The chairman for the Economic Development, Public Buildings and Disaster Management held a subcommittee hearing yesterday examining the risk of damage to thousands of miles of infrastructure if a natural disaster, such as an earthquake, were to strike the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta Region.

The Delta Region consists of thousands of miles of waterways, which deliver fresh water throughout the state of California. The area includes levees, pipelines, telecommunications and seaports. The hearing was attended by representatives from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, California Emergency Management Agency and local utility associations.

Last week, a report found that the Pacific Northwest faces an increased likelihood of a major coastal earthquake in the next 50 years.

The director of FEMA’s Disability Integration and Coordination advocated for communities to actively engage its disabled residents in disaster preparation during a speaking engagement this week.

“You don’t have to be experts on how to meet the access and functional needs of people with disabilities. You need to be experts on how to bring people together so that people are able to work together,” said Marcie Ross at New Jersey Institute for Disabilities’ Alianza Emergency Preparedness Project’s second Real Readiness State-Wide Inclusive Conference.

Roth said a current shift in disaster planning practices is bringing engagement with disabled communities to the forefront in disaster preparation, including transportation and medical sensitivities.

More than $21 million and 110,000 work hours have been invested in Dominion nuclear power plants for improvements following last year’s 5.8 magnitude earthquake that jolted the East Coast and led to the precautionary shut down of Dominion plants.

Seismic monitors and earthquake recording systems are among the improvements made to the North Anna station as part of a coordination between the company and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Additional safety upgrades are expected to be installed within the year, according to a company design engineer. The company is seeking an additional reactor for the plant by 2015.

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