Huntington, WV (HNN) — “There were a lot of people trying hard, but too many hands in the fire,” explained Carol Miller (District 15 R ), a member of the legislature infra-structure interim committee, in regard to assessment of the Institute Bayer CropScience plant explosion August 28.

After listening at a meeting accessing government response, Miller suggested the incident represented “a perfect storm” for the Kanawha Valley. Eleven different police and fire departments responded.

Assessing the short-coming of handling the incident, Miller asked: “”Where did all that money go that we got after 9/11? Do we not have a plan in place?”

The response: Yes, but it did not work.

Miller called the meeting a productive examination of the “government aspect.” Comparing the learning curve to Katrina, she said you “regrouping and figure out the things you did wrong.” She added, “they did much better on the last hurricane.”

Applying some of the knowledge gained from the experience, the legislator worried about the states roads. “With our mountainous roads, it would be easy for something terrible to occur. We have to have [a better] plan in place.”

One constituent called after the incident suggesting that travelers using Interstate 64 were not warned soon enough about the road’s closure and afforded an opportunity to take an alternate route. The=2 0caller suggested that portable flashing signs could have warned motorists of the closure and afforded them an opportunity to exit before hitting the bottleneck of trucks and cars.

“We did put some of those up,” Miller said, “but I think it was a lot later” meaning motorists did not learn in a timely manner to expect a five to seven hour delay.

Kelli Sobonya (District 16 – R) explained that she has shown real estate within a viewing range of the Bayer plant. “Citizens need to be protected. You want to make sure they are not breathing hazardous chemicals.”

Full Story: http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/080914-rutherford-columnsbayerexplosion.html