Officials with MidAmerican Energy Company have announced the company is participating in several educational training meetings throughout Iowa to help prepare emergency responders and public officials on pipeline safety and damage prevention tactics. The 2014 Pipeline Awareness and Education Meetings are hosted by the Iowa Pipeline Association and are free to the public. All emergency responders and public officials are encouraged to attend.

During the meetings, the Iowa Pipeline Association will conduct interactive scenarios, allowing attendees to practice and apply their emergency response knowledge to specific incidents, such as leak recognition, hazard awareness, damage prevention and basic pipeline safety strategies. Events will be held from January through March, beginning at 5:30 p.m. A free dinner will be provided at each event.

Those interested can register for any one of the meetings at www.iowapipelinesafety.com. In western Iowa, meetings will be held: In Guthrie Center at the Farm Bureau Hall on March 11th; In Denison at the Boulders Conference Center on March 13th;In Creston at Iowa Southwestern Community College on March 25th; In Clarinda at Heritage Hall on March 26th, and in Atlantic at the Cass County Community Center on March 27th.