Bulk of nearly $1.5 million in Homeland Security funds went to response team

About $1.5 million in federal Homeland Security grants has made its way to Southeast Missouri since 2002. Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Sikeston received the bulk of the funds -- over $1.2 million -- because together they form one of the state's 28 Homeland Security Response Teams, the SEMO Hazmat Team.

The remainder went to various Bollinger, Perry and Scott County police, fire and rescue agencies that support and are supported by the Cape Girardeau, Jackson and Sikeston SEMO Hazmat Team and for their own emergency response to their local communities.

Before the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, federal funding for emergency response teams was distributed to hazardous materials response teams, said Susie Stonner, representative for the Missouri State Emergency Management Agency.

After 9-11, law enforcement and medical components were added to further enhance existing hazmat teams, Stonner said, and in 2006 the state was "regionalized," meaning all agencies within a particular region work as a unit through a committee referred to as a Homeland Security Response Team.

"We went to teams that had enhanced hazmat training and capabilities to be the nucleus for the Homeland Security Response Teams," she said. The SEMO Hazmat Team was one.

SEMO Hazmat, along with other agencies in Southeast Missouri, is responsible for covering a 13-county region corresponding to the Missouri State Highway Patrol's Troop E. Those counties are Bollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Dunklin, Iron, Madison, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Ripley, Scott, Stoddard and Wayne.

The enhanced hazmat teams in Missouri, such as the SEMO Hazmat Team, applied for and received federal grant money through the Department of Homeland Security. That money was used for training and equipment, Stonner said, with the agreement the teams would respond out of their region if emergency situations warranted.

Funding has allowed for otherwise out-of-reach big-ticket items such as the $400,000 hazardous-material response vehicle and accompanying support trailer purchased in 2003, said Jackson fire chief Brad Golden, one of the SEMO Hazmat Team coordinators.

The vehicle is usually stationed at the Jackson Fire Department or the Sikeston Department of Public Safety, but as with all equipment purchased with Homeland Security funds, it is available to any agency in the 13-county district and belongs to the entire region.

The vehicle has been used most in training exercises all over the region, Golden said.

The grant money also has paid for personal protective equipment, such as biohazard suits that protect the wearer from various chemicals and air tanks for first responders, specially outfitted vehicles for search and rescue missions; testing equipment for hazardous chemicals and gasses; radio and communication equipment; and medical supplies and medications.

Both Golden and co-coordinator Drew Juden, Sikeston Department of Public Safety chief, said outfitting, sustaining and continued training is a federal initiative that has outfitted the SEMO Hazmat Team with state-of-the-art equipment and training it never could have afforded on its own.

"It probably put us 10 to 15 years ahead of where we would have been," Juden said.

He added that much of the equipment and training have been used to handle everyday emergencies and is not just sitting around waiting for a major catastrophe.

Most of the equipment and training has been put to use over the years handling and disposing of dangerous chemicals used to manufacture methamphetamine -- such as anhydrous ammonia -- when police are shutting down clandestine meth labs, Juden said.

"In today's world, no one municipality can be prepared to handle every possible incident that might occur," said Cape Girardeau fire chief Rick Ennis. "It's very important to regionalize and share sources. Tax dollars are tight. We have to spend that money in the most efficient manner."

carel@semissourian.com

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