Army Chemical Review

WINTER 2016

Army Chemical Review presents professional information about Chemical Corps functions related to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, smoke, flame, and civil support operations.

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18 Army Chemical Review By Ms. Angela L. Hurst T he Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Pro- gram (CSEPP) is a key component of the Blue Grass Chemical Activity (BGCA), Richmond, Kentucky, mission to safely secure, store, and monitor the chemical stockpile to protect the workforce, the public, and the envi- ronment. "This program was created in 1985 when the U.S. Congress directed the destruction of the Army's chemical weapons inventory," said Mr. John D. Eggum, CSEPP man- ager for BGCA. "Since the beginning, the program goal has been to educate communities surrounding chemical stock- pile sites on ways to protect themselves and their property in the unlikely event of a chemical agent accident." The BGCA, part of the U.S. Army Chemical Materials Activity, Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, partners with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), the commonwealth of Kentucky, and 10 counties in cen- tral Kentucky that are located near the chemical stockpile. These agencies work together to increase public knowledge of protective actions, improve public warning capabilities, train emergency managers, and educate school and hospital personnel. The agencies also hold joint, full-scale exercises to improve response actions. "The CSEPP exercise is a great opportunity to test our re- sponse capabilities," said Lieutenant Colonel Scott D. Gould, BGCA commander. "Every year, this exercise presents a chance for the CSEPP community to pull together to provide an in-depth assessment of our abilities to protect the public." Chemical Accident–Incident Response Assistance (CAIRA) exercises and CSEPP exercises are conducted on a regular basis. Quarterly CAIRA exercises focus on the instal- lation response to a chemical accident or incident. The annu- al CSEPP exercise involves the entire CSEPP community, including FEMA, the commonwealth of Kentucky, and the 10 central Kentucky counties. "Exercises are extremely important to prepare BGCA re- sponse teams as well as the local community," Eggum said. "We hold quarterly CAIRA exercises and annual CSEPP exercises to test our response capabilities. Each time we ex- ercise, our response community refines its skills and learns new ways to improve established processes and procedures." The BGCA community participates in the annual, com- prehensive CSEPP exercise each September. Several teams make up the CSEPP exercise community, including exercise planning, simulation cell, exercise responder, and evalua- tion teams. The teams establish a primary operating loca- tion in central Kentucky and gather a few days before the exercise starts to finalize the details and consider any issues that could impact exercise effectiveness. The process starts with a planning team that considers possible events and the best scenario to involve all aspects of the CSEPP community, including schools, hospitals, emer- gency response personnel, and emergency management agencies. "Most people do not realize the incredible amount of work that is done behind the scenes to plan, execute, and evaluate the CSEPP exercise," said Mr. Robert Sharp, the CSEPP program liaison with Argonne National Laboratory. "We have very experienced people with a wealth of knowl- edge who are doing all they can to ensure a realistic, practi- cal exercise is developed so that each CSEPP community can protect their residents if there is a chemical accident on the installation." To start, the planning team determines the scenario. What type of accident or incident will occur? How many and what types of injuries should be simulated? Should complicating factors with weather or other interference be planned? Should an off-post incident be added to make the situation more complex? How many and what kind of inputs should be planned at various points in the simulation? "The great thing about this planning process is that it brings all aspects of the CSEPP community together to test various facets of response capabilities, both on and off the Army installation," said Sharp. "We are able to create sce- narios that test not only the Army's internal processes, but also the schools' capabilities to shelter in place, the hospi- tals' ability to respond to casualties with chemical agent in- juries, and each county's ability to inform and protect the community." Once the plan is in place, the simulation cell is recruited. The simulation cell is typically made up of 50 people who play multiple roles, including media personnel, elected of- ficials, community and Family members, environmental (Continued on page 21)

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