Category: Newspapers (Page 10 of 18)

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: March 30, 1979
Title: Nuclear Dangers Doubted
Author: Carmen Brutto, Staff Writer

Officials of the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said Thursday on-site radiation conditions continue on Three Mile Island with “no danger” to persons residing in the off-site area.

They were joined by Gov. Dick Thornburgh who told a press conference that area residents should not disrupt their daily routine in the aftermath of the failure of a turbine at Unit 2 in the nuclear generating plant on Wednesday.

Thomas Gerusky, director of the Department of Environmental Resource’s Bureau of Radiological Protection, said radiation levels in Goldsboro decreased at selected spots from 20 millirems per hour at 6:30 a.m. Thursday to one millirem per hour at 2 p.m.

Gerusky also said that milk samples taken from seven cows on area farms found one having an iodine concentrate of 20 picocuries per liter. In the fallout from a Chinese nuclear bomb explosion several years ago, Gerusky said, the picocuries per liter “measured in the hundreds.”

“I believe, at this point, that there is no cause for alarm, nor any reason to disrupt…daily routine, nor any reason to feel that the public health has been effected by events on Three Mile Island,” Thornburgh said. “This applies to pregnant women; this applies to little children; and this applies to our food supply.”

THORNBURGH commented on what he called a “conflicting” array of information being fed the public and added that “I feel that I have succeeded” in separating fact from fiction on the more important questions.

“While the danger is under control at this time, it is very important that all of us remain alert and informed,” the governor said. “We will continue to do everything we can to see that this is done.”

Dr. Charles Gallina, NRC investigator, and James Higgins, NRC reactor inspector, said conditions on the island and in the area were steadily improving.

While the reactor heat was stabilizing, Higgins said, there was no estimate on how long the Metropolitan Edison Co. must wait before it reached a cold shutdown area.

Gallina said test flights in the vicinity, as much as 10 miles to the north, found contamination of about two-tenths of one percent of a millirem per hour. Ground checks found contamination “below detectable activity,” he said.

Gallina said release rates of radiation at the building housing the contaminated water “have dropped drastically.” He added that radiation emissions from the area were only a problem on the site.

“There are no off-site dangers at present,” Gallina said. “There is a logistical problem for people working on site. Based on what we have been able to determine, there is no danger off-site.

“There is a danger for workers from radiation. We respect it; we do not fear it. We do the job as it has to be done.”

The off-site areas have a normal background radiation reading of 100 millirems a year, according to Gerusky. He said a typical chest or dental X-ray exposes the patient to 30 millirems of radiation. Some areas in northeastern Pennsylvania, he said, maybe have normal background radiation of 200 millirems per year because of uranium deposits.

ASKED WHY the off-site readings on radiation fluctuated, Gallina described the contaminants as moving in a cloud which disperses under atmospheric conditions. He also said that the radiation from the nuclear plant emissions differs from an atomic bomb explosion in that the former has a shorter life, and the latter’s staying power contaminates areas.

Thornburgh was asked for his assessment of the impact the failure at the Three Mile Island facility might have on the development of nuclear power in the country.

“Anytime you have an accident that indicates the systems are not infallible, it causes a review process,” he said. “I and others are going to want to be assured by a thorough investigation that what occurred here is not some basic fault in the mechanism (for) making nuclear power. I don’t think it ‘tolls’ the use of nuclear power, but shows we can’t run pell-mell into a form of energy we don’t have a handle on.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Bubble Shrinks-Maybe
Author: Richard Roberts, Staff Writer

A federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission official Monday expressed cautious optimism that a hazardous gas bubble inside the Unit 2 reactor vessel at Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station may be decreasing in size and may be less potentially explosive than previously feared.

Harold Denton, director of the NRC’s Office of Reactor Regulation, said at a news conference at Middletown Borough Hall that initial mathematical computations show a “dramatic decrease in bubble size.”

But he declined to say the situation is no longer serious. He also declined to say whether an evacuation of area residents still might be required.

The bubble, composed mostly of hydrogen gas, was estimated to be 80 cubic feet on Monday, compared to 850 cubic feet “a few days back,” he said. The bubble is considered a major stumbling block to cooling down the damaged reactor core.

“The equation used to calculate the bubble size is sort of a first-order approximation. It’s shown a dramatic decrease in bubble size,” he said.

The new figure “is certainly reason for optimism,” he said. “It is certainly going the direction that I’d like to see.”

But Denton cautioned that the figure may not be accurate because some influencing factors, or “effects” were not taken into consideration. He said the apparent dramatic change in the size of the gas bubble “has caused me some skepticism.”

“I don’t want to stampeded into concurring that the bubble is actually this small,” he said. “We’re trying to do more sophisticated analysis to be sure that the equations that are used to calculate the bubble size properly include all effects.

