PRESS RELEASE

October 25, 2011

Contacts: St. Clair Township, ON          St. Clair County, MI
Steven Bicum, 519-481-0111                 Jeff Friedland, 810-989-6325
sbicum@twp.stclair.on.ca                      jfriedland@stclaircounty.org

Bluewater Community Alerting Network

Tuesday October 25, 2011 marks the launch of the Bluewater Community Alerting Network between the U.S. and Canadians.  A press conference will be held at 1:00 PM on the Blue Water Ferry in the St. Clair River between Sombra, ON and Marine City, MI.

Roy Dewhirst, Fire Chief of St. Clair Township, Ontario and Jeff Friedland, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director of St. Clair County, Michigan announced the implementation of a cooperative cross-border project called the Bluewater Community Alerting Network.  The network will utilize Alert FM devices to deliver emergency notifications and alerts to the public and other recipients such as emergency responders, schools, public officials, and cross-border emergency managers. Emergency messages can be targeted toward organizational groups or geographical areas to deliver weather warnings, evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions, Amber Alerts, and homeland security notices.

“As St. Clair County [MI] contains several neighboring communities with St. Clair Township [ON], being divided only by the St. Clair River, what affects one community is likely to affect the other.  Collaboration on keeping our residents safe was a logical step,” commented Friedland.  In agreement, Dewhirst said, “If severe weather is impacting St. Clair County, we know it is headed our way.  I am very pleased about this partnership and the communication gaps the project will bridge between government officials and residents.”

Alert FM deployment was possible due to the cooperation of Wonderful News Radio (WNFA 88.3 & WNFR 90.7) and Radio First (WSAQ 107.1) on the American side of the river and Blackburn Radio (CHKS 106.3) on the Canadian side.  Emergency information is delivered to Alert FM devices through data subcarriers on the towers of the participating radio stations.

To receive potentially life-threatening information, residents and businesses will need to purchase an Alert FM receiver.  The receivers, which are portable and light, use a battery backup in case of power outages and send an audible alert as well as text to alert the residents.  Alert FM devices can be purchased at:

St. Clair Township, ON

St. Clair Township
Emergency Services Building
392 Lyndoch St
Corunna ON
(519) 481-0111

St. Clair Township
Civic Centre
1155 Emily St
Mooretown ON
(519) 867-2021

Corunna Home Hardware
372 Lyndoch
Corunna ON
(519) 862-5100

St. Clair County, MI

East China Township               Lakeport Market               Port Huron Township
5111 River Rd.                        7096 3rd St.                        Fire Department
East China                                Lakeport                           3848 Lapeer Rd.
(810) 765-8879                        (810) 385-3330                 Port Huron
       (810) 982-7129

Steve Arnold, Mayor of St. Clair Township, is very excited about this cross-border project. “The Bluewater Community Alerting Network will offer a notification system that will target the appropriate people with the right information to protect our families in the event of a pending natural disaster or an incident that could affect our communities. I would like to thank all of those on both sides of the St Clair River for their vision and cooperative nature to make this system a reality for the citizens in our communities.”

Jeff Bohm, Chairperson of the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners, said, “I am proud of the efforts put forth to establish cross-border collaboration and get the network up and running.  I hope this is one of many projects that can be implemented through partnerships with our Canadian neighbors.”

For more information on the Bluewater Community Alerting Network, contact Steven Bicum, Deputy Fire Chief, St. Clair Township, ON at 519-481-0111 or sbicum@twp.stclair.on.ca or Jeff Friedland, Director of the St. Clair County, MI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at 810-989-6325 or jfriedland@stclaircounty.org. 

Press Event Press Release.pdf (79.91 kb)

****************************************************************************************************************************************************************

Media Coverage Links

The Obeserver (Sarnia)- "New emergency warning devices unveiled"

The Observer (Sarnia)- "New devices to warn St. Clair of chemical spills, tornadoes"

Lampton Shield- "Updated: St. Clair Township offers subsidized FM Alert system to residents......"

The Fox light hits 99.9 FM- "ALERT FM"

1380AM WPHM- "New Alert System Floated"

excerted from Rick Wimberly & Lorin Bristow's Alert & Notifications Blog (Emergency Management Magazine)- http://www.emergencymgmt.com/emergency-blogs/alerts/New-EAS-System-in-101311.html

New EAS system in Alabama speeds Alerts

In the over 40 years I've known lots of broadcast engineers, it's hard to remember times when they showed much enthusiasm and satisfaction over anything...especially the Emergency Alert System (EAS).  They are just not an outwardly enthusiastic group.  Well, I found one who's wearing his enthusiasm and satisfaction quite brightly.  He's Larry Wilkins, state EAS coordinator for Alabama.  Alabama has upgraded its statewide EAS system, which Wilkins says is unlike any other system in the country and he's clearly proud.

The new system does a number of things differently - all designed to make sure EAS alerts are heard and seen by the public faster and that they contain more information.  One of the things Wilkins is particularly proud of is the new system's use of the Common Alerting Protocol (CAP).  He says it provides important new capability for public safety officials to create messages that can contain much more information than the old way including pre-recorded audio messages (say, recorded by the governor or other officials), digital attachments (say, pictures of Amber Alert victims), and text-to-speech messages (without counting on dispatchers to be announcers).  Plus, he says, capability will be enhanced even more through the new system's ability to work with IPAWS, the federal alerting initiative.

