https://www.usnews.com/news/best-st...a-border-town-leery-of-planned-bioterror-test
Oklahoma Border Town Leery of Planned Bioterror Test
Residents of the small town of Newkirk, Oklahoma, are worried about Department of Homeland Security plans to conduct a bioterrorism response drill near town.
NEWKIRK, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announcement that it was conducting biosecurity drills in the Oklahoma farming town of Newkirk was tucked among the local weekly newspaper's classified ads.
The notice mentioned a "low level outdoor release of inert chemical and biological simulant materials" and directed people to a science-heavy website explaining why the agency chose the community.
The Newkirk Herald Journal thought it should be front-page news, and its subsequent article sent shockwaves through the town of about 2,300 people, leaving them wondering, "Why here?" and questioning the government's assurances about the safety of the chemicals it plans to use during tests that will gauge how authorities might respond to a bioterror event.
"They're trying to tell us it's 100 percent safe," Brian Hobbs, a 40-year-old construction worker who's helped rally like-minded residents. "It leaves people with an uneasy feeling. I don't want to become the testing ground for the Department of Homeland Security."
About 9,000 wary residents of Newkirk and neighboring communities, including Arkansas City, Kansas, just across the border, have signed a petition seeking more details from the federal agency. Many residents want guarantees from the government that none of the chemicals will adversely affect nearby cropland, a creek that flows into the Arkansas River or the massive Kaw Lake watershed. Dozens have shown up at community meetings demanding answers.
Newkirk, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Tulsa, near Oklahoma's border with Kansas, is dotted with churches and modest homes with well-tended yards. A grain elevator at the local co-op is the tallest downtown building. Some here trace their lineage to the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, when the area was opened up to white settlement.
"A lot of families have grown up here; it's truly home. That's why everybody's scared," said Newkirk Herald Journal editor Cody Griesel.
The tests are tentatively set for winter and summer 2018, with no specific dates from the government. The test area is the abandoned Chilocco Indian School campus just outside of town.
Scientists say the cluster of buildings at the site best resemble single-family homes and commercial buildings in any U.S. city. The government said the chemicals will be used to measure the amount of material that penetrates structures in the event of a bioterrorism event, and how authorities can best clean it up in the event of an attack.
The chemicals to be used include titanium dioxide, which is common in sunscreens and cosmetics; fluorescent brightener, found in laundry detergents; and urea, a compound found in urine and fertilizers. The chemical that has probably caused the most worry among residents is called DiPel, a biological insecticide that's been commercially available since the 1970s and is approved for use in organic farming.
Full story at site
Oklahoma Border Town Leery of Planned Bioterror Test
Residents of the small town of Newkirk, Oklahoma, are worried about Department of Homeland Security plans to conduct a bioterrorism response drill near town.
NEWKIRK, Okla. (AP) — The U.S. Department of Homeland Security announcement that it was conducting biosecurity drills in the Oklahoma farming town of Newkirk was tucked among the local weekly newspaper's classified ads.
The notice mentioned a "low level outdoor release of inert chemical and biological simulant materials" and directed people to a science-heavy website explaining why the agency chose the community.
The Newkirk Herald Journal thought it should be front-page news, and its subsequent article sent shockwaves through the town of about 2,300 people, leaving them wondering, "Why here?" and questioning the government's assurances about the safety of the chemicals it plans to use during tests that will gauge how authorities might respond to a bioterror event.
"They're trying to tell us it's 100 percent safe," Brian Hobbs, a 40-year-old construction worker who's helped rally like-minded residents. "It leaves people with an uneasy feeling. I don't want to become the testing ground for the Department of Homeland Security."
About 9,000 wary residents of Newkirk and neighboring communities, including Arkansas City, Kansas, just across the border, have signed a petition seeking more details from the federal agency. Many residents want guarantees from the government that none of the chemicals will adversely affect nearby cropland, a creek that flows into the Arkansas River or the massive Kaw Lake watershed. Dozens have shown up at community meetings demanding answers.
Newkirk, about 100 miles (161 kilometers) northwest of Tulsa, near Oklahoma's border with Kansas, is dotted with churches and modest homes with well-tended yards. A grain elevator at the local co-op is the tallest downtown building. Some here trace their lineage to the Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889, when the area was opened up to white settlement.
"A lot of families have grown up here; it's truly home. That's why everybody's scared," said Newkirk Herald Journal editor Cody Griesel.
The tests are tentatively set for winter and summer 2018, with no specific dates from the government. The test area is the abandoned Chilocco Indian School campus just outside of town.
Scientists say the cluster of buildings at the site best resemble single-family homes and commercial buildings in any U.S. city. The government said the chemicals will be used to measure the amount of material that penetrates structures in the event of a bioterrorism event, and how authorities can best clean it up in the event of an attack.
The chemicals to be used include titanium dioxide, which is common in sunscreens and cosmetics; fluorescent brightener, found in laundry detergents; and urea, a compound found in urine and fertilizers. The chemical that has probably caused the most worry among residents is called DiPel, a biological insecticide that's been commercially available since the 1970s and is approved for use in organic farming.
Full story at site
