NEWS INFORMATION FROM

THE OFFICE OF MAYOR STEPHEN R. REED
City of Harrisburg
King City Government Center
Harrisburg, PA 17101-1678
Telephone: 255.3040

FOR IMMEDIATE USE
20 November 2002

NEW PEMA SPECIAL OPERATIONS FACILITY TO HOUSE STATE URBAN SEARCH & RESCUE TEAM & OTHER MIDSTATE EMERGENCY RESPONSE TEAMS

Harrisburg, PA’Pennsylvania Governor Mark S. Schweiker and Mayor Stephen R. Reed today conducted groundbreaking ceremonies for a new state-of-the-art Special Operations Facility that will house the state’s Urban Search and Rescue Team as well as other specialized midstate emergency response agencies. The new structure is located on Harrisburg Authority-owned land at 100 Pine Drive, adjacent to the city’s Dr. Robert E. Young Water Treatment Plant.

In addition to providing a permanent base for Pennsylvania Task Force One(PA TF-1), the state’s Urban Search and Rescue Team, Reed said the new facility will also house the Dauphin County Emergency Response Tactical Team, and the County Hazardous Materials Response Team. The new facility contains 20,000 sq. ft. of space for the storage of vehicles, equipment, computers, commun- ications gear and other emergency response tools and materials.

The new operations base will cost approximately $850,000, with funding provided by the Commonwealth as part of a $2.7 million Homeland Security Grant. The remaining funding will be used to help establish, equip and train a second state urban search and rescue team, which will be deployed only within the confines of Pennsylvania. The existing PA TF-1, for which the City of Harrisburg serves as host and statewide administrator, is earmarked for federal deployment to anywhere in the U.S. or overseas, while the new, second team will only respond to incidents within the state.

“We are delighted to serve as the host community for this vital facility,” said Mayor Reed. “There is no question that PA TF-1 provides invaluable service to our state and nation, as has been repeatedly proven over the past several years. Having a centralized location for storage, training and operations of the Task Force, as well as providing space for such other vital emergency response agencies as our County Law Enforcement Tactical Team and our Hazardous Materials Response Team will significantly improve both our incident response capabilities, as well as other administrative and operational controls.

“Our appreciation is appropriately extended to Governor Mark S. Schweiker and the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency for their vision in helping create this facility, and for their commitment to enhancing emergency preparedness and response in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

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