Community Outreach: Augusta-Richmond County

[From the Source - Fall 1997]

Over two years of planning resulted in a successful community outreach event in the Augusta-Richmond County area in October. Ten industries, in conjunction with state and local officials and the local emergency planning committee in the Augusta-Richmond County area, banded together and presented their Risk Management Plans to the community. The program consisted of oral presentations from industry and the local emergency planning committee, as well as industry information booths featuring printed materials.

Over 500 people from the community, industry, and local emergency planning committees from all across the U.S. attended this event. This is the first large scale effort of this kind in Georgia or the United States since Section 112(r) of the Clean Air Act was finalized in 1996. The ten participating companies are AC Industries, Amoco Polymers, Augusta Utilities, DSM Chemicals, International Paper, NutraSweet Company, Olin Corporation, PCS Nitrogen, Peridot Chemicals, and Procter & Gamble.

Section 112 (r) of the Clean Air Act requires that certain companies evaluate their accidental release and injury history, assess their chemicals, and prepare a worst case scenario in the form of a Risk Management Plan. The Augusta area has gone beyond what is required by law. Representatives from industry and the local emergency planning committee talked with the surrounding neighbors and community, held bus tours, held open houses to inform the community, and performed drills to be prepared in the case of an emergency.

The industries have also embraced pollution prevention. The combination of all of these efforts has resulted in community trust and support for the participating industries. As a result of going beyond compliance, the Augusta area benefits environmentally and economically from the close partnerships developed between industry, citizens, and local and state government. For more information, contact Pam Tucker at the Augusta-Richmond County Local Emergency Planning Committee 706/821-1155.