ML20039G232
| ML20039G232 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Site: | Zimmer |
| Issue date: | 01/07/1982 |
| From: | Kennedy H ZIMMER AREA CITIZENS - ZIMMER AREA CITIZENS OF KY |
| To: | |
| References | |
| ISSUANCES-OL, NUDOCS 8201150406 | |
| Download: ML20039G232 (8) | |
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_E_ryTgu Coluemu.suun CX: JET,EF UNITED STATES OF AMERICA U-
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NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ATOMIC SAFETY AND LICENSIN'i BOARD CAO In the Matter of cr:q cf Ecr i^3.i;yd lQp.
CINCINNATI GAS & ELECTRIC DOCKET NO.
50-358 COMPANY, et al.
(William H.
Zimmer Nuclear Power Station)
- APPLICATION FOR AN OPERATING-ACSNSE 4
DIRECT TESTIMONY OF HAROLD KENNEDY ADDRESSING g
THE ZIMMER AREA CITIZENS-ZIMMER AREA CITIZENS f
OF KENTUCKY CONTENTIONS 20b (4); 20c (2), (3), (5)
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Harold Kennedy, being first duly cautioned and sworn, as my testimony state as follows.
I am the Chief of Police for the Village of New Richmond situated in Clermont County, Ohio.
My business address is 102 Willow Street, New Richmond, Ohio. For the past ten years I have been the Chief of Police for the Village of New Richmond.
Before becoming the Chief
~of Police for the Village of New Richmond I was engaged as a police
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officer for a period of 12 years in the following capacities: as a patrolman for Mason, Ohio; the Chief of Police for the Village of Owensville in Clermont County, Ohio and as a detective for the Cler-mont Sheriff's office.
Before that time I was employed as a member of the federal security force for the Veterans Administration and prior to that employment I served in the military police section of if the armed forces of the United States for a period of five years. I have been a resident of Clermont County, Ohio for the past eighteen years and I am familiar with the roadways and the residences of Clermont County, Ohio, especially in the townships of Pierce, Ohio, 8201150406 820107 A
PDR ADOCK 05000358 T
Monroe, Washington and Franklin.
I am generally f miTiar with the Clermont County Radiological a
Emergency Plan and I have attended numerous meetings during the planning stages resulting in the present plan, as well as training sessions and drills. I have been afforded the opportunity of discussing the current plan and its implementation with other police officers and members of the volunteer fire and life squads.
I was also involved in the November 18, 1981 exercise-drill to review a portion of the plan.
At the request of Kenneth Conover I directed that several barricades be constructed by the New Richmond Street Department and these barricades are stored by the Village of New Richmond.
I have not to date been. advised as to how, where or under what conditions these barricades will be used.
I am from past experience knowledgeable:as.to.thereaction to be anticipated by the populations of New Richmond, Moscow and the towns hips involved in the plume exposure pathway of the Zimmer Station.
Ny. experience of the past is based upon the conduct of those populations during the circumstances of tornadoes and the flooding of the Ohio River.
Although great effort has been expended in the past to advise and educate the public as to the meaning of sirens :and the protective action to be undertaken by the public in the event of tornado or flood, the public nevertheless has failed to take protective action as advised.
In each ' instance the public has commenced to use and overload the telephone system servicing this area to lodge inquiry as to whether it is a drill or an actual event and it has been very difficult to get the public to follow police advice for,
evacuation during the flooding of the Ohio River. In the event of an accident at the Zimmer Station telephone communication will be rendered useless in this area serviced by 553 and 557 prefixes due to the public's lodging telephone calls to police, fire and life squads, as well as the New Richmond schools located within the Village of New Richmond and the Monroe Elementary School, to make inquiry and to seek direction as to responsive action and to seek their children during school attendance, resulting in overload of the existing telephone service lines.
I am aware of the existence of the document " Circle of Safety" and other proposed publications to educate the public as to their responsive actions in the event of an accident at the Zimmer Station.
In the great majority of instances such publication will-not be read by the population, or if read, not understood.
By way of example, the current plan calls for the distribution of green cards to be placed in the door or mailbox of the residence, or in the absence of the green card, the placement of a towel at the residence to advise that the occupants have been notified of a Zimmer emergency.
Based upon past experience dealing with the subject population only 10 percent of the residents will affix either the green card or towel and will otherwise be most slow in responding to a Zimmer plant emergency.
The first response of this population will be to telephone the New Richmoi.d Police Department to inquire as to the meaning of the siren, why police cars are making announcements over the vehicle's public address system and what the individual is to do and where that individual is to go.
In the event of a Zimmer emergency the population involved in taking responsive and protective action will overreact, will.not follow police and other response group direction and will go througn erected barricades.
The New Richmond High School, Middle School and-Elementary School is located at one site within tha Village of New Richmond.
- Parents, although advised and directed not to go to the school to obtain their child, or children, and to permit the school personncl to bus the school students, will proceed to the school to transport their children from the area and this will create traffic blockage and congestion for which there is an insufficient number of police officers to direct or control such activity.
The New Richmond school site is particulerly vulnerable to both traffic blockage and incident of vehicular accident.
