LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa. — Constellation Energy Generation announced Monday that it will test the warning system in and around the Muddy Run Pumped Storage Facility in Lancaster County at 10 a.m. on Thursday, July 20.
During the test, a brief tone will sound, followed by the words “this is a test, this is a test," the company said in a press release.
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.
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.
Constellation Energy Generation, LLC 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.
Before each of these soundings, Constellation Energy Generation, LLC 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, as well as to area newspapers.
In the event of a real emergency, 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.”