“We didn’t focus on the accuracy of that calculation as long as it wasn’t changing. I’m having the staff right now look into the details of that number, and I hope to be able to agree with it or not in the near future.”

Denton could not explain the reason for the apparent change in the bubble size, adding that there was no change or acceleration in efforts to remove dissolved gas from the primary coolant.

“I didn’t expect such a rapid change, and that’s one reason I want to carefully look at it,” he said.

Denton said new calculations show that the rate of oxygen production inside the reactor vessel is less than he reported on Sunday. A mixture of oxygen and hydrogen in certain proportions can be highly explosive.

Both hydrogen and oxygen are being produced continually in the reactor core by the natural process of radiolysis-the breaking down of water into its component elements, hydrogen and oxygen.

Denton warned Sunday that because on the danger of explosion, a decision on whether to take extraordinary steps to force the bubble out of the reactor vessel would have to be made “within five days or less.”

It was feared that an explosion (illegible) reactor vessel could cause a (illegible) of coolant and lead to a melt-down, in which tremendous amounts of radioactive material would be released.

Denton said the revised rate of (illegible) generation is based upon (illegible) consensus of technical (illegible) that “for situations such as this where there’s high oxygen overpressure in a vessel, that the oxygen evolution rate is very low.”

Based upon the revised calculations, Denton said a decision on whether to force the bubble out no longer must be made within five days. Asked when the final cooling-off process of “cold shutdown” would occur, he said: “there is no time-frame pressure for cold shutdown.

“The core is being adequately cooled in this pressure mode, and before we go to cold shutdown, we want to check out the heat-removal system.”

Asked if he thought an evacuation still might be needed, Denton said: “I think the evacuation plans are controlled by the state. My own view is that my own concerns with regard to the potential for a hydrogen explosion to the bubble are diminishing.

“I briefed the governor last night. I briefed him this morning on the events as I see them. The decision regarding evacuation is the governor’s responsibility.”

Denton said he did not advise Gov. Dick Thornburgh to order an evacuation.

The temperature of fuel rod assemblies in the reactor core are declining, Denton said. But he said two of the assemblies registered more than 500 degrees and that four of the assemblies registered more than 400 degrees.

The levels of radiation in the area surrounding Three Mile Island are declining, Denton said. Dosimeter readings from 37 locations around the plant during a 24-hour period ending late Sunday night showed a high of 1.1 millirems per hour and a low of .04 millirems per hour.

The NRC is investigating two reported findings of iodine 131, a radioisotope that accumulates on grass, is ingested by cows and eventually contaminates their milk. “We’re still checking these out,” Denton said.
Efforts to remove hydrogen gas from the reactor containment building from using “recombiners” to convert hydrogen and air into water were not initiated early Monday morning.

Scientists are concerned that the continual generation of hydrogen and oxygen by radiolysis in the containment building might create a potentially explosive mixture.

Denying that there is any “significance” to the delay, Denton said he wanted to be “firmly convinced” that the recombiners are properly installed, and tested for leaks.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: 40 Jumped the Gun on Evacuation
Author: Ron Jury, Staff Writer

An estimated 40 Dauphin County residents have implemented the county’s contingency evacuation plans and have shown up at special reception areas in Columbia and Juniata counties, according to Kevin J. Molloy, director of the Office of Emergency Preparedness.

Molloy explained that in two separate incidents, some 20 persons showed up at reception centers in the two counties.

Molloy said those centers are only to be used if an evacuation is called by the governor. The centers are just part of contingency plans in case of an evacuation, he said.

People who show up at the centers without an evacuation order put a strain on the host counties. Those centers are not prepared to handle evacuees at this time, Molloy said.

Unless residents have a relative or specific place to go, Molloy said they should not leave and go to one of the reception centers.

MOLLOY SAID 40 percent of the 200,000 Dauphin County residents within 20 miles of the crippled Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station have evacuated. Based on reports from local officials he said more than 50,000 persons have fled Dauphin County.

Commission Chairman John E. Minnich advised individual residents who decide to leave voluntarily to notify local police agencies.

Asked about the county’s plan, Minnich said it is “well in hand.” Minnich added that he is “very confident” about the plan should it have to be implemented.

Molloy said the county “plan is settled,” but that “we are constantly insuring that aspects (of the plan) are ready.”

Molloy said there is constant updating of information on the situation at hospitals and nursing homes as well as from the proposed host counties.

“WE are not by any means relaxing, but are at the stage where we can constantly refine what we’ve done,” Molloy said.

The county’s contingency plan is in three stages. It provides the procedure for an evacuation within a 5-mile, 10-mile and 20-mile radius of the nuclear plant.

The five-mile evacuation area includes Middletown, Royalton, Lower Swatara Twp., Londonberry Twp. and Highspire.

Molloy estimated that if the order is given to clear the five-mile area, it will take less than five hours now that residents of two nursing homes in that area have been moved.

