LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — The emergency warning system at the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility in Lancaster County will be tested next week, Exelon Generation Company announced Wednesday.
The test is scheduled to be held at 10 a.m. on July 22, Exelon said.
During the test, a brief tone will sound, followed by the words “this is a test, this is a test.” The test will last approximately two minutes, according to the company.
No action by the public or any county or local emergency organization is necessary during the test, Exelon said.
The system, designed to warn the owners and residents of cottages along a stretch of Conowingo Pond in the event of an emergency at Muddy Run, consists of six sets of loudspeakers mounted atop poles upstream and downstream of the facility.
These poles were installed in Drumore Township, Lancaster County, and Lower Chanceford and Peach Bottom townships in York County, the company said.
Exelon installed the system in 2003 as an additional method of warning the public, specifically cottage owners along the Susquehanna River. As part of Muddy Run’s comprehensive emergency preparedness plans, the system is sounded every three months, on the second Thursday of January, April, July and October of each year at approximately 10 a.m., the company said.
Before each of these soundings, Exelon said, the company sends notifications to area authorities informing them of the test. These notifications are sent to each township and county along the Lower Susquehanna River between the Norman Wood Bridge (Route 372) and the Peach Bottom Atomic Power Station.
In the event of a real emergency, Exelon said, a tone will sound, followed by the words, “this is an emergency, please move to higher ground, this is an emergency, please move to higher ground.”
