If you see a military helicopter, the bomb squad or people in hazmat suits next week, it might just be a test.
More than 30 federal, state and local agencies, including police, emergency responders, the National Guard and the Coast Guard will converge at several locations around Maine from June 3 to 6 to practice responding to a variety of natural and man-made disasters.
The exercises will take place across the state with significant activity in and around Casco Bay in Portland and South Portland, Fort Williams in Cape Elizabeth, the Kennebec County town of Winthrop and the Aroostook County town of Houlton.
The training, called Katahdin Shield 2024, is meant to get agencies used to working together in dealing with the aftermath of a hurricane, a hazardous materials spill from a train derailment, or an attack in a populated area.
LTC Ian Hepburn, commander of the Maine National Guard’s 11th Civil Support Team said on Thursday that next week’s exercises will focus on criminal scenarios mixed with hazardous materials.
“Not on the scale of we’ve been hit by a nuclear weapon,“ he said, but a smaller series of connected events similar to attacks that have actually happened, “like anthrax through the mail.“
Maine EMA has asked that citizens not interfere with the exercises. But if you happen to be nearby, Hepburn said, you might see people in hazmat suits or members of the state police bomb squad.
“It’s going to look sort of like a hazardous materials response in conjunction with some police activity,” he said.
In the Portland area, a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter will land in a field on Peaks Island, and the Coast Guard will board the Casco Bay ferry looking for a radioactive isotope hidden on the vessel, Hepburn said.
“In some places it might look mundane and slow,” Hepburn said. “Apart from a helicopter landing, it might not be as busy as some places.” The primary goal, he said, is for the agencies to get used to working together.
“It’s not that visually dynamic, but it’s still important,” he said.