On one occasion during the morning in December, 1981, a vehicle on bald tires attempted to travel the hill servicing this school site and became lodgsd across both lanes of the roadway halting all vehicular traffic to the schcol site,
' including severa~1 school buses for ap rp oximately one Lour and twenty minutes before that vehicle could be removed and traffic resumed.
1 During the snow accun.ulation in January 1977 and 1978 all roads affected and involved'in Zimmer planning were impassable for a period of four days and thereafter only limited vehicular travel was possible.
During those periods it was necessary to evacuate individuals by sled and four-wheel drive vehicleswere not able to travel the roadways.
During the recent snowfall of six inches in December, 1981, U.S.
52 was rendered limithd?< for' vehicular travel for approximately nine hours intil snow removal equipment occupied on interstate roadways was available.
Township and county roadways are rendered limitedly" passible fbr sewral desfollowing snow accumulations because of the inability of '
snow removal equipment to be available to clear those roadways.
With-in the area affected by Zimmer planning there are numerous residences services by country lanes of 200 feet or more leading from township, county and state roadways to the residence.
These lanes remained uncleared for several days folicwing large accumulations of snow experienced in this area on an annual basis permitting only foot or sled travel to those residences.
In the event of an accident at the Zimmer Station during or after large snowfall incident to this area the majority of the population would be totally unable to evacuate by private vehicle for a period of a few to several days depended upon the degree of snow accumulation.
For several hours following ice etorms, again occasioned in this area on a yearly basis, no vehicular traffic would be in movement for several hours to a day, except four-wheel drive, er similar, vehicles.
The character of the township, county and state roadways, and portions of U.S.
52, are such that in optimum weather conditions evacuation traffic would be slow and difficult to control.
This is
'due to the narrow roadways without berm, or shoulder, in several
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instances and the numerous intersections which are present, as well as steep and winding roadways.
I am unaware of any proviaions for the removal of disabled vehicles blocking roaduays, whether that disability is to due to vehicular mishap or operational failure. A few to many disabled vehicles to be experienced during the course of
' any evacuation of the population considered by the emergency plan will block, restrict and destroy any effective and timely evacuation of the population.
Portions of Moscow, Ohio and for an approximate distance of four miles east of the Zimmer Station and including the Village of Neville,.
Ohio, there are blank, or dead spots, where there can be no radic transmissions from and to mobile and base radios.
This will greatly curtail radio broadcasting tc emergency support grcups in and near the Zimmer Station.
I am given to understand that a radio antenna is to be erected to remove this circumstance, but to the date of executing this testimony statement no antenna has been erected and I am unaware of what, if any, obligation is present for such an erection or that it will correct this problem.
The Clermont Emergency Plan in several respects is depended upon the availability and involvement of volunteer personnel, especially fire and life squad personnel.
During evening and night hours it has been my experience that such volunteer personnel are available, but during the day hours when most of those volunteer personnel are present at their jobs difficulties have been experienced in obtaining fire or life squad personnel, involving periods of more than one-half hour to several hours before response. During conversation with fire and life squads volunteers involved in Zimmer planning, the majority of those volunteers have indicated that they will first evacuate their families and then decide whether to return and assume emergency response functions set forth in the plans.
Many such volunteers have been advised and are under the impression that they will be afforded sufficient time to evacuate their families
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before being called upon to engaged in any emergency response activity.
In the event of an accident at Zimmer during the working day very i[any,volunteerswillbepresenttoassumethedutyassigned
- few, to them by the plan. In most instances volunteers will not repond but will assist their families in evacuation.
t Prior to the November 18, 1981, exercise-drill, I and other personnel involved in emergency response roles were advised as early as April and no later than May, 1981, that the drill-exercise was to be conducted on November 18, 1981.
In preparation for that exercise-drill I assigned an extra dispatcher to assist in the drill and several volunteer personnel took the day off from their regular employment to participate.
This preparation and participation in a known exercise presented no indication of what the response would be or the manner in which the plan could be implemented. The only person identified to me to as being a monitor of the New Richmond i rvolvement in that drill-exercise was an employee of the Stone &
Webster Engineering firm. Even with the additional dispatcher it was most difficult to maintain the required paper work and to correctly transmit messages.-
I involved two dispatchers during the November 18th drill because I knew a single dispatcher could not handle both the drill and the routine business of the New Richmond Police Department.
There are not a sufficient number of police officers in the county and no reliance can be placed upon volunteer personnel to implement an evacuation to protect the population involved.
Therehas been and will continue to be a lack of cooperation and response of and between emergency response personnel. With the number of police officers, the circumstances of the roadways in the affected areas of the
~ county, the nature and chara'cter of the population, the situation of varying weather conditions, and the large number of volunteer personal and the lack of dependibility of those volunteers, the attitude and fear of the population, whether correct or not, as to 7-
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4 the presence of the Zimmer Station, together with the planning and training to date, the difficulties of communication devices, the response of the population, and the general attitude of emergency response personnel all render the Clermont County Plan as not being capable of being implemented in a timely fashion to protect the health, safety and well-being of the affected population.
L 4
HAROLD XENNEDY /
Sworn to and subscribed in my presence this 'l4 day of January, 1982.
b-c-t-4 Notary Public MAXINE 5. LOUX hetary Pubhc. State of Ohio py Commission D9 ts lan. 3. M k
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