'Dirty bomb' drill
State, local agencies practice response to terror attack
MONCKS CORNER — Luckily, it was only a simulation.
The drill scenario involved a "dirty bomb" that exploded Wednesday near the Santee Cooper plant. As many as 2,000 people from state and local agencies took part in a complex drill testing the region's response to a terrorist incident.
The Post and Courier
As many as 2,000 people from dozens of local and state agencies, including specialized response teams, took part in Wednesday's Lowcountry Weapons of Mass Destruction Full-Scale Exercise in Moncks Corner. The 12-hour drill tested the region's response to a 'dirty bomb' explosion
The 12-hour event, called the Lowcountry Weapons of Mass Destruction Full-Scale Exercise, called upon the help of many different rescue personnel, hospitals and responders in Berkeley, Charleston and Colleton counties.
It's the biggest drill in the last five years, according to Berkeley County Emergency Preparedness Director Tom Smith.
Like a scene from a "Die Hard" movie, dozens of emergency vehicles, including specialized response teams such as Hazmat and COBRA, parked and set up camp outside the Wal-Mart off Reid Hill Road which was the main staging area for the event.
While residents shopping around the area did not seem alarmed by the yellow tape in the parking lot, the teams involved in the simulation took the drill to heart, acting as if everything was as realistic as possible.
"If you don't take it as realistic as possible, then it's all for naught, " said Dan Moon, public information officer for the Berkeley County Sheriff's Department.
"This is good training exercise and a good learning process," Moon said.
Don Wilkins, incident commander for the entire operation, was pleased with how the drill was going.
"But there are always a few rough spots," Wilkins said. "And that's what the drill is for — to figure out what those rough spots are. There is always room for improvement."
Reach Almar Flotildes at 937-5659 or aflotildes@postandcourier.com.
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Comments
eyecantspel (anonymous) says...
Go ahead and make your coal plant jokes and turn up your ac, then complain about your power bill.
With that being said, what does this mean?
"The drill scenario involved a "dirty bomb" that exploded Wednesday near the Santee Cooper plant. "
The Walmart is near the Santee Cooper headquaters, but no where near the Jefferies Gen Station (it includes a hydro unit) on the lake. The PC has some of the worst writers and editors of any paper on Earth. Everything is so unclear to a normal reader. Even people who live in Moncks Corner that did not watch (for whatever reason) the drill would have no idea where this occured. The power plant is miles and miles and miles from Walmart, and its the only power plant anywhere near town. There is some sort of plant in Cross but that would be 20-30 miles away. I think people do not even understand how many errors the paper has like this a day. We are "assuming" the paper is right in stories. People who read this today will assume there is some sort of plant in Moncks Corner near a Walmart. 100% untrue. Jefferies, I guess, was the likley place to have held this if it were at a plant. I assume it was at a plant because the story says "plant". A much more likely place to test a dirty bomb rescue would be the Santee Cooper headquaters, which is a mile or so from Walmart. 100's if not a 1000 people work there in one of the biggest office spaces between CHS and Columbia. This type of area would be a much more likely target, therefore, in theory, a better place to drill. The offices are as urban as Moncks Corner gets, while the plant has trees for neighbors I assume. A very (likely) rural setting besides the plant. The story is so vague there is no way of knowing. The plant would be more out of the way and drilled with ease, but who knows. The PC is a wreck. Almost ever story is writen like this, where the reader has questions (or should) about w.t.h. he/she just read and why more wasn't included. This got by an editor because the editor assumed from the copy there was some sort of plant in Moncks Corner, because they have no clue either. They simply took the word of the writer instead of asking questions.
May 28, 2009 at 1:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
katrenavantassle (anonymous) says...
This is a good thing that they are trying to do to protect us in case this happens ANYWHERE...Where the actual plant is or is not doesn't matter. Can't you understand they are doing this to practice for the real thing and if you don't listen to the news about the nuke testing in foreign countries, AND the two guys in Goose Creek caught with dirty bomb materials, then maybe that why you don't see the need for our preparation for this type of war. It is coming to this.
God help us all when it is the real thing and we are NOT PREPARED.
May 28, 2009 at 8:42 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
SmilingOne (anonymous) says...
While it is true that headquarters is near Walmart, and Jefferies is several miles away, the scenario was designed that the scenario-bomb was at the headquarters you spoke of in your comment. However, that particular site is a bit difficult to do some of the exercise elements in until it's the real thing. For example, doing actual firefighting with real fire, which was done yesterday.
The exercise was written so that they could replicate a disaster with mock victims (both inflated dummies and people with makeup) and real fire at the training center just down the road behind Wal-mart. That is the reasoning behind the staging area being at Wal-mart. The scenario called for a radioactive hot zone, so you can't set up the command post and staging area closer.
One of the reasons that P&C and the media in general were partially in the dark was because they were supposed to be, to a point. The scenario had to play out like it was real, which means all information goes through Public Information Offices, just like in real life. The participants themselves had no idea what was going to happen until it occurred, as is realistic.
May 28, 2009 at 8:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
tc1 (anonymous) says...
"The power plant is miles and miles and miles from Walmart,"
I must question the implication as to distance here. The Walmart is essentially next to the Hwy 52 bridge over the tailrace canal. If I remember correctly, been a long time, you can see parts of the plant from that bridge. Three miles maybe?
At anyrate I'm glad they are practicing for a for an event that would not be all that hard for the murderers to pull off.
May 28, 2009 at 9:13 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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