IN AN EVACUATION, those residents would go to either Halifax for Middletown; Scranton for Royalton; Bedford for Lower Swatara Twp.; Jim Thorpe for Londonberry Twp.; and the City of Somerset for Highspire.

Initially, the county had a plan to move residents of that five-mile area to either Hersheypark Sports Arena or the Farm Show Arena.

That plan, though, has been scrapped and persons should follow the plan that was announced on Monday and go to reception centers outside Dauphin County, Malloy said.

Municipal civil defense officials have been given copies of the county plan to provide information to local residents, Molloy continued.

Asked about contingency plans for hospitals and nursing homes, Joel Grottenthaler, executive director of Pennsylvania Emergency Health Services Council, said “what we have done in the last 12 hours is really to tune up loose ends.”

Grottenthaler held a meeting on Sunday with about 50 persons from hospitals and other institutions who would be involved in such an evacuation.

He said that planners are “taking a closer look at the 10-mile evacuation plan,” because all four hospitals and several nursing homes would be evacuated as part of that plan.

SOME OF THE hospitals are “jumpy,” Grottenthaler said, but he added that there is always a sense of nervousness “when you realize the implications of moving” hospital patients.

Dr. Stanley Smith, county medical director, said the plans are going “very nicely,” but the planning is creating a certain “nervousness.” He added that people must understand that “the more organized we are, the better off it (possible evacuation) will come.”

The hospitals and nursing homes are still faced with a staffing problem, but some staff members have returned to the area and others persons have volunteered to help. Smith said staff members have to take up residence in the hospitals. The institutions are now able to carry on with what personnel they have, he added.

The county is being assisted in planning by the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the federal Defense Civil Preparedness Agency. The county has a liaison officer with both agencies as well as a representative from the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Those officials are helping to line up equipment and personnel which would be needed in the event of an evacuation, Molly said.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Most School Districts in Area Expect to Reopen Wednesday
Author: John Troutman and Bob Gentzel, Staff Writers

With reports that the nuclear crisis at Three Mile Island appears to be easing and the state Department of Education applying pressure, most area school districts will reopen Wednesday.

The education department’s pressure on school districts, which fall outside a five-mile radius of the plant, to reopen is being applied even though most school buses throughout the area are supposed to be on standby in the event an evacuation is ordered.

Kevin Molloy, director of the Dauphin County Office of Emergency Preparedness, said he was “very concerned” about schools reopening and indicated he planned to discuss this matter with state officials.

As of late Monday, the following school districts had announced the resumption of all classes Wednesday morning:

East Shore-Central Dauphin, Derry Twp., Susquehanna Twp. and the Dauphin County Technical School.

West Shore-Camp Hill, Cumberland Valley, East Pennsboro Area, Mechanicsburg Area, Northern York County and Cumberland-Perry Area Vocational-Technical School.

The Capital Area Intermediate Unit also announced the resumption of all special education classes Wednesday, and the Diocese of Harrisburg announced that all Catholic schools in Dauphin, Cumberland, York, Lebanon and Lancaster counties would reopen Tuesday.

Benjamin F. Turner, superintendent of the Harrisburg School District, said city schools “probably will be reopened Wednesday” if adequate staff can be summoned.

He said many staff members have left the area with their families and school officials will spend Tuesday “trying to recall staff and getting the word out that we want to reopen Wednesday.”

Classes in the Lower Dauphin School District will resume Wednesday for all students except those living in Conewago and Londonberry townships, municipalities which fall within a five-mile radius of the plant, according to Henry Hoerner, school superintendent.

Hoerner said that Conewago and Londonberry elementary schools will remain closed indefinitely and all secondary students living within the two townships also would be excused from classes until further notice.

OFFICIALS OF the Steelton-Highspire School District said Monday night that no decision had yet been made on reopening, but 24 hours’ notice would be given before schools are reopened.

The Middletown School District will remain closed indefinitely since all district schools fall within a five-mile radius of the plant.

West Shore School District will open all buildings except the Newberry Elementary School Wednesday morning, said Jacob N. Wentzel, superintendent.

He added that “students living within five miles of Three Mile Island will continue to be excused from attendance until further notice.”

Friday, three West Shore Schools-Newberry, Fishing Creek Elementary, and Red Land High School, were evacuated by civil defense officials when schools in five miles were ordered closed. But Wentzel said Fishing Creek and Red Land are just outside the five-mile limit, and were evacuated as a precaution.

In Perry County, civil defense officials said three of the four school districts that were closed Monday in case they were needed as evacuation centers will reopen Tuesday.

David Fry, county civil defense director, said classes would resume Tuesday in West Perry, Newport, and Greenwood school districts.

FRY SAID the Susquenita School District, the only Perry County District to fall within a 20-mile evacuation ring from the nuclear generating plant, will remain closed Tuesday, but will reopen Wednesday if the emergency is lifted.

