All parts to this research are copyright 2005 by Dr. M.Mustoe.
Permission for use is available by contacting the author via email.
State in the subject line of your email "Civil Defense".
Overview
After the derailment near Macdona 28
June 2004, ten radio stations that were located within a 25 mile
radius of Macdona, Texas were chosen using Radio-Locator web
site (Theodric Technologies LLC 2004). The ten stations
surveyed (including both LP stations for the San Antonio area)
are all within a 25 mile radius of Macdona. Interviews were conducted
on 12 July 04 with either the engineering staff
or an individual in management at each of the stations. Two questions
were asked in this survey:
Did your station receive an EAS notification for the train
derailment which occurred
28 June 2004?
Did you interrupt regular programming to supply information about
the event?
Findings
None of the stations received EAS alerts. At least three of the
ten stations stated that because there was no EAS activation there
was no interruption of programming. It was reported that only
one of the ten stations interrupted programming to give a special
news story. However, it was not clear if these reports were also
simulcasted on affiliated network stations. Two of the stations
reported that they carried a story on the incident within traffic
reports or regular news. One station in the sample was controlled
as a remote studio station from California and reported that if
inadvertently they did not get an EAS activation there was no
interruption of their programming. The station that carried the
event live stated that the information for the event was picked
up via public service scanners within their newsroom and initial
reports evolved from scanner traffic.
Macdona, Texas Survey Results
In some cases additional comments were
recorded from the interview and listed below.
Texas Public Radio
1. KPAC 88.3 FM 13.8 miles from Macdona, TX; Classical 210-614-8977
2. KSTX 89.1 FM 13.8 miles from Macdona, TX; Public Radio 210-614-8977
Comments: Did not interrupt programming....but it was covered
in live traffic reports. No EAS activation. Anonymous
CLEAR CHANNEL CLUSTER
3. KAJA 97.3 FM 13.8 miles from Macdona, TX; Country 210-736-9700
No
4. WOAI 1200 AM (Clear Channel) LP1 Texas State Relay San Antonio,
TX
Comments: Did not receive an alert, Interrupted programming
All news department heard about the event on scanners. Frank
UNIVISION
5. KBBT 98.5 FM 13.8 miles from Macdona, TX; Schertz, TX Urban
Contemporary 210-829-1075
Comments: No interruption....no EAS Activation Shirts TX.
Full Time DJ..We play hip hop and rb and have no news Department...Plan
is not activate, no activation no broadcast. Bruno
COX
RADIO CLUSTER
6. KCYY KKYX 100.3 FM, 13.8 miles from Macdona, TX; Country Phone:
210-615-5400
Comments: Not any awareness of anything. Carried as a news
We just got an operational plan in San Antonio at the end of last
year. " ...And even though I am an LP2 here, my programming
department and general manager hate the Amber Alerts work. The
local officials are not initiating things according to the operational
plan. We've gotten so many Amber Alerts, plus local, repeated
in nature, and that's never suppose to happen. It is so bad that
I have put in a fifteen minute delay on the stations giving them
a chance before we interrupt programming. Wolf is being hollered
too much, I mean. I've got to be honest with you, we've taken
sixty seconds of an obnoxious tone and made it thirty seconds
of an obnoxious tone. It has no credibility. Our problem is the
local officials. The broadcasters provide the equipment and then
we help them with an operational plan. Still the local officials
that are not going by that local plan, they're the problem. If
we don't get an alert, I can't send it." Paul Reynolds
SALEM BROADCASTING SRN
7. KZEP 104.5 FM, 14.0 miles from Macdona, TX; Classic Rock Texas
Lotos 210-226-6444
Comments: San Marcos. No EAS activation., Classic Rock,
did not interrupt small news in the morning. UP and BN screwed
up. Personal opinion everyone is talking about rerouting hazardous
materials. I don't see how that is going to be practical in any
city in the country because the refineries are everywhere, and
how are they going to get oil and gas to the refinery from where
it is coming from without going through towns. There is a limited
amount of tracks and most go through towns and that's how some
towns sprang up around the tracks. Anonymous
8.
KLUP/KSLR 930 AM 21.7 miles from Macdona, TX; Terrell Hills, TX
Christian and Nostalgia Comments: No Actuation No interruption,
Metro News...Automated overnight. Many of the Amber Alerts are
girlfriends running away with boyfriends, you get to be cynical
after awhile. Anonymous
9. KDRY 1100 AM 24.8 miles
from Macdona, TX; Alamo Heights, TX Religious Comments:
Engineering staff comes in and out, and are not on site, because
we are a relatively small station. KKYX WOAI, at this point we
do have weather but it is not attached at this point because we
monitor the two radio stations. No news department, we are a religious
station and run on block programming and so we do not have a news
department. If they sent something of an emergency level, the
system would have interrupted the programming for us. If it was
something that was a secondary, we do monitor the EAS for those
types of events we might of mentioned something. Anonymous
EMF
Educational Media Foundation, Air One
K-LOVE
10. KZLV KZLV 91.3 FM miles from Macdona, TX; Lytle, TX Christian
Contemporary Satellite Station, main studios in Sacramento. Comments:
No EAS sent out. We have a waiver from the FCC to operate the
stations as satellites remotely from California, Dan, close to
300 stations. We use a satellite system to distribute our programming
with. We have two radio networks that we operate from studios
in California. We also have a studio in Texas. If it came over
the EAS it ran. Completely remote stations. Studio Waiver from
the FCC, we completely control from California. There is no one
at the station. It does have a local number. We are a non profit
station. We do local ascertainments with area representatives
where our satellites are located. We are very diligent on EAS
but we do not have a news department there. Texas is one of the
least compliant states for having a state plan. In fact many of
their stations do not do their tests in a diligent manner. We
have run into that quite a bit. In fact some of them, especially
the weather stations, we don't get them on a regular basis, it's
pretty hit or miss. It would seem to me that a state like Texas,
could get hurricanes, coming on shore, ought to be cranked up
pretty tight with compliance. It is an entirely different approach
than what is taken in Kansas, and Nebraska, they are very much
on top of it in that other part of the country. I don't know if
Texas has a state plan. Most of the LP1 and LP2, are tired of
hearing from us, when we don't get their tests we query them.
It sounds to me that there needs to be an Office of Emergency
Services in that local area that needs to get plugged in and activated
in such a local event. NOAA can be very active on their own with
activations. I was going over logs today from Kansas and Nebraska,
and they can activate within on week 20 or 30 alerts. We are very
serious about EAS and look for it every week both on weather and
local stations. Dan Ethan
REF: NTSB: RAB http://www.ntsb.gov/Events/2005/Macdona/default.htm