Since the Sept. 11 terror attacks on New York and Washington, DC, the New Hampshire government, working with federal and local officials, has ramped up its anti-terrorism efforts.
On Sept. 20, the United States Attorney for New Hampshire, Gretchen Witt, called the first meeting of a federally mandated anti-terrorism task force.
Witt declined to comment on what the panel has done or whether New Hampshire is at risk of an attack, saying, "In such circumstances, traditionally there is little you can say."
"At this point we really aren't speaking about this matter except to let the people in this state know that we have a task force and that it is meeting," she said.
The federal anti-terror group is headed by Assistant U.S. Attorney for New Hampshire Gary Milano, currently the Chief of the New Hampshire District's Criminal Division.
U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced his decision to create the counter-terrorism panels in a news conference on Sept. 18.
"As a part of the new counter-terrorism strategy, every United States attorney and every district of such an attorney that hasn't already done so has been asked to establish an antiterrorism task force," Ashcroft said.
The task forces are to "coordinate the dissemination of information and the development of investigative and prosecutive strategy in dealing with terrorism throughout the country," Ashcroft said.
Ashcroft added that the task forces will consist of representatives of the FBI, INS, DEA and other federal, state and local agencies.
According to New Hampshire Assistant Attorney General Brian Quirk, a state-run anti-terrorism task force already exists in New Hampshire, and has been operational since 1999.
The New Hampshire state task force coordinates state and local agencies. The co-chairs of the group are Director of the Office of Emergency Management Woodbury P. Fogg, New Hampshire Attorney General Philip McLaughlin, and a representative of the Department of Safety.
The state task force will concentrate more on responding to emergencies as they happen than on law enforcement or prevention, Quirk said. The state panel coordinates what Quirk called "first responders," those who arrive immediately at the scene of any disaster, and is designed "to enhance the planning training, and logistics" of recovery efforts in the state.
Quirk declined to comment on specifics of the state's emergency recovery plan, including the plans for the Hanover area, for security reasons.
The New Hampshire Office of Emergency Management, based in Concord, would coordinate relief efforts in the event of any attack. A Cold War-era agency originally called the New Hampshire Civil Defense Agency, the NHOEM now focuses primarily on disaster relief and nuclear power regulation, although terrorism control has recently become one of its primary duties.
"We have been doing on the state level what the feds have now decided to do. In that sense, we are ahead of the game," NHOEM Public Information Officer Jim Van Dongen said.
Van Dongen said that the NHOEM is constantly on standby, although he says it "is not a first-response agency." Instead, the office works to facilitate communication between state and local efforts to respond to a disaster in such cases as evacuations.
The NHOEM does not maintain its own emergency vehicles, nor does it have contingency plans in effect. The responsibility for such measures falls on local agencies.
He warned, however, that no agency can "have a plan on the shelf for everything, so what you plan out is a procedure." Such procedures include the identification of shelter areas for each region.
"In the event of a terrorist attack in this area, it would be the call of the Office of Emergency Management and the Red Cross as to which [shelter] facilities would open," Diane Ingalls, Executive Director of the Central Vermont and New Hampshire Valley Red Cross said.
She added that not all shelters would open during any given crisis, since each shelter offers different facilities.
Local law enforcement has made itself available to help in case of a terrorist strike.
"We would be going by any request the state of New Hampshire made of us," said Captain Christopher O'Connor of the Hanover Police Department.
In addition, he said that the state would determine its manpower needs in the case of any emergency, but that at no time would Hanover be without protection.
"The state is certainly well aware that you can't just go and take [police] services completely out, O'Connor said. "You can't take all the members of the Hanover Police Department and leave the town of Hanover defenseless."
In the event of a terrorist attack in the Hanover area, the town "would follow the basic emergency response plan," said Hanover Fire Chief Roger Bradley.
Although no specific strategy exists for terrorism response, the town does have contingency plans made up. The exact recovery methods implemented "depends on the scenario and the situation," Bradley said.
The College might play a role in recovery from an attack, Bradley said. For example, Leverone Field House might be used as a staging area for recovery efforts, depending on the nature of the incident.
Bradley said that the Hanover Fire Department would be made available to assist the state in case of an attack elsewhere.
As part of their ongoing disaster preparation, the NHOEM held a one-day course on June 8 with police officers, firefighters, and other emergency crew to prepare them for terrorist attacks and other disasters. Held in Lebanon, the course instructed officers in preserving evidence at crime scenes and working with federal law enforcement workers.
