Imagine three warheads filled with deadly chemical agents accidentally exploding in the storage bunkers at this remote military post.
The accident would instantly kill one man and injure four others handling the weapons.That was the scenario Army, state and county officials staged Wednesday to test their response to a chemical weapons accident.
As many as 300 state, local and federal emergency managers played out the all-day exercise in Tooele, Utah and Salt Lake counties. Salt Lake County also practiced response to a staged hazardous waste spill.
Officials role-played victims and news reporters, or acted in their real capacity of gathering, assessing and responding to information relayed between communication centers at TAD, the State Office Building and in each county.
While it was difficult for an outside observer to tell if the exercise was running smoothly, federal and military evaluators closely monitored the situation.
"From what I've heard, everything went well," said Army spokeswoman Marilyn Mitchell-Thompson. "The state was very enthusiastic about the coordination between the state, Tooele Army Depot and the counties involved. They felt they have come a long way since the last exercise" two years ago.
Final evaluations from the Army and the Federal Emergency Management Agency won't be completed for several months.
Shortly after Congress mandated the destruction of the nation's chemical weapons in 1985, a program to protect the public from a possible chemical arms accident was also started.
Initially the Chemical Stockpile Emergency Preparedness Program was designed to respond to accidents related to destroying chemical agents. But as federal officials began developing the program, they found that weapons storage was riskier than weapons destruction.
"In weapons destruction you deal with small quantities, but in storage there are large quantities and the risk is greater," said Phil Cogan, a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
More than 40 percent of the nation's chemical arms are stored at Tooele Army Depot. A huge incinerator is under construction in the depot's south area, where weapons stored in nearby concrete and earth bunkers will be destroyed.
Changing the focus of the program is one of the reasons that developing an emergency response plan for Utah and other states has been slow going, despite the immediate risk posed by weapons storage. Kogan explained delays are also due to problems in establishing military and federal agency safety standards.
There are still hangups on the local level too.
While Wednesday's exercise was called "full-scale," it did not involve civilian medical assistance. With the exception of the small, ill-equipped Tooele Valley Regional Medical Center, no hospitals have ever been involved in CSEPP exercises or in developing the program.
University of Utah Health Sciences Center spokesman John Dwan said it's questionable whether civilian medical staff are prepared to handle a chemical weapons accident. He explained that University hospital is equipped to treat hazardous waste contamination, but handling people contaminated with a chemical designed to kill is a different matter.
"If there were an accident we would gear up to respond, but as far as Tooele is concerned we are not as prepared as we would like to be," Dwan said.