Chemical Weapons Storage: Communities Are Not Prepared to Respond to Emergencies

GAO discussed the Army's Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program (CSEPP), which it established to improve emergency response in communities near its chemical weapons storage sites. GAO noted that: (1) the Army coordinates its chemical emergency response planning with the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA); (2) many communities near Army chemical weapons stockpile sites lack the capability to quickly alert emergency management officials, responders, and residents of chemical emergencies; (3) CSEPP emphasizes evacuation over sheltering as an emergency response option, but has done little to help communities plan for sheltering, even though sheltering is frequently the best available response option; (4) CSEPP has not determined what protective gear would be necessary for first responders to a chemical emergency; (5) local emergency medical capabilities may be inadequate to handle a chemical emergency; (6) CSEPP management is fragmented and has yet to meet management goals it set in March 1990; and (7) although FEMA has administered about $130 million in CSEPP funds, it cannot accurately account for how it spent those funds.