FEMA Conducting Preparedness Drill At Nuclear Plant

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Federal Emergency Management Agency will evaluate a Biennial Emergency Preparedness Exercise at the Limerick Generating Station in Montgomery County. The week-long exercise, which began on November 16, will test the ability of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to respond to an emergency at the nuclear facility.

Held every other year, these drills test government’s ability to protect public health and safety. FEMA will evaluate state and local emergency response capabilities within the 10-mile emergency-planning zone of the nuclear facility.

Within 90 days, FEMA will send its evaluation to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) for use in licensing decisions. The final report will be available to the public about 120 days after the exercise.

FEMA will present preliminary findings of the exercise in a public briefing at 11:00 a.m. on November 20 at the Courtyard by Marriott, 150 Park Road, Reading, Pa. Scheduled speakers include representatives from FEMA, NRC, and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

FEMA’s mission is to support our citizens and first responders to ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

via FEMA: FEMA To Evaluate Commonwealth’s Readiness.

Fusion Centers Expand Criteria to Identify Militia Members – Updated

UPDATE: The head of the Missouri Highway Patrol has quashed a controversial report linking conservative groups with the modern militia movement.

Superintendent James Keathley said distribution of the report has been halted, and that a new system is being created to review future reports before they’re released.

Lt. Governor Peter Kinder said the report unfairly targets conservative Missourians.

“We had a focus on pro-lifers, folks who are concerned about enforcement of our borders and the immigration issue, and other people all on the conservative side of the spectrum, and I think the focus is wrong,” Kinder said.

Kinder is calling for an investigation into the report and wants Public Safety Director John Britt placed on administrative leave.

A spokesman for Governor Jay Nixon voiced support for Britt and for the Missouri Information Analysis Center, which produced the report.

Press Secretary Scott Holste said the report’s premature release is due to a flawed oversight system that existed long before Nixon took office.
——–

If you’re an anti-abortion activist, or if you display political paraphernalia supporting a third-party candidate or a certain Republican member of Congress, if you possess subversive literature, you very well might be a member of a domestic paramilitary group.

That’s according to “The Modern Militia Movement,” a report by the Missouri Information Analysis Center (MIAC), a government collective that identifies the warning signs of potential domestic terrorists for law enforcement communities. Read more

Homeland Security Response Network Launched

The Homeland Security Response Network will launch today as part of our “Prepared Communities” Initiative. This network was created to promote emergency preparedness through awareness, education, community involvement and partnerships between individuals, groups and organizations.

Although the site has not yet launched, registration is open and nearly 1000 people have already registered.

We look forward to working with each of you and your groups as we begin building a vibrant, prepared online community. Register today!

Details wil be released via a Press Release later this week.

Visit The Homeland Security Response Network

EPA Says ‘All Clear’ After Phoenix High School Mercury Spill

The Environmental Protection Agency has completed its emergency response following a mercury spill at Agua Fria High School in Phoenix.

An EPA news release Friday said mercury contamination has been cleaned up at the school and at homes that were affected.

The EPA’s Emergency Response program was mobilized on February 13 after being notified of the spill.

Over the past 11 days, the belongings of approximately 450 students and staff were screened for mercury. Mercury screenings were also conducted at 66 homes of students and staff whose belongings were found to be contaminated with mercury.

Six of the inspected homes had moderate levels of mercury contamination and three of the homes required more extensive decontamination with two families temporarily relocating. The families displaced by the decontamination returned to their homes February 24.

The EPA said, at the school, mercury contamination in all classrooms, locker rooms, outside areas and buses impacted by the spill has been cleaned up. However, restoration of these areas is not complete.

The Avondale Police Department is leading the ongoing investigation in the February 12th spill. Federal law allows the EPA three years to investigate the cause of the spill and recover costs.

Source

Sources Say Domestic Terrorist Arrested in Mobile Alabama

Mobile police sources say they’ve arrested a man believed to be a domestic terrorist. The investigation began January 5, when a local synagogue was spray painted with Nazi markings. Mobile Police are not making an official comment yet, but sources within the department say they got a very dangerous man off the streets, just in time.

Words of hate were spray-painted all over the Congregation Tree of Life synagogue three weeks ago. They are markings that shocked its congregation. Member Barbara Morgan couldn’t believe it.

“When we first came up to the building, it was ‘Oh my goodness, who could do this?’” Morgan said. “Who hates us so much that they would want to deface the building?”

Sources within the Mobile Police Department say the culprit was a domestic terrorist. They say the markings were not a joke.

Police sources tell us they when investigators arrested their man, they found bombs inside his home, and during questioning, he refused to talk.

Sources say his motives extended way beyond spray-painting Nazi markings.

Source

Pueblo Colorado Explosion Levels Building – People May Be Trapped Inside

Follow comments from those who are in near the site:

UPDATE: Fire inspector, said that “at this point we have no idea what caused the explosion but it is consistent with a natural gas explosion.”

———

Preliminary reports from Pueblo are that an explosion at the Branch Inn on Union Avenue and “C” Street in Pueblo has leveled the building. There are reports that windows were broken up to one block away due to the strength of the explosion.

