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374 facts · 512 sources · updated 2026-09-30

Fact loc-008

newrecordconfirmed Ambulance cover near the reactor: Orangeville's was available 13% of the time in June 2026, per a council report
2026-07-09 · loc-008 · Orangeville City Council, Emery Emergency Medical Special Service District, Emery County Commission · yearly state PILT money directed to Emery EMS for five years (21 July 2026): $200,000

ETV News (16 July 2026) reported that at the Orangeville City Council meeting of 9 July 2026 a councilman said Orangeville ambulance availability was 13% during the past month, against 24% the month before; that closure of the Orangeville-Castle Dale ambulance garage was being considered if staffing could not be fixed; and that the county had tabled the EMS district's funding request. On 21 July the Emery County Commission voted to direct the first $200,000 of state payment-in-lieu-of-taxes money each year for five years to the emergency medical district, to raise on-call pay by $2 an hour (ETV, 28 July). Valar's safety agreement asks to plan for on-site emergencies only and relies on coordination with Emery County Emergency Management, Emery County Fire and local responders (safe-016); no public emergency plan or drill record for Ward 250 was found (safe-016). How often an ambulance would be available for the Valar site, which lies on Coal Haul Road west of Orangeville (Castle Dale minutes, 12 March 2026), is not in any record read. The city's own minutes confirm the 13% figure for June (9 July); record on 11 June the fire chief saying the ambulance had been 'only available 14% of the time' and a council report that county ambulance arrival times were averaging 25 minutes and that stations might be combined; and record the city fire chief saying on 19 February that he would meet Valar on its fire safety plan and reporting on 12 March that he had gone through Valar's safety protocols and 'everything is looking well'.

In plain termsThe reactor's safety plan leans on local fire and ambulance crews for anything beyond the site's own staff. In June 2026 the Orangeville ambulance was staffed and available only about one-eighth of the time, according to a council member's report recorded in the city's minutes, and the county was moving money to fix that. The risk from the reactor is not measured here; the point is that the local emergency services it counts on are stretched.
verified 2026-09-29: Re-read ETV 16 July and 28 July and the Orangeville minutes: holds. Fixed 19 Feb (the fire chief said he would meet Valar; the 12 March minutes record that he had). Replaced two quotes that did not bear on this fact. Sourced the site's location.

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