Ever dream of living next to a nuclear plant?

This weekends fun!! I live 3/4 mile from the Seabrook Station

From the October 21, 2008 Newburyport Daily News
Siren test likely to frighten animals, Owners urged to keep pets contained
By Katie Curley/ Staff writer

SEABROOK — Whales jumping from the ocean, chickens piling up and little Fido cowering in the corner are all things locals may see this weekend in their own backyard when Seabrook Station sounds its 121 alarms as part of a regionwide test.

Newburyport Animal Control Officer and Emergency Management Volunteer for Amesbury Becky Taylor said she expects Saturday afternoon to be a busy one.

"I'm expecting the noise to confuse domestic and wild animals alike," Taylor said. "There will be whales jumping out of the ocean and weird behavior from the horses, that kind of thing."

Saturday's test, scheduled for 12:30 p.m., is expected to last three to five minutes. The sirens are located in towns within a 10-mile radius of the plant — including Newburyport, Amesbury, Salisbury, Merrimac, Newbury and West Newbury.

Expected to be louder than a fireworks display or a thunderstorm depending on proximity to a siren, local officials fear animals may be confused by the drill.

Taylor, who has worked with Seabrook Station to alert animal owners of the siren, said her biggest fear is getting the message to pony clubs and horseback riding schools.

"You don't want kids to be on horses on Saturday afternoon and have these sirens start blasting," Taylor said, noting she lives near the site of the Amesbury siren which malfunctioned over a year ago and caused panic. "These things are very, very loud."

Taylor said when Plymouth started doing annual siren alarms years ago there were health problems, and even some fatalities, among animals the first couple of years before they got used to the sound.

She said the key to protecting pets is to make sure they are secure and under their owner's watchful eye.

"If people can just pay attention to their pets during this time, it will help," Taylor said. "Just be aware that these alarms are very loud and have the potential to really scare those who are sensitive."

Woodsom Farm warnings

With the Woodsom Farm Festival scheduled for Saturday, Amesbury Emergency Management Director Don Swenson said he has been speaking with the event's organizers as well as local farms who need to keep an eye on the animals for the three to five minutes the test is expected to last.

"I've been speaking with Dave Pare the organizer," Swenson said. "They will give notice of the alarm test to those at the festival every half hour."

Swenson said he has also told Pare not to have any animal-related events starting at noon as he is unsure how animals will respond to the siren.

Matt Kozazcki, owner of Tendercrop Farm in Newbury, said he will have to watch over the chicken and turkey coop on Saturday as they are most sensitive to loud sirens.

"The cattle don't really care; it's the chickens and turkeys that don't like sirens. Fire and police sirens scare them," Kozazcki said, noting that the animals, when scared, jump on top of each other and create piles that smother and potentially kill the animals on the bottom. "I will have to go down there and pull them apart if they pile up."

President of the Merrimack River Feline Rescue Association Stacy LeBaron is encouraging pet owners to keep animals inside and not to allow them to run free during the test.

"It's sort of like when there are fireworks," LeBaron said. "Just hunker down and be vigilant, keep pets indoors so they don't get disoriented."

LeBaron said shelter staff will be with the cats and kittens in the shelter during the test and expect the feral cats to just hide until the sounds subside.

"We will have people here, and it will be regular adoption hours, so we will monitor anything going on," LeBaron said. "We have placed a lot of our kittens into foster care and have been trying to get the environment as stress free as possible. Hopefully, this is helpful on Saturday."

LeBaron did note livestock should be treated the same as other animals by making sure they are brought into the barn during the test.

"I would bring them all inside to be safe," LeBaron said.

Taylor echoed LeBaron's sentiments, saying if you have pets or even children who are hypersensitive to loud noises then you must pay extra attention.

"If they have problems with fireworks or thunderstorms, they will certainly have a problem with this," Taylor said. "If you are not going to be home on Saturday when the alarm goes off ,then you must make sure they are secure. This is way more than a fire detector sound or thunder; this will blow their mind."

Al Griffith, spokesperson for the Seabrook Station, said while it is unclear how local animals will respond, tests such as this weekend's are done throughout the country and have been done successfully even with animals in the area.

"We have ensured farms are notified of this and appropriate actions are taken," Griffith said. "The fact is we are in the only zone in the country that doesn't routinely have the sirens go off, so it can be done successfully."

Well......if the very small percentage possibility of something horrible happening it would kinda suck being next door.

Otherwise I would think a Nuclear Plant would make a great neighbor. Quiet (except for the occasional siren test), your probably going to get your power back on first after a major storm, the area should be pretty safe generally.

And, the glow-in-the-dark flora and fauna should be kind of fun too!

I grew up in Mass. in the 70s, and I sure remember all the big protests when they were trying to build that place! Nice to see it's become a good neighbor.

"Sounds" like fun!

We used to have three eyed fish pipes in our hand held section....

I think it would be bad news if chickens were piling up and whales were jumping from the ocean on to our patio. I think we are less than a mile from the beach and good five miles from any chickens.

I must be going straight to Hell. I laughed out loud when I got to this line:

"You don't want kids to be on horses on Saturday afternoon and have these sirens start blasting"