The Next Strike
The signs of high anxiety in Washington are unmistakable this spring. Pentagon officials in April deployed a blimp packed with scientific gauges to study airflow over the sprawling Defense Department complex to measure how biological or chemical agents might travel if terrorists released them in an attack on the building. In May, security officials staged a mock attack against the facility to hone their response capabilities. About the same time, the Labor Department released a new report advising agencies on how to help disabled employees prepare for emergencies. In addition, the Homeland Security Department beefed up its system for protecting the airspace over the capital, and conducted an exercise that tested the abilities of more than 40 other agencies to evacuate key personnel and leaders to sites away from Washington to continue essential services. It was the first exercise to so broadly evaluate the government's continuity-of-operations plans.
Citing "credible intelligence from multiple sources," Attorney General John Ashcroft said in late May that al Qaeda terrorists are intent on attacking the United States in the coming months. At a press conference with FBI director Robert Mueller, Ashcroft said terrorists pose a "clear and present danger" to Americans. Though Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge did not raise the threat level on his color-coded advisory system, and federal officials said they had uncovered no information about specific sites and methods of attack, Washington is widely understood to be among al Qaeda's top targets in the United States, along with New York, Los Angeles and other large cities. Al Qaeda has a record of launching attacks at the scenes of previous ones, a record that particularly concerns officials in target-rich Washington.
Undoubtedly, city and federal officials are far more prepared for a terrorist attack today than they were in the fall of 2001. Buildings have been reinforced; evacuation routes and procedures have been planned and rehearsed. The region's transit service is equipped with sensors to detect the release of chemical or biological agents. Local emergency responders have gone to school on the attacks. At the Pentagon, where the losses of Sept. 11 remain palpable, vehicle and pedestrian traffic have been rerouted and employees have internalized exit routes, emergency response plans, and the whereabouts of protective masks they can quickly don in the event of an attack involving chemicals or biological agents.
But even at agencies whose primary missions are not security related, the change in focus is enormous. Priscilla Carey, the acting deputy assistant secretary for administration at the Agriculture Department, says emergency planning "has become full-time work for some of our staff." With about 9,000 employees in a complex of historic buildings on the southwest corner of the Washington mall, several thousand more employees and contractors at 15 leased buildings in the Washington area and a large research campus in Beltsville, Md., the department faces an enormous task in protecting employees and in educating them about how to respond to emergencies, Carey says.
'Stunning New Challenges'
Where federal facilities managers used to prepare for accidental fires and natural disasters, they now prepare for acts of sabotage and warfare. The Agriculture Department is a case in point. On Sept. 11, the agency had no way to broadcast information to employees about what was happening. Security staff relied on a few two-way radios to communicate among themselves. They got their information by watching television. When it was decided to evacuate the building, the deputy chief of staff went from floor to floor to alert employees. "We used to be pretty facilities-focused," Carey says, relying on a single safety officer to make sure fire alarms were working. "Even the [plans] we had in place weren't publicized."
Sept. 11 raised security issues for Agriculture that went far beyond anything for which its employees had planned or trained. The attack was followed two weeks later by devastating tornadoes in Maryland that heavily damaged department-owned property. About two weeks after that, department officials learned that the mail room in the headquarters building on the mall was contaminated with anthrax.
"These were all stunning new challenges," says Carey, then the department's director of operations. "I had never looked at my job as a life-and-death thing before. When I looked at my employees after we got the positive anthrax test back, I just wondered if I would ever be able to protect them," she says. Compounding the challenge was the fact that many senior staff were new on the job, as it was still relatively early in the Bush administration. "Suddenly, everyone started asking, 'What are your protocols for responding to anthrax?' " Carey recalls. At some point that fall, during a morning rush hour, the driver of a panel truck near department headquarters claimed to have dangerous chemicals aboard, virtually shutting down traffic for hours. Each week seemed to raise new threats, forcing administrators into uncharted territory.
"It's not just the employees you have to think about," says Carey. When anthrax was discovered, there were construction contractors working on the floor above the mail room. On Sept. 11, the agency's day-care center was a major concern. To keep panic to a minimum during an emergency, agency officials realize they have to keep everyone, including visitors, cleaning staff and temporary workers, informed of potential threats and responses, Carey says.
Taking Responsibility
Today, a number of people inside and outside the agency believe Agriculture has done some of the best emergency planning among federal agencies. While security staff still rely on two-way radios, the department now has an e-mail alert program modeled after a Pentagon system and an internal computer broadcast system that can simultaneously inform employees of critical information. And if the power is lost or the broadcast system fails to operate properly-as it did the first time it was tested-then security staff can resort to bullhorns, which were among the first items the department purchased after Sept. 11.
The Federal Administrative Managers Association, an informal group of senior facilities managers in Washington, has been a valuable source of information and shared experiences, Carey says. As a result of Agriculture's experience, NASA and the Veterans Affairs Department have decided to buy the same computer broadcast system. Agriculture sometimes conducts drills with its neighbors at the Energy Department. All this adds up to being more prepared, Carey says.
In addition, an updated handbook with instructions for responding to threats ranging from biological agents to radiological weapons is available on Agriculture's Web site, along with District of Columbia evacuation plans and links to other federal and city agencies that would be useful in an emergency. Employees are strongly encouraged to prepare and keep near their desks their own "grab-and-go" kits with flashlights, radios, bottled water, long-life nutrition bars, three days' worth of medication and a change of clothes. Lockers are distributed throughout the agency's facilities to provide such items to visitors and contractors. The department also has modified its cafeteria contracts so it could provide employees with food for a number of days if necessary. Carey says it is unlikely most workers ever would need to remain in the office for longer than several hours, but depending on the nature of the crisis and where employees live, they should be prepared for worse.
James Redington, director of emergency programs at Agriculture, says employees are expected to share the burden of being prepared. The agency maintains a Web site called Be Prepared, which is designed to give employees up-to-date information about how to be ready for any emergency. Redington is in charge of Agriculture's 24-hour emergency operations center, a sub-basement enterprise staffed with three people who remain in constant contact with city and federal officials. Contractors in late May were putting the finishing touches on the center, which is designed as a coordination hub for handling both local emergencies and broader crises. A backup power system, independent phone lines and Internet access are designed to ensure the facility will be able to maintain communications with the outside world.
"We have an aggressive program here," says Redington. The new facility allows Agriculture officials to maintain situational awareness and keep employees informed as quickly and accurately as possible-essential qualities for effectively managing any future attacks, he says. "It's trite to say, but I do believe it is not a matter of if, but when."