The principle duty of the LEPC shall be to evaluate, update, exercise, and activate the Charles County Emergency Operations Plan.
- Charles County has an Emergency Operations Plan that is exercised and activated as needed by our Local Emergency Planning Committee or LEPC depending upon the nature of the emergency or incident. The LEPC works with all levels of government to deal with emergency preparedness, whether it is a hurricane, hazardous material incident, mass casualty accident, power outage, etc.
- The Emergency Operations Plan has been in force long before September 11, 2001. It is very fluid and is subject to State and Federal guidelines, and is coordinated and in communication with State and Federal agencies as required.
- Before September 11, 2001, the LEPC met on a monthly basis addressing emergency preparedness issues. Now the LEPC meets on a weekly basis to address the terrorism issue, and is prepared to increase the frequency as necessary.
- The Emergency Operations Plan has standard procedures to deal with different types of emergencies, including terrorist incidents. Those procedures have not changed because of September 11, 2001. The Local Emergency Planning Committee is integrating and updating scenarios into the plan as they arise and information is available.
- The Emergency Operations Plan already has a system to alert/inform the public via the media, reverse 911, door-to-door contact, our web site, and the 24-hour automated response system.
- The LEPC is also developing an informational insert to be distributed via the local newspapers in November to provide important phone numbers for assistance and instructions for dealing with potential threats, and sources for up-to-date information.