BCT Editorial – 10/22/06

This page was last updated on October 25, 2006.

Fitting the bill; Editorial; Beaver County Times; October 22, 2006.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject editorial.

“County should build a new 911 operation center in West Aliquippa

“The Beaver County emergency operations center has outgrown its old home, a 109-year-old train station in Beaver, and the county commissioners might build a new facility.

“What better place to build it than West Aliquippa.

“The West Aliquippa site wouldn’t just meet the needs of the county. It also would be a way for the county to make nice to the city of Aliquippa and its West Aliquippa neighborhood for dumping the county jail and possible juvenile detention center in their back yards.

“Let’s face it. Although these facilities technically are located in Hopewell Township, for all intents and purposes, they are in Aliquippa, and, more specifically, West Aliquippa.

“With its 75 full- and part-time employees, the emergency operations center would be a welcome addition to the city and the neighborhood.

“Beaver County Emergency Services Director Wes Hill said he will be looking for land east of the Beaver River and either north or east of the Ohio River away from residential areas.

“He also wants the new site to be far outside the 10-mile evacuation radius for any incidents at the Beaver Valley Nuclear Power Station in Shippingport.

“Sure, the Henry Mancini Bridge is the only way in and one way out of West Aliquippa, but that didn’t stop the county from building the jail there. (Also, a road could be opened to allow West Aliquippa traffic to come and go via the Wye in downtown Aliquippa.)”

[RWC] There are two points to address in this paragraph.

First, having “only way in and one way out of West Aliquippa” is probably desirable for a jail, so using that as precedent for an emergency services center makes no sense.

Second, notice how the editorial skimmed over “a road could be opened to allow West Aliquippa traffic to come and go via the Wye in downtown Aliquippa.” To the best of my knowledge, the road and intersection would have to be built, not just merely “opened.” That would add to the cost of the operations center.

“The Aliquippa site fits the bill. Why not go for it?”

[RWC] “The Aliquippa site fits the bill?” Above the editorial said, “Beaver County Emergency Services Director Wes Hill said he will be looking for land east of the Beaver River and either north or east of the Ohio River.”

If the editorial author had looked at a map, he would find Aliquippa is south and west of the Ohio River, not “either north or east of the Ohio River.” Yet another well-researched editorial – not. That said, the author appears to have at least some of the credentials required of a liberal judge. He read “north or east” and interpreted it to mean “south or west.” <g>