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By Echo Menges
The Scotland County and Knox County Local Emergency Planning Committees (LEPC) have been combined to form the Northeast Local Emergency Planning District (LEPD). The district’s second joint meeting was held at Keith’s Cafe in Memphis last week on Thursday, August 31, 2023.
The first Northeast LEPD meeting was held at the Knox County Community Center in Edina under the guidance of representatives of the Missouri Emergency Response Commission on June 27.
Currently, the executive board of the newly established district includes Chairperson Carol York of Newark, interim Vice-Chair Phillip Spory of Edina, and interim Secretary/ Treasurer Echo Menges of Edina.
Last week’s meeting did not have enough members in attendance to form a quorum and the seven attendees spent the meeting discussing the establishment of a PO Box in Rutledge near the Knox and Scotland County line, and ways to bring more Scotland County stakeholders to the table for the purposes of emergency planning.
LEPC’s and LEPD’s are responsible for preparing a local hazardous materials emergency response plan, serves as a repository for local hazardous materials information, and performs outreach functions to increase hazardous materials awareness. LEPC membership consists of local professionals representing occupational categories such as firefighting, law enforcement, emergency management, health, and/or transportation. It also includes members of community organizations and local citizens, according to information provided by MERC.
The LEPC is a federally mandated, state supervised entity. The role of the LEPD is to form a partnership with local governments and industries as a resource for enhancing hazardous materials preparedness.
Who Makes Up the LEPC/D?
Elected local officials
Law enforcement
Emergency management
Fire department
Citizens
Facility representatives
Media
Emergency medical services
Health Department and hospitals
Community Organizations
Video recordings of the June 27 and August 31 Northeast LEPD meetings are available online via the NEMOnews.net Facebook page. The next public meeting is scheduled to be held on Thursday, October 26, 2023, at the Rutledge Community Center at 6:00 p.m.