Even with the new capabilities, Wilkins says public officials will have fewer activation steps through the system Alabama bought (called GSSNet Alert Studio).  He says the two tests conducted so far were "100% successful both times", and public safety officials were enthused about how simple it was.
Wilkins says they were able to build the system statewide for around $60,000 which was financed by the Alabama Broadcasters Association at no cost to local officials or radio and TV stations.  Wilkins says ABA felt strongly that they really needed to get the system running soon to have something more reliable than the old system. 

Wilkins says the old "daisy chain" system formerly used in Alabama and currently used in most other states is "not really reliable because of potential breaks in the system".  When it breaks at a single point, no one downstream gets the message.  Through the new system, says Wilkins, the messages are delivered "first hand" to broadcasters.

No doubt about it, Wilkins is enthused.  He said it was a "real treat to get it working".   I'm sure he wouldn't mind talking to public safety officials elsewhere outside Alabama who have questions.  And we sure wouldn't mind putting you in touch with him.
All the best,
 
Rick
 
www.galainsolutions.com

New EAS System in Alabama Speeds Alerts.pdf (651.57 kb)

PRESS RELEASE

October 20, 2011

 Contacts: St. Clair Township, ON                            St. Clair County, MI
Steven Bicum, 519-481-0111                     Jeff Friedland, 810-989-6325
sbicum@twp.stclair.on.ca                          jfriedland@stclaircounty.org

Bluewater Community Alerting Network

Roy Dewhirst, Fire Chief of St. Clair Township, Ontario and Jeff Friedland, Homeland Security and Emergency Management Director of St. Clair County, Michigan announced today the implementation of a cooperative cross-border project called the Bluewater Community Alerting Network.  The network will utilize Alert FM devices to deliver emergency notifications and alerts to the public and other recipients such as emergency responders, schools, public officials, and cross-border emergency managers. Emergency messages can be targeted toward organizational groups or geographical areas to deliver weather warnings, evacuation or shelter-in-place instructions, Amber Alerts, and homeland security notices.

“As St. Clair County [MI] contains several neighboring communities with St. Clair Township [ON], being divided only by the St. Clair River, what affects one community is likely to affect the other.  Collaboration on keeping our residents safe was a logical step,” commented Friedland.  In agreement, Dewhirst said, “If severe weather is impacting St. Clair County, we know it is headed our way.  I am very pleased about this partnership and the communication gaps the project will bridge between government officials and residents.”

Alert FM deployment was possible due to the cooperation of Wonderful News Radio (WNFA 88.3 & WNFR 90.7) and Radio First (WSAQ 107.1) on the American side of the river and Blackburn Radio (CHKS 106.3) on the Canadian side.  Emergency information is delivered to Alert FM devices through data subcarriers on the towers of the participating radio stations.

To receive potentially life-threatening information, residents and businesses will need to purchase an Alert FM receiver.  The receivers, which are portable and light, use a battery backup incase of power outages and send an audible alert as well as text to alert the residents.  Alert FM devices can be purchased at:

St. Clair Township, ON

St. Clair Township                       St. Clair Township          Corunna Home Hardware
Emergency Services Building        Civic Centre                   372 Lyndoch
392 Lyndoch St                           1155 Emity St                Corunna, ON
Corunna ON                                Mooretown, ON           (519)862-5100
(519) 481-0111                           (519) 867-2021

St. Clair County, MI

East China Township                    Lakeport Market                 Port Huron Township
5111 River Rd.                            7096 3rd St.                        Fire Department
East China                                    Lakeport                              3848 Lapeer Rd.
(810) 765-8879                           (810) 385-3330                   Port Huron 
                                                                                                (810) 982-7129

Steve Arnold, Mayor of St. Clair Township, is very excited about this cross-border project. “The Bluewater Community Alerting Network will offer a notification system that will target the appropriate people with the right information to protect our families in the event of a pending natural disaster or an incident that could affect our communities. I would like to thank all of those on both sides of the St Clair River for their vision and cooperative nature to make this system a reality for the citizens in our communities.”

Jeff Bohm, Chairperson of the St. Clair County Board of Commissioners, said, “I am proud of the efforts put forth to establish cross-border collaboration and get the network up and running.  I hope this is one of many projects that can be implemented through partnerships with our Canadian neighbors.”

A press conference on the Bluewater Community Alerting Network will be held on Tuesday, October 25th on the Blue Water Ferry on the St. Clair River.  It will take place at 1:00 PM between and Sombra, ON and Marine City, MI.  Canadian participants should contact Steven Bicum, Deputy Fire Chief, St. Clair Township at 519-481-0111 or sbicum@twp.stclair.on.ca.  A passport, nexus card, or proof of citizenship (birth certificate) will be required by Canada Customs for those traveling to Canada. American residents wishing to attend the press conference should contact Jodi Simpson at 810-989-6965 or jsimpson@stclaircounty.org and provide name and birthdate to be pre-vetted for U.S. Customs and Border Patrol. 

For more information on the Bluewater Community Alerting Network, contact Steven Bicum, Deputy Fire Chief, St. Clair Township, ON at 519-481-0111 or sbicum@twp.stclair.on.ca or Jeff Friedland, Director of the St. Clair County, MI Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Management at 810-989-6325 or jfriedland@stclaircounty.org.
 

AlertFM Press Release.pdf (89.17 kb)