Dear Community Members,

The Contra Costa County’s Community Warning System (CWS) will be conducting a public test on August 28th, between 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. The County will be testing a potential new emergency telephone notification service provider to determine its call capacity and quality. Contra Costa County implemented a new telephone-alert system to keep local residents informed of what to do in the event of a natural disaster or other incidents in the area.

We want to emphasize that this is only a test, and you should not be alarmed when you receive the test message. Please see the details below.

When: Wednesday, August 28

Time: Between 5:30 p.m. and 8 p.m. (please note the Richmond area test will begin at 7 p.m.)

Where:
— Portions of Richmond and San Pablo surrounding Chevron Refinery
— Portions of Pittsburg and Antioch surrounding Dow Chemical facility
— Portions of Martinez and Pacheco surrounding Shell Refinery
— Portions of Crockett and Rodeo surrounding Phillips 66 Refinery

Who: Residents who either live in these areas or who have registered to receive alerts will receive the test alert.

Why: The goal is to test the call capacity of the various telephone emergency notification system (TENS) zones and the call quality of the potential provider.

If you are not registered to receive emergency alerts and would like to sign up, visit www.cococws.us.

For additional questions regarding this test, please contact Jimmy Lee at the Contra Costa Sheriff’s Office at (925) 313-2643. Thank you.