If there were a terrorist act on U.S. soil, an elaborate contingency plan, with the FBI as the lead agency and involving as many as a dozen other federal agencies, would go into action immediately. Federal officials caution they have no information that the threat of a terrorist strike has heightened because of Iraqi-U.S. tensions. It relies on the cooperation of, among others, the Defense Department, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the U.S. Public Health Service and, particularly if the president's personal safety were at risk, the Secret Service. Federal officials, for obvious reasons, would not go into specifics of the plan, but it is known that the FBI has considered logistical issues such as where an emergency operations center would be set up if terrorists strike in Washington. Also taken into consideration is possible locations for a temporary information center where journalists would have access to federal spokesmen and communications equipment such as multiple telephone lines to file their reports.
Testing is currently underway at a military laboratory.
Regardless of the outcome of these tests, this incident has certainly alerted the emergency response community, and the public at large, to the possible dangers associated with a potential biological terrorist attack. Information received from at least two sources would reveal that U.S. Army tests of the substance confiscated recently by the FBI in Las Vegas have proven that it may be Anthrax, but not in a weaponized or infectious form. Further details were not immediately available. Mr. Leavitt is likely to be released from custody, but it is likely that the State of Ohio will prosecute Mr. Harris for a probation violation concerning his previous conviction for fraudulently obtaining the plague virus and his agreement not to possess biological agents. All Rights Reserved.