MAZMAT responses to Chemical, Biological and Nuclear Agents and Incidents - Essay Example

According to a compilation of information by Gurr and Cole (2005), there have been various incidents (threatened and actual) of nuclear, biological, and chemical incidents (NBC) that have been reported and documented in the years since NBC weapons have been invented. They cite that in 1999, the Jane’s Intelligence Bureau was able to establish that elements having loyalties to Osama bin Laden were able to acquire biological weapons through mail. There was no clear indication of what kind of weapon was actually acquired, but sources speculated that these biological elements included a supply of diseases such as ebola, anthrax, and salmonella.

Interested terrorist groups were able to avail of some of these weapons which included a freight of botulinium toxin. Gurr and Cole (2005) also discuss that in 1998, about 200 people from the Joan Finney Office building in Wichita, Kansas, USA were evacuated when a state employee discovered a package containing white powder and the note enclosed claimed that the substance was anthrax. The substance was sent by the Brothers for the Freedom of Americans, a neo-Nazi militia group. The package was later found to be non-toxic (Gurr and Cole, 2005).

In 1995, Larry Harris was able to acquire freeze dried bubonic plague bacteria from the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) in Maryland. His plan to acquire the bacteria was foiled when he telephoned the ATCC to check where the package was. The ATCC became suspicious and called the Centers for Disease Control, who later recovered three vials of the bacteria in his glove compartment (Gurr and Cole, 2005). In 1992, Henry Pierce sprayed 10 people with what he claimed was anthraz. On investigation, the police later found the material not to be anthrax.

In 1981, a group of environmentalists left contaminated soil in a bucket. The soil later tested positive for anthrax. No one was harmed by the incident as the