Washington County Joins Alert System

The Washington County Local Emergency Planning Committee held their first quarterly meeting. The biggest announcement was the introduction of Washington County joining the alert system Regroup. Dan Harvey, Deputy Director of Public Safety for Washington County says that the alert system will allow residents to receive notifications of emergency situations in their neighborhood. Alerts can be for weather, chemical spills or active shooters. He said that in just over a week of availability, nearly 2000 people have signed up for the service. Access to the system can be found on the Washington County Webpage under the Stay Informed, Stay Ready tab on the home page. In other public safety business, the group discussed two major incidents that involved a chlorine leak at the Monongahela Sewage Treatment Plant and the recent explosion at the Langeloth Metallurgical plant. Officials also wish to remind companies that their Tier II chemical facility reports are now due. Harvey says that of 626 active facilities, only 16 have reported. Facilities have until April 1 to report.