He said the schools were originally closed by superintendents after being advised by civil defense officials that the county’s fleet of school buses should be on standby to help move up to 9,000 county residents who reside within 20 miles of Three Mile Island.

The announcement of school reopenings were issued in rapid-fire order this morning between Robert Scanlon, secretary of the department of education, the executive directors of three Central Pennsylvania intermediate units, and several district superintendents.

Department spokeswoman Ann Witmer said Scanlon “encouraged the districts to reopen as soon as they possibly can.”

He also told the educators that school districts outside a five-mile radius of Three Mile Island will be required to make up any days they missed because of the nuclear incident “much as they would a snow day,” she said.

Since the governor asked that schools within the five miles be closed and that request still stands, those schools wont be required to make up those lost days, she said. Thus, Middletown wouldn’t be required to make up any days, because all its schools are within five miles.

BUT SHE said no final decision has been made on the status of West Shore and Lower Dauphin, which have some schools within the five-mile radius.

Those districts may be required to make up the days lost by pupils whose schools lie outside the five-mile radius.

West Shore Superintendent Wentzel said that if the department does require some of his schools to make up days, “I have a problem with that. I think we were placed in an unusual hardship.”

If the district is forced to make up days, they will be made up by all schools, including Newberry Elementary, he said.

Several districts which had closed had said they couldn’t operate Monday because of the numbers of teachers and pupils who had left the area, and others had expressed concern about the possibility of having pupils in schools when an evacuation was ordered.

But Scanlon promised the educators he would recommend to Thornburgh that in the event a “planned evacuation” becomes necessary, the announcement be made “outside school hours,” Witmer said.

And word that the governor was pressing to have schools reopened-relayed locally by Capital Area Intermediate Unit Director D. Bruce Conner, who attended the meeting with Scanlon-was read by many school officials as a signal that the greatest danger had passed.

Mechanicsburg Superintendent Charles E. Shields said he decided to reopen based on the governor’s request, coupled with reports that the nuclear reactor was being brought under control and a decision on evacuation was being “postponed.”

Harrisburg’s Turner said he was not upset over the school district having to make up the missed days.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Humane Society has Evac Plans
Author: Unknown

Plans have been made to evacuate animals from the Harrisburg Humane Society to other animal shelters should a mass evacuation be called for, according to Mrs. Blair Claybaugh, president of the local group.

The animals would be taken to the Women’s Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals of Pennsylvania, in Philadelphia, using ambulances from both the local and Philadelphia society.

And a large U-haul van has been reserved to take the rest of the approximately 300 animals presently housed at the shelter, should such an evacuation become necessary.

Mrs. Claybaugh urged pet owners to make every effort to take their pets with them should they leave the area. “We are already experiencing problems with hurt animals, apparently owned animals that have been abandoned when their owners left the Harrisburg area,” she said.

“No one likes to see the broken bones and bashed in faces of animals hit by cars” she said “and we therefore urge compassion for pets as well as people in this time of crisis.”

Mrs. Claybaugh said “while we cannot refuse to accept animals at our shelter, we cannot be responsible for their ultimate safety.”

Mrs. Claybaugh said the society would appreciate financial aid and volunteer help if the animals must be evacuated.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: First Baby Born to Evacuee in Midst of Nuclear Scare
Author: Tom Kelchner, Staff Writer

Picture Caption: This 5-pound, 10 ounce unnamed baby girl will have a lot to talk about when she gets older. Her mother, Mrs. Cynthia Simpson of Harrisburg, was at the Hersheypark Arena evacuation center prior to delivering her baby Monday morning at Holy Spirit Hospital.

As one might expect in an evacuation center full of pregnant women, nature took its course Monday.

One of the evacuees at Hersheypark Arena delivered the child she was expecting and five more could be along at any time, according to Red Cross Shelter Manager Bruce Beaton.

Cynthia Simpson, 24, of 1949 (illegible) Road, was taken from the shelter to Holy Spirit Hospital Monday morning and delivered a 5-pound, 10-ounce daughter at 11:10 a.m. hospital officials said.

Beaton said there are five other expectant mothers among the 200 (illegible) who are staying at the center.

The center is equipped to cope with any births which might occur on short notice, he said.

A fully equipped obstetrics room staffed by registered nurses and a physician has been set up at the center in addition to a staffed infirmary, he said.

Red Cross and Herco staff fed supper to 216 persons Monday evening, he said, after the group watched a magician and Walt Disney movies throughout the day.

“Hershey Arena people are really great,” Beaton said.

“Anything we want we ask they get it, they’re really super. Every request we’ve had they’ve honored.”
About 55 evacuees from Frey Village Retirement Center in Middletown have settled into the South Mountain Restoration Center in Franklin County after being transported there Saturday in buses and ambulances, according to center administrator Donald Downs.

