Following the explosion at Kleen Energy Power Plant on Feb. 7—causing tremors that were felt up to 20 miles away—five University staff members arrived at the site to assist Middletown’s Emergency Management Personnel with setting up emergency response materials and controlling access to the site. Within the next few days, all 12 members of the University’s Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) volunteered a combined 98.5 hours of their time to rescue operations, according to Associate Vice President of Facilities Joyce Topshe.
According to Bill Nelligan, one of the initial CERT responders and the Director of Environmental Health, Safety, and Sustainability, members of the team helped Middletown’s Emergency Management Personnel set up tents, generators, cots, and lights and delivered food to emergency responders.
The 12-member team went through the CERT training program in August. Nelligan and Joyce Walter, Director of the Davidson Health Center, became certified to train a campus CERT program originally to assist in the event of a catastrophe on campus or in the region.
Students were also quick to help the victims’ families and the response team workers. Meera Bhardwaj ’10 and Micah Weiss ’10 sat down with WSA President Mike Pernick ’10 to coordinate a meal for the first response workers and figure out where help was needed.
Pernick had been in contact with several members of the City of Middletown staff, as well as Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano, to find out what was top priority for aid for victims’ families and first responder volunteers.
“This isn’t about looking good, it’s about doing the right thing,” Pernick said. “When your neighbor is in trouble, the right thing to do is help him.”
Fresh meals for volunteers at the power plant were deemed the most important at the time. Bhardwaj, who is a Community Advisor for wood frame houses, sent an e-mail out to all of her residents asking for help to cook a meal for 50 people. Nine different kitchens volunteered and prepared a meal of chili and cornbread last Friday that was delivered to power plant rescue workers that night.
“It was a hands-on and tangible way to help the situation,” Bhardwaj said.
Residential Life and Alpha Delta Phi each donated $200 for purchasing food. Bon Appetit donated pork chops and stuffed shells as well as drinks, trays, and paper plates. Student volunteers bought food from grocery stores and delivered it to the designated kitchens.
“When they came to pick up the food, they were really grateful with the amount of food we had cooked,” Bhardwaj said. “They said it was a mess [at the plant.]”
According to Pernick, the most urgent matter is getting financial support for families of the victims. Bhardwaj, Pernick, and Weiss are working on setting up a fund for the victims’ families that would allow students to directly deposit money into an online account. A benefit concert to help raise money for the families is also in the works for next weekend.
“We are aware that there is a disconnect between students and the [Middletown] community,” Weiss said. “Maybe something that can come out of this is a larger discussion about our relationship with Middletown.”
The explosion of the power plant only two miles away highlighted just how close the University is to Middletown, yet how removed students can feel from the community.
“I hope that people in Middletown recognize that many Wesleyan students don’t view themselves as a transient population,” Pernick said. “Many Wesleyan students that I know view themselves as members of the community and want to help, and people in Middletown recognize this.”
Donations can be made to the mayor’s office fund for the victims’ families at: Families of Kleen Energy Tragedy, c/o MiddConn Federal Credit Union, 213 Court St., Middletown, CT 06457. Telephone: (860) 638-5360.