By Julie Johansen
The Emery County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC) learned about Conductive Composites at their regular meeting on Wednesday, April 24. The presentation was given by Justin Orth, Vice President of Operations at their plant, located at 830 East South Flat Road In Cleveland.
The company manufactures nickel-coated goods from carbon fibers. They produce items such as fibers, board goods, branched nickel strands. These are used in ready-to-use products, architectural products or shielded cases.
Because of the nature of their business, they have regular safety audits and are registered with the HS-007 emergency program. They have two designated safety officers on site at all times.
The chemical name used is nickel carbonyl, a colorless liquid that decomposes in air and is in very small amounts. They are located in an area with more than a two mile radius from any inhabitation. An 100% antidote for contamination is antabuse, but chemicals are kept away from everyone. The buildings are designed with emergency evacuation routes.
Following the Conductive Composites presentation, Mike Hansen with FEMA spoke about the county hazard plan and asked that municipalities update their emergency plans online.
Emery County Sheriff Tyson Huntington then gave a report to the group about the sheriff’s office. He emphasized the staff of 38 employees, which includes 21 patrol officers, seven correction officers, five dispatchers, three civilian staff and two that are now in school. He also reported that the largest number of calls they have to answer are 911 hangups.
The sheriff also described their canine officer and the work he does with Officer Smith. They have joined with the Grand County task force which made it possible to obtain the canine officer. Large amounts of drugs have been apprehended with his help.
Officer Jeremy Lake then spoke about emergency preparedness in Emery County. Although flooding is not expected, they do have sand bags on hand and would like the towns and cities to have some ready at their location as well. Jay Mark Humphrey, Water Conservancy District Manager, remarked that all reservoirs in the county would spill this summer, meaning the San Rafael River could be dangerously high for any river sports.