The center, run by the state Department of Public Welfare, has facilities to handle 1,000 residents but only had about 750 before the evacuees arrived, Downs said.

An additional 16 residents of the Homeland Nursing Home at 1901 N. Fifth St. were taken to South Mountain, he said.

“They survived the trip very well, they’re comfortable and well fed,” he said.

About 30 staff members at the center have volunteered to work double shifts of 16 hours and volunteers have helped the evacuees when they arrived and since, Downs said.

“We’re prepared to take care of them until the crisis is over,” he said.

Another 21 Homeland residents were sent to a second evacuation center in Franklin County on the campus of Wilson College in Chambersburg, this weekend, according to Homeland Resident coordinator Ginny Capp.

Capp said the 21 at Wilson are staying in Disert Hall Dormitory and are taking their meals at college dining facilities.

“In a way it was a big adventure for them,” she said.

“School students (from Wilson) have been coming down and talking to residents to help them along and cheer them up,” she said.

Capp said she and the residents found Chambersburg peaceful after “the high anxiety level in Harrisburg.”

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Mass Transit Figures in Exit
Author: Randy Myers, Staff Writer

Area transportation industries and related concerns figure prominently in the mass evacuation plans of county and state emergency officials.

Those industries were affected widely over the weekend in the wake of voluntary evacuation by thousands of area residents fleeing potential disaster at the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station.

Gasoline and bus ticket sales soared over the three-day period.

Gas station managers throughout Dauphin, Cumberland and York counties reported sales increases varying from 20 to 300 percent.

A spokesman for Greyhound Bus Lines in Harrisburg said ridership out of Harrisburg on Friday, Saturday and Sunday was about 40 percent higher than during the same period last year.

Spokesmen at both Trailways Bus Lines and Capital Area Transit said ridership was normal for the three-day period.

At Harrisburg International Airport, spokesmen for TWA and Alleghany airlines said ridership was normal, and a spokesman for Altair Airlines said passenger counts were down.

AN AMTRACK spokeswoman said passenger traffic to and from Harrisburg was normal throughout the weekend.

The greatest effect on transportation was evidenced in gasoline sales, with at least one station running out of fuel as early as noon Saturday.

Ralph Glatfelter said a 40 percent increase in sales emptied pumps at his York County Exxon station in Dover at noon Saturday.

“Friday was ridiculous,” Glatfelter said, and by Monday things weren’t much different.

“$2, $1.85, $3” were the size of many purchases, he said.

“Gallons per sale were lower than normal,” he said, indicating a higher volume of customers purchasing smaller amounts of gas.

Al Dolatoski customers were making the same kinds of purchases at his Sunoco Station in Camp Hill, where “sales went way up; more than double what we usually do.”

“I noticed a lot of people filling up, even if it only took $1.50, they were topping it off. I guess they figured they’d get as far as possible,” Dolatoski said.

IN MIDDLETOWN, increased purchases at Bob’s Citgo Sales on Friday and Saturday proved to be predictions of slow business on Monday, when many local customers had already left town.

Station manager Jack Etter said sales, mostly fill-ups, jumped nearly 40 percent Friday and were about normal Saturday.

But on Monday, only two of 10 persons who had appointments to have their cars serviced showed up, and gas sales were not exceptional, Etter said.

In New Cumberland, Paul Ramsey said sales at his Arco station at Front and Bridge streets doubled normal rates over the weekend.

Business was “extremely hectic” and by 5 p.m. Sunday his station was out of gas, Ramsey said.
“The majority of the people coming through have suitcases and small children. They’re still leaving,” Ramsey said Monday.

On Sunday, New Cumberland Mayor Leonard Sorenson said about 15 percent of the borough’s residents had fled the area.

At Paul’s Amoco Station on Linglestown Road in Linglestown, weekend sales tripled sales figures for the preceding weekend, according to owner Paul Rowe.

ROWE SAID Friday’s sales alone doubled the amount of gas his station sold Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the previous weekend.

City residents also apparently flocked to gas pumps over the weekend.

Joe Thomas said sales at both his T&L Arco Service Centers were double normal rates on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

He said business returned to normal Monday.

Leondard Lehman said business at his Gulf Station at19th and Paxton streets was “a little above average” Friday and Saturday, with Friday night being “hectic at first.”

“Older folks were gassing up getting ready to leave,” Lehman said.

While many residents filled up their cars’ gas tanks either in preparation to leave or on their way out of town, Troop State Police in Harrisburg said highways leading into and out of the area were carrying light traffic.

“Traffic patterns have changed, if anything they have gotten lighter,” a police spokesman said.

The spokesman said there has been “a great deal of movement of campers and trucks with camper tops in all directions. It’s a bit early for that type of movement.”

He said traffic coming into the Harrisburg area has been light.

