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If there is a catastrophe at the Sunoco Refinery, those residents living closest to the plant will be among the first to know.
The oil company is nearing completion of an emergency warning system that has placed 10 sirens at various locations in South and Southwest Philadelphia.
At full blast, each siren can be heard from a half-mile away, forming a ring around the perimeter of the refinery, said Sunoco spokesperson John McCann.
The system is triggered manually by an employee at the refinery, McCann said. Sunoco will be responsible for activating the sirens in the event of an accident.
In addition, city officials can call for the sirens to be sounded if there is an emergency outside of the refinery, such as a rail accident or a hazardous chemical spill on a roadway.
The evolution of the siren system goes back to 1994, when a malfunction at the plant caused the release of a yellow cloud over South Philly. Two years later, members of the Community Labor Refinery Tracking Committee filed a lawsuit against the company for its emissions.
Ultimately, a settlement was reached involving the CLRTC, Sunoco and the city. Sunoco was fined $350,000. Of those funds, $200,000 was spent to install the warning system.
Sunoco considered various warning systems, McCann said, but settled on the sirens after visits to refineries in Maryland, Houston, Texas and Baton Rouge, La., where similar setups were already in place.
"We talked to all of those folks, looked at how they did things, learned a lot about what not to do," McCann said. "We also got a collection of the materials they used to educate the community."
The company already uses a siren system at its facility in the Bridesburg section of the city.
From ground level, the sirens do not look much different than a metal light pole. At the top, there is a box with a horn attached that rotates when activated.
There are four sirens in South Philly: near the fire house at 32nd Street and Grays Ferry Avenue; at the city garage at 25th and Morris streets; outside of the Passyunk Branch of the Free Library, 20th and Shunk streets; and near the American Swedish Historical Museum, 20th Street and Pattison Avenue.
Sunoco will host two events next month — tentatively scheduled for Oct. 18 and Oct. 25 — to introduce the sirens to the community. Around noon on those days, the system will be sounded, McCann said, and Sunoco representatives will visit neighborhoods to distribute more information on the warning system and what to do in an emergency.
"What we are trying to do is evoke a Pavlovian response — when people hear the sirens, they shelter in place," McCann said. "Go inside, close all your doors and windows, turn off your air conditioner or heater and listen to KYW."
