WASHINGTON HEADLINES
10 days in May; a test about terrorists
By LISA HOFFMAN
Scripps Howard News Service
April 24, 2000
WASHINGTON - In an unprecedented exercise next month, a
phalanx of the U.S. government's top officials will engage
in a massive field test of the nation's preparedness to
respond to a terrorist attack within its borders.
Sometime during 10 still-secret days in May, seven
Cabinet leaders will receive a chilling, though mock, alert
that unknown terrorists have unleashed chemical or
biological weapons simultaneously on two cities _ Denver
and Portsmouth, N.H.
Attorney General Janet Reno; the secretaries of defense,
energy, transportation, agriculture, and health and human
services; and the head of the Environmental Protection
Agency will have to drop whatever they are doing and
preside over the federal government's emergency
response to such a dreaded mass attack.
Called "Operation TopOff" _ for "top officials" _ the field
exercise will involve thousands of participants including
the governors of the two states, the National Guard and
hundreds of state and local emergency and medical
personnel. The directors of the FBI and the Federal
Emergency Management Agency also will play a lead role.
A companion drill, possibly involving a pretend attack
involving nuclear weapons, will occur in the Washington,
D.C., area.
Until the mock weapons of mass destruction attacks are
announced, only a handful of organizers will know the
nature and dimensions of the planned assault. The type of
deadly agent used, where it is released, how many people
are felled, who the perpetrators are _ all will remain
unknown until the exercise is launched sometime between
May 7 to May 29.
"The players know very, very little," Justice Department
spokesman Doug Johnson said.
Colorado Gov. Bill Owens said he is completely in the
dark. "It could be a scenario of anything from Denver's
water supplies being poisoned to an airborne particulate
being released," Owens said. "We are literally waiting hour
by hour for the test."
Mindful that real terrorists _ knowing that the
government's attention will be focused elsewhere _ might
view this as a fine time to stage an actual attack, the
agencies are taking special precautions.
"We're aware that could occur and we have taken
appropriate measures," Johnson said.
Among the elements to be evaluated in the mock disaster
are the time it takes to identify the agent, ability to limit
its spread, efforts to treat the wounded without causing
further contamination, search for the terrorists involved,
and coordinate the dozens of agencies involved.
For several years, the federal government has been
training state and local police, firefighters, hospital
personnel and others in managing the aftermath of a
deadly terrorist incident.
Denver and Portsmouth were chosen as sites of the mock
attack because they represent a range of size and
preparation. Denver has undergone the training while
Portsmouth has not. Officials in each city also were eager
to participate in the May drill.
Planning for the drill, which was ordered by Congress,
began about a year ago. It is expected to cost no more
than $3.5 million, the amount Capitol Hill authorized to
cover the expenses involved.
Federal and state officials intend to begin publicizing the
upcoming fake attack this week so citizens will not be
blindsided or panicked by the exercise.
"We don't want to scare the public," FEMA spokesman
Mark Wilson said.
(Contact Lisa Hoffman at HoffmanL(at)shns.com or
http://www.shns.com.)
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