MIDDLESBORO — After a recent Middlesboro City Council meeting, residents were left unclear as to what plans the city had in place to prevent another chemical spill and ensure general safety of its citizens. Questions raised by concerned citizens at the meeting regarding the matter were unanswered by council members and the mayor. According to officials, however, the city is indeed developing new emergency plans and is making efforts to coordinate city and county efforts should another chemical spill occur.

“We are responding right now as fast and well as we can,” said Randy Melton, Code Enforcement Officer and Stormwater Program Manager, who spoke on behalf of the city.

Safety Director James Pursifull echoed similar concerns.

“The city is very concerned about the potential for danger to our citizens and we will work diligently hand in hand with Smithfield and the federal agencies to protect them."

But Middlesboro resident David Mike, who made an impassioned plea for new safety measures at the council meeting, wasn’t even sure he was heard at the time.

“I was dumbfounded after I got through that there was just dead silence,” said Mike, who teaches at Middlesboro High School.

In the council’s defense, Melton said he had already begun working on the city’s emergency plans before the meeting, but had not informed them. Since he was not asked to provide the information, he didn’t speak up.

After the meeting adjourned, however, Mike said he was approached by council members Evelyn Farmer, Everett “Mammaw” Gulley, and Doug Hughes who said they thought the city needed to develop a plan. They invited Mike to a meeting with Smithfield officials this Friday. Also, council member Ronnie Carter, who works at Smithfield, told Mike after the meeting that the company eventually planned to issue a press release to the media.

Melton said a host of government officials from different agencies will come together Friday to iron out plans and answer any questions that may be burning. Those attending will include Melton, fire chief Tim Wilder, Bell County Emergency Management Coordinator Paul Wilson, police chief Jeff Sharpe, some council members, and top officials at the Smithfield Plant. Mayor Ben Hickman will not be attending the meeting.

“Hopefully this is only the beginning of an ongoing look at the future,” said Melton, adding that as the Smithfield Plant expands, there’s a chance a leak could happen again. “We’ll be prepared if it does happen.”

Mike said he hoped to raise awareness about the problem to the Smithfield officials on Friday. He said that while the county’s new early warning system will call many phones instantly is a “step in the right direction”, it wouldn’t work if you were away from your phone and missed the call. He said he would like to see a siren or alarm used to evacuate citizens in case of any future chemical spills.

Melton also said that Smithfield is working to clean up the chemical spill and has hired a subcontractor, Ecotech, to do it. But he said they will very likely be fined by the state’s Department for Environmental Protection, Division of Water.

“They’re an important plant to the city, but we want to hold them accountable,” said Melton.

Stephen Woodward is a Staff Writer for the Daily News. He may be contacted at swoodward@middlesborodailynews.com.