County terrorism drill largest in U.S. history
by Jennifer Krahe

PHOENIX – “We know it’s going to be a large‑scale explosion with a chemical component,” said Warren Leek, director of the Maricopa County Emergency Management Department. Leek made the statement April 3 before the county Board of Supervisors meeting.

The Emergency Management director was not predicting an impending terrorist threat. He was referring to a simulation –billed by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security as the largest terrorism response exercise ever planned by the federal government–likely to take place in Maricopa County during May or October of 2007.

“Our department is going to have the lead planning role for county government’s participation in the exercise,” Leek explained. “I’m sure there are other departments that will participate. He listed the Sheriff’s Office, Public Health Department, Medical Examiner’s Office, the Department of Transportation, and the Red Cross as among those taking part in the drill. “It’s going to be a much larger exercise than what we’ve done in the past,” Leek reported.

The ten‑day exercise is the latest in a category called Topoff (short for Top Officials)–drills designed to help high‑ranking public officials in disaster management divisions of federal and local government practice for a terrorist attack, working together and testing their response capabilities. There have been three such simulations over the last few years, staged in different areas of the U.S. and abroad. The first Topoff exercise was held in May of 2000, even before the Department of Homeland Security was created. Topoff 2 took place in Chicago and Seattle, and concentrated on handling simulated dirty bomb and biological weapon attacks. Connecticut and New Jersey were chosen for the third Topoff exercise in 2005, with additional participation in the United Kingdom and Canada.

Arizona, Oregon and Guam will be simultaneous sites for Topoff 4, with Australia, Canada, the UK and Mexico slated to participate abroad. Tentative observers will be the European Union, Denmark, NATO, Japan, the Phillippines, Russia, Singapore and Thailand.

As for the exact location of Topoff 4 within the metropolitan Phoenix area, Leek said on April 4: “We know the scenario, but we don’t know where in Maricopa County it will be.”  Possible locations initially were the Arizona Fairgrounds, Arizona State University, Cardinals Stadium, and Glendale Arena. However, several of those locations were not viable sites because, Leek said, “they will be off limits for two to three months” following the exercise because clean‑up and removal of command posts will take some time. Although much of the emergency exercise is still in the planning stages, Leek mentioned that parts of it have already started, with cyber‑related exercises begun in January 2006.

Asked if the public–local and national–would be aware of the goings‑on associated with the simulation, Leek cited his experiences while in Connecticut during Topoff 3.

“On a local scene, when I was back in Connecticut, there was a lot of press coverage of what was going on. It made five minutes of the local news every night. It does garner quite a bit of national attention,” he explained. “They’ll kick it off with a simulated event and that’s great TV footage.”

After the initial event, however, much of the Topoff 4 exercise is spent carrying out procedures in command posts, within extant departments such as Leek’s and offices created just for the simulation. Leek related that his office also houses the Emergency Operations Center which operates only when disaster strikes. The Emergency Management Department joins with other offices such as the Department of Transporation and the Red Cross during times of crisis and will be active during the simulation exercise.

When questioned about the payment of costs incurred, Leek responded that the State of Arizona has indicated it will foot the bill for Topoff 4, including medical attention and necessary security personnel, but it’s still too far off to elucidate financial plans. Topoff 4 will be a large, expensive event, he noted. The good news, according to Leek, is “the Department of Homeland Security wants to see funds go toward larger scale exercises.”

Topoff Arizona Objectives:

Demonstrate interoperability of county, state, federal agencies

Assess homeland security intelligence

Test ability to get information to the public

Control procedures at Emergency Operations Centers

Demonstrate recovery from attack

Implement protective action

Reach the reporter at jennifer@thedesertadvocate.com