Terrorism

Terrorists are currently capable of causing community wide disasters in the United States. The events of 9/11, previous bombings at the World Trade Center in New York City and Federal Building in Oklahoma City are proof of the problem. The attacks in the subway in Tokyo, Japan, and sheepkills in Australia involving chemical weapons provide extant proof of the complexity of the potential problems with terrorism. The terrorist arsenal may include explosives, chemical weapons, biological weapons, or tactical assault. The ultimate problem may involve nuclear incidents. Furthermore terrorist repertoires may include triggering of disasters such as induced dam failure, chemical or nuclear releases, or contamination of water supplies. Among the scenarios that responders must deal with are those involving a potential threat situation, such as a threat to detonate a bomb, as well as unanticipated acts of terrorism which are undetected. These are very different situations and require different planning and preparation. In addition, there is growing concern with multiple threat scenarios, such as chem/bio cocktails as they are frequently labeled. Because of the complexity and ambiguity of such threats, emergency personnel will likely require knowledge beyond that required for routine emergency response functions.

The Disaster Management and Mitigation Group provided technical support to FEMA in the training of emergency response personnel for anti-terrorist preparedness for the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta. In addition, our courses developed on chemical weapons accidents are being adapted for use in terrorist related training programs in a number of locations. We have also conducted work in looking at the damage that terrorist could inflict on oil and gas pipelines and how disruptive the damage could be.

Selected Publications

• Sorensen, John, "Managing Energy Emergencies", Geoforum, Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 15-24. 1983.
  
  
• Sorensen, John, "Emergency Response to Oil and Gas Facility Disruption", Papers and Proceedings of the Applied Geography Conference, Vol. 8, 194-197. 1985.
  
  
• Rogers, G., J. Sorensen, and A. Watson, "Protecting Civilian Populations During Chemical Agent Emergencies", in Chemical Warfare Agents, S. Somani (ed.), London: Academic Press, pp. 357-386. 1992.
  
  
• Copenhaver, E. D., A. P. Watson, and E. Sample, ACT FAST: Agent Characteristics and Toxicology, First Aid and Special Treatment, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, ORNL/M­2097, 1992.
  
  
• Vogt, B. and J. Sorensen, “Protecting The Healthcare Population And Facility,” in K. Joanne McGlown (ed.) Terrorism and Disaster Management: Preparing Healthcare Leaders for the New Reality.  Chicago: Health Administration Press, 2004.
  
  
• Dale, V. et al. “Systems Approach to Environmental Security,” EcoHealth: Vol. 1,  No. 2, pp 119-123.


• Sorensen, J. “Risk Communication and Terrorism,” Biosecurity and Bioterrorism, Vol. 2, No. 3. pp. 229-231. 2004.