BUSINESS BY Harrisburg bus lines did not contribute to the weekend’s lighter traffic, with Greyhound reporting a substantial increase in ridership and Trailways reporting normal traffic.

W.V. Dailey, city manager for Greyhound Bus Lines in Central Pennsylvania, said weekend ticket sales were 40 percent higher than sales during the same weekend last year.

He said average sales so far this year have been about the same as figures from 1978.

“A lot of people appear to be taking the opportunity to go places they might not have gone otherwise,” Dailey said Monday.

He said trips of “a couple hundred miles” have been popular, with destinations including Pittsburgh, Scranton, and Washington D.C.

Both Dailey and Gerald Smith, vice president of traffic for Capitol Trailways in Harrisburg, said their companies’ buses could be used to transport area residents should an evacuation be ordered.

“We have been in contact with (state) civil defense planners and experts and are willing to help as much as we can if an evacuation was necessary,” Dailey said.

Greyhound maintains about 60 buses in Harrisburg and has 3,000 vehicles licensed in Pennsylvania, he said.

Dailey said he has been attempting to stockpile equipment in the perimeter areas around the Harrisburg area.

Smith said county emergency preparedness officials would determine Trailways’ role in any evacuation operation.

“Right now, we’re under the auspices of the Harrisburg Police Department. If they order buses to move people out, we’ll be right there to help,” Smith said.

Lt. Carroll T. Wagner, personnel and training officer of staff and technical services for the Harrisburg Police Department, said city school buses, CAT buses and Trailways buses would operate from dispatch centers at their respective terminals in the event of an evacuation.

Wagner said the buses would pick up city residents at 39 strategic points throughout the city.
AT HARRISBURG International Airport, the three operating airlines reported fairly normal passenger traffic and said they have not been contacted by any emergency preparedness officials about the use of the airlines as evacuation modes.

Barry Beaver, customer service agent for TWA in Harrisburg, said there was a slight increase in outbound traffic over the weekend, while inbound traffic remained normal.

Beaver said despite the airport’s location less than two miles from the nuclear power site, there have been no disruption in passenger service.

“We can’t pretend it’s not happening, but everything has been operating normally,” Beaver said.
Dave Shipley, public relations director for Alleghany Airlines, said passenger loads have been normal both entering and leaving Harrisburg.

At Altair Airlines, customer service agent Mark roach said the number of no-show passengers who had booked reservations had increased since Wednesday’s accident.

The number of passengers buying tickets at the terminal was smaller than normal, and “inbound traffic was definitely less,” Roach said.

Though the airline had not been approached about its role in any possible evacuation, Roach said company personnel were keeping abreast of the situation at the power plant.

Amtrak’s director of public affairs for the Northeast Corrider, Lois Morasco, said the national rail network has not been approached about any evacuation procedures.

“We stand ready to help, but at this time we have not been called upon and I know of no plans to include us in any mass evacuation plan,” Morasco said.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Cumberland County Officials Ready for Evacuation
Author: Roger Doran, Staff Writer

CARLISLE-Deputy Sheriff (illegible) E. Spike Alspaugh (illegible) intercepting anyone coming (illegible) the Cumberland County Emergency Operations Center in the basement of the courthouse (illegible).

“These people are too busy,” Alspaugh said. “They don’t need (illegible) wandering in and out.”

(Illegible) staff in the operations (illegible) on telephones complete-(illegible) for any possible evacuation. Later, however, (illegible) the hopeful word that conditions at the Three Mile Island nuclear generating plant had improved and that an evacuation may even be ruled out.

Nonetheless the planned procedures remained intact.

“We’re ready,” said Tom Blosser, director of the county EOC.

“A lot of hours have been spent getting ready for something like this,” said Commissioner Raymond W. Sawyer Jr. “We can handle our share of whatever is asked of us.”

The optimism managed to penetrate the noise of the operations center where staff had been gathering all morning, going about their assigned tasks. While several phone lines were tied up, others in the room gathered in small groups, conversations rising and falling around the room like the babble of a cocktail party.

THE EMERGENCY center, which includes the county’s communications network, was constructed in various phases over the past three years at a total cost of slightly more than $400,000. It is designed to maintain operations involving about 40 people for at least two weeks.

“We can take care of staff needs for that length of time,” Blosser said. “We have food and fuel for that time, and sleeping quarters for that many.”

And, Blosser said, “the timing of this emergency really worked out right for us.”

He said that the underground water tank, placed in the north-west corner of the courthouse lawn last year, “just had the kinks worked out a couple of weeks ago.”

The center has its own generator to supply its power for several months of operation.

While the EOC complex was designed for an extreme emergency, such as a nuclear attack, its impetus came from the need for a central operations center because of Hurricane Agnes in 1972.

Few thought its possible use might come because of the failure of the nuclear power plant at Three Mile Island.

“At any rate,” Blosser said, “we could never have done what we are now capable of doing if we hadn’t gone ahead with our plans.”

