivers and the Health Services' Incident Response Team members pagers. The CWS will allow automatic activation of CANT for those facilities that have programmed zones in the system. As the potential uses of the CWS expand to incidents other than hazardous materials releases,the most efficient way to use CAN will be evaluated. In the meantime, for incidents other than hazardous materials and for hazardous materials incident updates,the CAN system can still be activated independently of the CWS.