Jul 29, 2014 2 min read

If you were living near a facility where something could go dreadfully haywire – say, a nuclear power plant like Three Mile Island – chances are you would not only want to know how to proceed in case of an emergency, but that you would also want to have such a plan up on your refrigerator next to the doctors’ phone numbers and the art by the kids or grandkids.

Residents in Chartiers Township who live near the MarkWest cryogenic plant on Western Avenue will have no such luck.

The Office of Open Records in Harrisburg turned down a request made by this newspaper that the township make its evacuation plan public, arguing that residents would be best served by having this information readily available. However, officials in Harrisburg disagreed, saying that the evacuation blueprint is a public safety document and can remain under wraps.

The newspaper’s request was made after a similar petition was filed last year by a resident who lives close to the MarkWest plant. Meanwhile, Chartiers has argued an evacuation of about 100 residents in May after lightning struck the plant and caused a natural gas leak “was performed calmly and professionally with no resulting injuries or panic” even though they did not have the evacuation procedures in hand.

But the fact remains that some residents decided to leave their homes even before any first responders arrived on the scene. Residents being armed with information on where they are supposed to go and what they are supposed to do in the event of an emergency is the best, most straightforward way to ensure that there will be no injuries or panic the next time the alarm bells go off.