Commissioner Raymond W. Sawyer said that the county had followed every recommendation made to create such a facility. “Our people have attended every training session available to us, and we’ve passed all this along to others.”

Elsewhere in Carlisle, the Cumberland County seat 23 miles away from Three Mile Island, the prevailing attitude is one of calm-almost another world from the thinned-out population center on the West and East shores.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 3, 1979
Title: Middletown Mayor Says ‘Looters Will be Shot’
Author: Jon Harwood and Tom Kelchner, Staff Writers

Middletown Mayor Robert G. Reid said Monday that he has issued a shoot-the-looters order to the borough police department.

“I gave my police instructions that if they see any looters, shoot them,” Reid said.

The concern about looting stems from the number of residents who have left communities near the Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station in Londonderry Twp. Kevin J. Molloy, director of the Dauphin County Office of Emergency Preparedness, Monday estimated that 40 percent, or about 80,000, of the 200,000 county residents within a 20-mile radius of the plant have left the area.

However, Middletown and other communities close to the plant said Monday they had received no reports of looting or vandalism.

Also, several communities have followed Middletown’s lead by establishing curfews as preventive measures against looting.

In Dauphin County, 9 p.m. to 7 a.m. curfews are in effect in Lower Paxton, Lower Swatara and Swatara townships and the boroughs of Royalton, Highspire, Hummelstown and Steelton.

About 30 to 35 percent of the borough’s residents have departed, Reid said, but “a lot of these people came back (Monday) to go to work,” he said. Reid said Monday’s report of the reduction of the hydrogen bubble in the plant’s Unit 2 reactor and Sunday’s visit by President Jimmy Carter “lifted people’s spirits.” However, borough officials continue preparations for possible evacuation and residents are “still a little jittery,” he said.

“This won’t be forgotten as long as that plant is down there. It could be down there another 50 years, and even the kids will remember this,” Reid said.

Many residents also returned to Lower Swatara Twp. Monday, but about 20 percent remained out of the township, according to Township Manager Donald E. Bowman.

Bowman said there were no problems reported in the township. “It’s been quiet,” he said.

Highspire has been “very quiet,” Borough Police Chief William R. Youtz said Monday. “Everything is pretty well under control.”

Officials reported Saturday that 25-33 percent of the borough’s population had left, but Youtz said Monday he had “no idea” what that figure is now, “and I’d rather not say.”

In Royalton, the borough’s two-man, part-time force has been given permission to put in extra patrol hours because of the large numbers of borough residents who have departed. One borough officer said that no increases in crime had been reported, but noted that residents have not yet returned to report missing items.

Also, borough council has canceled its regular meeting, scheduled for Tuesday at 7 p.m. No make-up date has been set.

Steelton Police Chief Kenneth Tindal reported Monday that “crime is down if anything” and that “there has been tremendous cooperation between police departments.”

Borough police patrols have been watching for suspicious vehicles or people in the area and “anybody that doesn’t belong out there we now about it and let other municipalities (police forces) know.”

Police Monday tried to estimate the number of borough residents who have left and Tindal said his best guess was 25 percent.

“Basically what we’re doing is not to discourage them,” he said. “If they feel more secure going somewhere else, as a public official I say ‘go ahead,'” he said.

Tindal said he met with borough councilmen and the mayor Monday afternoon and they prepared a handbill listing evacuation information for borough residents.

Swatara Twp., which is outside a 5-mile radius of the plant and inside a 10-mile radius, instituted a curfew Sunday night because “quite a few people” have left the township, Police Chief Robert L. Walmer said Monday.

Walmer estimated that about one-third of the township’s population, which exceeds 20,000, has left the area.

Reflecting the thoughts of numerous area residents, Swatara Commissioner David Colestock said Sunday that he was taking his family “into the mountains” but that he would return alone on Monday. ” Just knowing that (his family) is on their way out of here makes me feel better,” he said.

Lower Paxton Twp., also outside the five-mile radius, instituted a curfew Sunday night because 30 to 35 percent of the township’s 33,000 residents have left, officials said. Calls to check houses have averaged 40 a day, officials said.

Londonderry Twp., which houses the nuclear plant, has no curfew. “I guess we’re so close we don’t need a curfew,” one resident said.

The township does not have a police department, but state police, which patrol the township, reported there has been one minor burglary in the township between Wednesday and Sunday.

Capt. Joseph I. C. Everly, commander of the state police at Troop H, said only one other minor burglary, in Conewago Twp., had been reported in the last five days.

Everly said that 32 troopers were brought into the area from Troop A in Greensburg to assist local officers. Also, additional troopers have been added to “anti-looting patrols” on the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, he said.

Since the incident at the plant, troopers also have investigated four accidents, “which is nothing,” he said.
He said troopers noticed no congestion caused by residents leaving their homes. A few traffic tie-ups have occurred on Route 441 near the nuclear power plant caused by curiosity seekers, news reporters and visiting VIP’s, he said.

