Emergency officials in the Tri-County area are forming a new group to boost information sharing and planning.
The Tri-County Local Emergency Planning Committee has been meeting since November representing fire, law enforcement, health and hospital officials. Dawn Cook chairs the group and also directs the Tazewell County Emergency Management Agency. She says the idea is to combine planning efforts across a larger area:
“We would each be doing this in our county anyway. So let’s merge our efforts and the dollars to kind of leverage more for each of us to do a little bit better in our planning and preparation.”
Cook says the group’s main focus is to keep track of hazardous chemical reports across facilities in the tri-county area. She says the group also plans to hire a consultant to help keep track of hazardous materials:
“What kind of chemicals are coming in and out of your county. Also looking at doing some mapping of where are our schools and where are our high-risk facilities.”
Cook says the Tri-County Local Emergency Planning Committee is still adding members and will work on crafting its bylaws in the coming weeks.