Plan in place in case of Beaver Valley Power Station emergency

SHIPPINGPORT – An emergency plan is in place in case of a disaster incident at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station.

In a brochure to county residents, the Beaver County Emergency Management Agency said there are different emergency situations in which residents are required to shelter-in-place, and those were they are required to evacuate.

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Alerting residents to an emergency

EMA has worked to install Alert and Notification System (ANS) outdoor warning sirens across the county, with the sirens being upgraded to larger, more powerful ones over the last few years.

In addition, residents are able to sign up to get electronic notifications to notify them of emergency events at the Power Station, and more, as sirens function as an outdoor warning piece of the ANS, and are not meant to be heard indoors.

Residents can go to the county website, beavercountypa.gov, and look for the “Beaver County Emergency Alerts” link.

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The brochure states the alert signal, for an incident at the Power Station, is a steady three-minute signal. The sirens are tested once a year.

Following the siren, residents can tune into either the radio or TV, in order to be advised of what action must be taken.

The radio emergency alert stations (EAS) are WBVP 1230 AM, KDKA 1020 AM, and WMBA 1460 AM.

The EAS TV stations are WPXI channel 11, WTAE channel 4, and KDKA channel 2.

Local municipal police and fire departments may also conduct neighborhood notifications using mobile public address systems and door-to-door notifications.

There will also be a public information hotline during an emergency, with the number being 724-773-6767.

If residents are asked to evacuate, they are asked to leave their livestock on farms, with arrangements to help feed and water them to be coordinated by the EMA or other emergency agencies.

Regular pets are not allowed in a care center, while service animals are allowed.

Evacuation areas and zones

The brochure offers different evacuation routes and locations for each county municipality in the Power Station 10-mile emergency planning zone.

Aliquippa, Hopewell Township, South Heights, Racoon Township and Independence Township residents would go to the South Park Fairgrounds; Beaver, Bridgewater, Brighton Township, Vanport Township and Fallston residents would go to Slippery Rock University; Chippewa Township, Glasgow, Industry, Midland, Ohioville, Patterson Heights, Patterson Township and South Beaver Township residents would go to Mohawk Area Junior-Senior High School in Lawrence County; Center Township, Frankfort Springs, Georgetown, Greene Township, Hanover Township, Hookstown, Monaca, Potter Township and Shippingport residents would go to the Washington County Fairgrounds.

Lawrence County Public Safety Director Chad Strobel said Lawrence County, for example, acts as a “support county,” with the county’s role being to take in Beaver County residents in case of an incident at the plant and/or a contamination leak.

He said residents, for their coverage area, would be directed to the monitoring and decontamination site at the school in Bessemer.

Residents would be checked for any radioactive material on them, and if so, would be thoroughly cleaned.

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From there, residents would either be offered temporary shelter through the American Red Cross, or would be allowed to leave if they have somewhere else to go.

A practice exercise was held during the week of June 6, between the two counties, in order to better prepare for any type of emergency situation.

In case of an evacuation happening during a school day, students in the 10-mile zone would be sent to another school district.

Aliquippa School District students would be sent to Independence Middle School, Beaver Area School District students would be sent to Slippery Rock High School, Blackhawk School District students would be sent to Blackhawk High School, Center Valley School District students, Beaver County Career and Technical School students and South Side Area School District students would be sent to Canon-McMillan High School, Hopewell Area School District students would be sent to South Park High School, Midland Borough School District students, the Lincoln Park Performing Arts Charter School students, and the Western Beaver School District students would be sent to the Union Area School District in Lawrence County.

South Heights students will remain in their designated school area in the Ambridge Area School District, while Fallston students will remain in their designated school area in the New Brighton Area School District.

Pick-up points for emergency transportation

The brochure states if a resident needs a ride/transportation, they can go to different pick-up points.

Aliquippa residents can go to the parking lot beside Dunkin’ on Brodhead Road, Aliquippa Elementary School, the Aliquippa Shopping Center, and West Aliquippa on Main and Third Street.

Beaver residents can go to Trinity Lutheran Church, SS. Peter & Paul Church, First Presbyterian Church, College Square School, King Beaver Apartments and the Beaver Volunteer Fire Department.

Bridgewater residents can go to Bridge and Market streets, the Union Building and Loan on Leopard Lane, Bruster’s Ice Cream on Riverside Drive and Bert’s Wooden Indian on Leopard Lane.

Brighton Township residents can go to any of the three fire stations.

Center Township residents can go to the Fire Company No. 1 building or the main entrance of the Beaver Valley Mall.

Chippewa Township residents can go to the municipal building, the Methodist Church on Darlington Road, St. Monica Catholic Church on Darlington Road, and, if in season, Camp Baker.

Fallston residents can go to the Fallston Borough Building or Bradys Run Grill.

Frankfort Springs residents can go to the borough building; Georgetown residents can go to Hookstown Volunteer Fire Station number 2; Glasgow residents can go to Pleasant Hill United Methodist Church; and Greene Township residents can go to the Hookstown Grange Hall.

Hanover Township residents can go to the Hanover Township Fire Department and the Hanover Fire Department and Hookstown residents can go to the Hookstown Free Methodist Church.

Hopewell Township residents can go to the Green Garden Shopping Center, the Crestmont Shopping Center, the Hopewell Shopping Center, the Fire Department No. 1 building, the Fire Department No. 2 building and the Sunoco A-Plus at 5 Points.

Independence Township residents can go to the township municipal building; Industry residents can go to The Willows and the municipal authority building on Engle Road; and Midland residents can go to Lincoln Park, Presentation Church, the Senior Citizen Building and the Midland Heights Community Building.

Monaca residents can go to Monacatootha Apartments, St. John’s Church, the former Fourth Ward school, Central Valley Middle School and the AC Edgecombe Apartments.

Ohioville residents can go to Four-Mile U.P. Church, the borough building, New Salem Presbyterian Church and the Ohioville Fire Department.

Patterson Heights residents can go to the Patterson Heights Fire Department; Patterson Township residents can go to Franciscan Manor and Riverview United Methodist Church; Potter Township residents can go to township municipal building; Raccoon Township residents can go to the township municipal building and the township firehall; Shippingport residents can go to the Shippingport Community Building; and South Beaver Township residents can go to the South Beaver Fire Department building.

South Heights residents can go to the South Heights Firehall, the intersection of Crawford and Highland avenues, and the intersection of Hill Road and Gibson Avenue.

Vanport Township residents can go to the Tamaqui Village Social Hall, the Van Buren Social Hall, Vanport Presbyterian Church and the I.B.E.W. building on Sassafras Lane.

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Nicholas Vercilla is a staff reporter for the Beaver County Times. He can be reached at nvercilla@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Beaver County Times: Plan in place in case of Beaver Valley Power Station emergency