In the southern Dauphin County area, troopers from Troop H normally patrol in Royalton and the townships of Londonderry, West Hanover and Conewago. During the emergency state police patrols have been overlapping areas with officers in Middletown, he said.

During President Jimmy Carter’s Sunday visit, about 25 troopers supplemented secret service guard in Middletown, Everly said.

Troopers also have provided escort for oversize trucks carrying equipment and lead bricks to the Three Mile Island plant.

Everly said he did not know how many residents had left their homes in the townships near the power plant where state police patrol, but added that he found most restaurants on Route 22 closed Monday morning when he was looking for a place to buy breakfast.

In West Donegal Twp., Lancaster County, township Police Chief Raymond Libhart said the level of crime in his township has been about normal since Wednesday.

No looting has been reported, he said.

“We have round-the-clock patrols and they keep a pretty good eye on things,” he said.

Libhart said his officers had investigated no traffic accidents since the beginning of the emergency at the nuclear power plant and no congestion caused by evacuees has been reported.

He estimated that about a fourth of the residents of the township have left their homes.

“Some left Friday and returned Sunday and some left Sunday night,” he said.

Newspaper: The Patriot
Date: April 4, 1979
Title: Evacuation Chances ‘Slimmer’: County Relaxes Alert
Author: Ron Jury, Staff Writer

Dauphin County has relaxed its alert status on the contingency evacuation plans and told civil defense directors within a five-mile radius of the crippled Three Mile Island Nuclear Generating Station that they are the only ones who should maintain 24-hour operations.

The announcement came on the heels of meetings Tuesday where local municipal civil defense officials said they were having a problem keeping at a high level of readiness for a possible evacuation as people return to the area and volunteers are being forced to return to their jobs.

In a prepared statement, Commission Chairman John E. Minnich said, “While the situation at Three Mile Island remains of concern, no evacuation appears imminent. In view of this, the county commissioners have directed the Office of Emergency Preparedness to advise all local emergency preparedness personnel to stand down to a ‘standby alert status.’

“The office is requesting only local emergency preparedness directors within the five-mile radius to maintain 24-hour operations.

“County planning operations will continue and there will be no change in its (alert) status.
“Since a potentially dangerous situation continues to exist, all personnel should be capable of activation if needed,” Minnich said.

The county broadcast that message to local officials late Tuesday.

Some 200 local officials met in the courthouse Tuesday and were unanimous in saying that the governor should make a decision on the status of the current crisis and whether the alert should continue.

Minnich and several other officials strongly voiced that concern to the Governor’s Office on Tuesday. Minnich even delivered a letter from the commissioners to the Governor’s office.
However, Gov. Dick Thornburgh did not address that question at his press conference late Tuesday.

Minnich said this means that the four hospitals within the 10-mile radius can resume normal operations and admit non-emergency patients. The county will not attempt to hold the hospitals back, he said.

As part of the county’s plan, the hospitals were limiting admissions to keep patient populations at a minimum in the event of an evacuation.

Schools in that same 10-mile radius previously announced their plans to reopen this morning.
The commissioner said he did not agree with the return to normal, but agreed he is “acquiescing to higher-ups who have information” they are not sharing with the county.

Minnich said the county’s plans will be damaged if there is only several hours’ notice and an evacuation now has to be implemented.

The county plan relies heavily on school buses to provide necessary transportation in the event of an evacuation although the plans also call for using buses from Philadelphia and New York City.

If an evacuation is announced and the schools are in session, several hours will be lost until those buses can be pressed into service, Minnich added.

Local officials voiced strong concern about the status of the alert and one spokesman said “our capability to respond (to an evacuation on the local level) is rapidly diminishing” the longer the alert continues.

Another official said that “as the hours pass, we are losing volunteers.” He said that volunteers cannot afford to remain off their jobs if the situation does not merit it.

“Who is going to pay the lost wages” of these volunteers? a civil defense chief asked.

Many of the non-paid local volunteers have been manning civil defense offices and fire stations on a 24-hour basis in a constant state of readiness, officials said.

Minnich said that under the county’s relaxed alert, those volunteers can return to their jobs and only the civil defense directors need to maintain the operation.

The local officials accused the state of putting pressure on the school districts to reopen, but Lt. Gov. William Scranton III denied any pressure was being applied to the schools.

Scranton, who visited the county office briefly late Tuesday afternoon, said officials should assume the alert will remain until there is a cold shut down of the nuclear reactor, although the chances for an evacuation get “slimmer as time goes on.”

Asked whether the governor was going to downgrade the alert, Scranton said “not at this time,” and added that state officials are relying on status reports from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

County officials waited for the governor’s press conference and said they would take a cue from him on whether to relax the alert status or not.