We have reports that people may be trapped in the burning building. One woman was seen being loaded into an ambulance at the scene. No reports on the extent of her injuries.

One witnesse at the scene says they saw flames up to 40 feet in the air.

Developing…

Source

The location is in the Union Avenue Historic District, where president-elect Barack Obama spoke to a crowd of thousands less than two weeks ago.

An employee of Larry’s Electric, Sarah King, who’s near the explosion, said, “The building is flat leveled.”

Leroy Lucero, whose office is in the Union Depot, said, “The Branch Inn is completely gone….Anyone that would have been walking there would have been dead.” Lucero said the explosion rattled everything in the depot, and bricks and glass blocks from the building were scattered across the sidewalk and the street.

Source

FBI Investigates Implied Threats Against 60 in Shawano WI

From heavy security at the Shawano City Council meeting to a police escort for the mayor, a community is on high alert. A city alder confirms the FBI is investigating implied threats against city and county officials.

“They basically they said you’re on a list, have a good day. Now we have to worry about one more thing in our lives,”

An FBI investigation led to a warning about a threat against dozens of people.

Shawano Alder Bob Kurkiewicz says the FBI warned community leaders that a religious organization just outside of Shawano has made implied threats against them.

The group, run by a man known as Dr. Samanta Roy, has had a contentious relationship with people in the Shawano area for years. Kurkiewicz says it has now escalated to threats against roughly 60 people.

Action 2 News has information that the implied threats are against everyone from the mayor to city council members to even the police chief.

The alder we talked with says the threats are not specific but no one here is taking any chances.

At Wednesday night’s city council meeting, not a word was mentioned about the FBI investigation and the mayor had no comment for the media.

Mayor Lorna Marquardt was surrounded by police officers as she left the meeting.

“We’re taking some extra, precautionary measures to make sure nothing does happen,” Police Chief Ed Whealon said. “We don’t know, but we’re just going ahead, take a little more precautionary measures.”

Chief Whealon wouldn’t talk about the specifics of the situation.

The FBI released a statement:

“The FBI made a public announcement to 60 potential victims in Shawano, Wisconsin, on Wednesday, November 5th. The FBI advised these individuals that they were potential victims of an implied threat that was discovered as part of an ongoing investigation.”

Kurkiewicz confirmed there are references to the religious organization.

Read More

Earlier today we received an email from someone who stated that as it is with most things, there are two sides to this story. They provided the following link and requested that we include it in this post.

http://www.shawano-wisconsin.com/

Background story from 2005 on the Samanta Roy group mentioned in the story
From The Chicago Tribune

The FBI says 60 Shawano residents have been notified they were “potential victims of an implied threat” that authorities discovered during an investigation.

FBI spokesman Leonard Peace in Milwaukee issued a statement Wednesday saying the 60 people were notified a week earlier, on Nov. 5. According to Peace, “The FBI advised these individuals that they were potential victims of an implied threat that was discovered as part of an ongoing investigation.”

He said no specific details of the case could be released because the investigation is ongoing.

Contacted by telephone Wednesday evening, Peace reiterated that no further information is being released at this time.

Source

Shawano City Council Meeting Held Under Tense Conditions

The Shawano City Council held a regularly scheduled council meeting under some very tense conditions Wednesday night. “We are supporting the F.B.I., assisting them”, said Shawano Police Chief Ed Whelon, whose department was providing tight security and metal detectors for the council meeting. “If they need our help, we’ll provide that assistance to them.”

A hit list uncovered by the F.B.I. has the names of 60 people from the Shawano community, including the Police Chief, Mayor, and many of the community leaders present at Wednesday’s meeting.

At a meeting that NewsChannel 7’s Mikel Lauber was present for one week earlier, the City leaders and local residents on the list were told by the F.B.I. and local law enforcement to be vigilant and keep a watchful eye. At that meeting, law enforcement said The Samanta Roy Institute of Science and Technology, or SIST, was being investigated in connection to the list.

Darlene sense, a member of S.I.S.T. seen holding a video camera in NewsChannel 7’s ‘Secrets in Shawano’ series came to Wednesday’s council meeting, but wouldn’t respond to any questions about the investigation into S.I.S.T. She remained silent, videotaping reporters who questioned her and vehicles parked outside City Hall before she left.

With the community uncertain of how real the threat is, or exactly who’s responsible, local leaders just hope the community will be patient. “We ask you to have some faith in the city”, Whelon said. “And I think given enough time, we’ll be fine.”

Read More

Homeland Security Will Track Fertilizer Buyers

The Department of Homeland Security has proposed new regulations that would make it harder to buy ammonium nitrate — an agricultural fertilizer that can be used as a bomb-making ingredient.

In a notice issued late last month, the department proposed new rules that would tighten restrictions on the sale of ammonium nitrate. Among other things, the regulations would require prospective buyers to apply for registration numbers from Homeland Security; the department will also run terrorist screening database checks on all prospective registrants.

The proposed rules (read here) will bring regulations in line with a recent amendment to the Homeland Security Act. The amendment requires the department to “regulate the sale and transfer of ammonium nitrate by an ammonium nitrate facility to prevent the misappropriation or use of ammonium nitrate in an act of terrorism.”

Read More