By WAYNE STEWART

Ken Bratz has been named co-chairman of the Anderson County Local Emergency Planning Committee.

The committee is part of a federal mandated program established in the 1980s to increase public awareness and knowledge of hazardous chemicals present in the community and the release of chemicals into the environment.

Anderson County’s LEPC was formed in the mid-1990s, according to Emergency Management Coordinator Schelby Wells. In the past the committee has been real active and is responsible for bringing the NOAA weather radar to the county, but the LEPC hasn’t been real active over the past few years.

“With Ken on the LEPC it will function in a manner it was intended to function,” said Anderson County Judge Linda Bostick Ray, who is the chairman of the LEPC.

The main focus of the LEPC, according to Wells, will be:

• Public education and community awareness (of hazardous chemicals.)

• Emergency response and security.

• Compliance, and

• Emergency warning systems.

The LEPC will be made of people from industries in the county, governmental members, representatives from the media, homeowners group, medical and health professionals, members from local school districts and people from various concerned groups will be appointed or elected to serve on the committee.

“We have an enormous amount of pipelines in this county and in the city of Palestine,” Wells said. “There is a lot of hazardous (materials) that travel roadways, there’s a lot of hazardous (materials) on rail.

“There are many things we need to be aware of and encourage the public to prepare (in case of an emergency.)”

The number of businesses, and other entities dealing with hazardous chemicals number in the hundreds in the county.

“It ranges from oil and gas companies to feed stores,” Bratz noted.

Wells said all entities with hazardous chemicals are required to file Tier II reports that identify the type, quantity and where the chemicals are stored.

“For the past five years my office has been the main office that dealt with the reports,” Wells said. “With the committee members these reports will be brought before a lot more eyes.”

With the changing of the committees and his addition to them, Bratz said the LEPC is getting, “new life breathed into it.”

Entities dealing with hazardous chemicals are expected to have plans on how to deal with problems. Wells said it is not the LEPC’s place to devise plans for industries and other groups that deal with hazardous chemicals, just make sure the plans they have in place are adequate.

“Most industries have very thorough plans,” Wells said.

One area involvement Ray wanted to focus on were area schools.

“All of our schools have a hazardous chemical plan in place,” Ray said. “We (LEPC) don’t want to interfere with their plans, we just want to know what the plan is.”

With all of these resources in place, Wells said the LEPC would then be in a position to, “inform the public and concerned officials of hazards in the community and work with them to mitigate any potential emergency or disaster.”

People willing to serve on the LEPC are urged to call Wells at 903-723-7813, Bratz at 903-723-4766 or Palestine Emergency Management Coordinator Randall Shoulders at 903-731-8465.