MARS, PA. Halting terrorism is focus of meeting

The regional group formed in 1998 and handled an episode at the Pittsburgh International Airport unnoticed.
By LAURE CIOFFI
VINDICATOR NEW CASTLE BUREAU
MARS, Pa. -- When John Shea of the FBI started speaking to groups about 13 years ago, he would tell them there was no real threat of terrorism in the United States.
"That all changed with the World Trade Center and Oklahoma City bombings. We are vulnerable to these types of events. We need to be ready and work together," he told nearly 600 public officials from 13 western Pennsylvania counties Wednesday.
An anti-terrorism task force was created three years ago that includes emergency management directors, law enforcement officials and others who train to respond to terrorism.
Who's included: The region encompasses Allegheny, Armstrong, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Fayette, Greene, Indiana, Lawrence, Mercer, Somerset, Washington and Westmoreland counties.
Wednesday's meeting was meant to educate officials about the terrorist threat and the need to continue working as a group.
The region has to be ready to deal with any calamity," said Dave Smith, director of the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency.
Lt. Gov. Mark Schweiker noted that terrorists have infiltrated the state. The group responsible for the World Trade Center bombing tested a bomb at a farm near Harrisburg just weeks before hitting New York City, he said.
"You are rational people," Schweiker told the room full of police officers, firefighters, emergency responders and elected officials. "The people who brought us to this room are irrational people. You can't predict their actions."
Needs: Marko Bourne, spokesman for the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency, said the state's nine regional terrorism task forces are working on securing federal money for equipment and other needs. "We are developing a needs assessment," he said.
Schweiker and Shea noted that the local Region 13 group has been held up as a model to others in the state and across the country.
The group formed in 1998 and meets the third Thursday of the month in Allegheny County. It conducted one mock drill at the USX Tower in Pittsburgh, and a second is planned for September in a Westmoreland County mall.
When a man placed two vials, one marked "AIDS" and the other "Botulism," on a counter at Pittsburgh International Airport in 1999, it was managed well by the task force and went unnoticed by most people because readiness was in place, Schweiker said. "Everyone knew what they needed to do."
The vials turned out to be harmless, the result of a practical joke, Bourne said.
Frank Janetti, Lawrence County's former emergency management director, said his contacts through the Region 13 group were helpful when he responded to a sarin gas scare at New Castle High School a few years ago.
FBI agents met him at the door and were able to determine there was no sarin gas.
"None of the counties have the ability to handle these things alone, but when you pull together you have the resources to respond to any threat," he said.