News Releases
Office of Governor Gary Locke
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - May 15, 2003
Contact:  Kirsten Kendrick or Michael Marchand, Governor’s Office, 360-902-4136
Alt Contact:  Rob Harper, Washington State Emergency Management Division, 253-512-7005

Gov. Gary Locke Calls TOPOFF 2 Terrorism Drill an Overall Success

Gov. Gary Locke today praised the hard work of state, local and federal officials in making TOPOFF 2, the largest-ever national terrorism drill, an overall success.

“TOPOFF 2 provided an extremely valuable training opportunity to practice coordinated emergency response actions with local, state and federal agencies,” Locke said. “That’s why we jumped at the chance to participate in this very important exercise. The experience met and exceeded our expectations.”

The full-scale field exercise, which dealt with a radioactive “dirty bomb” exploding in south Seattle, took place May 12-13. Mock terrorism events also occurred in Chicago and Vancouver, B.C., this week.

“This drill has enhanced the need to coordinate both public information and operational information,” said Maj. Gen. Timothy J. Lowenberg, director of the state Military Department. “Changes that were made before and during the exercise will improve communication and coordination among agencies, allowing hundreds of local, state and federal officials to work in a coordinated and effective way.”

Both Locke and Lowenberg say the state is even more prepared than it was before the drill, and they expect the final exercise report will show additional ways to further improve the state’s and region’s emergency response capabilities.

Locke also announced today that Washington state will receive an additional $18.1 million in federal homeland security grant funding. The new funds are in addition to the $11.2 million assigned to the state in the federal fiscal year 2003 budget and to the nearly $30 million allocated last month to Washington in the fiscal year 2003 supplemental budget.


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