03/28/2024
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What if there was a major chemical spill at the Chemours Fayetteville Works plant that straddles the Bladen and Cumberland County borders off N.C. 87? Are emergency agencies in both counties and the plant prepared?

The organizations will find out Saturday morning when Bladen County Emergency Services personnel will join staff from Cumberland County and Chemours for a full-scale training exercise that will simulate a chemical release.

“Certainly, the major objective of this exercise is making sure our policies and protocols in working with Cumberland County, as well as Chemours fire and EMS folks, fit nicely into one organizational structure,” Bladen County EMS director Bradley Kinlaw said. “Several things like making sure we have the same radio channels that we communicate on.”

Kinlaw said about 25 people from Bladen County should participate in Saturday’s three-hour training session. There will be representatives from EMS, fire and law enforcement.

“We train with them once or twice a year,” Kinlaw said, “but nothing on this big of a scale.”

Other agencies participating in training event include the Cumberland County Department of Social Services and Department of Public Health; American Red Cross, Cape Fear Valley EMS, Bladen County EMS and local fire departments from both counties. Students from Campbell University will portray citizens affected by the incident.

The event is sponsored by the Cumberland County Local Emergency Planning Committee, which received an $8,300 Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness Grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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