The scenario concocted for the emergency training exercise Dec. 11 at the Athens County Faigrounds did include a planned attack by a make-believe eco-terrorist group, though details of the scenario seem straight out of an action-adventure thriller.

Dan Pfeiffer, chair of one of the local emergency agencies that planned the training exercise, outlined its details in a short interview Wednesday. The exercise involved an imaginary biotoxin attack at an Ohio University sporting event, he said.

Formally called a Weapons of Mass Destruction/Hazardous Materials exercise, the training event was managed locally by the Athens County Emergency Management Agency (EMA) and the Athens County Local Emergency Planning Committee (LEPC). Pfeiffer chairs the latter committee.

The training also involved local and regional law enforcement, as well as the Ohio National Guard's 52nd Civil Support Team for Weapons of Mass Destruction based at Rickenbacker Air National Guard base in Columbus.

Everything went well, according to officials in charge of the local emergency agencies, except for the choice of the villains in the imaginary terrorist attack eco-terrorists virulently opposed to "fracking" for gas and oil.

The day after the event, Pfeiffer and Fred Davis, director of the Athens County EMA, apologized in a written news release for the choice of scenario in a terrorist incident training exercise, acknowledging that law-abiding fracking opponents are active in the county.

"The scenario caused distress to people who have spent countless hours striving to protect the environment and our citizens," a release from the Athens County EMA said. "The role of the (EMA) and LEPC is to protect our citizens (from) natural as well as man-made disasters. We strive to bring our county together and our standard is to remain neutral in local issues. We fell short of that standard."

The issue was brought to the attention of the Athens Commissioners by Roxanne Groff, a member of the Athens County Fracking Action Network and a former county commissioner.

Groff attended the commissioners' meeting last Thursday to speak about a proposed new fracking waste injection well. She said Saturday that she had called Davis and Pfeiffer to express her concerns earlier on Thursday, Dec. 12.

On Wednesday, asked about specifics of the training scenario, Pfeiffer said the simulation started out as a law-enforcement bust of an illegal meth lab. Upon inspecting the premises, he added, sheriff's deputies found a secondary lab, which had been used to concoct biotoxins for an intended terrorist attack on OU's Convocation Center during a crowded sporting event.

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Exercise involved imaginary bio-toxin attack on OU Convo

ABIQUIU, N.M.

Forget big parties and noisemakers this year. Let go of 2013 and welcome 2014 at Ghost Ranchs Creating Spaciousness Retreat Dec. 29-Jan. 1.

The Retreat cultivates balance in ones life through meditation in many forms, self care and attention to the body, and through imagination, journaling and artwork within Ghost Ranchs 21,000 acres and wide open sky.

Segments of the retreat are designed for full group interaction. Participants can choose a special focus approximately 8-10 hours of instruction in Creating a New Year Every Day; Creating Balance: The Gift of Ayurveda, The Science of Self Healing; or Creating Possibilities: Listening for New Directions in Life.

The retreat will offer practices for wellness of being and a union of body, mind and spirit that can radically bring renewal, balance and transformation each day of the new year. There will be time to listen within to that still small voice for guidance and for possible new directions for life. As a group, there will be opportunities to share dreams, find support for reaching goals, expanding visions and feeling gratitude for new ideas.

Package prices include course tuition and materials, 3 nights lodging (double occupancy) and 8 meals, including a New Years Eve Banquet and New Years Day Brunch. Prices are $475 per person for room with private bath, $375 per person for room with shared bathroom, and $325 for dorm style lodging with communal bathroom. Check in begins at 3 p.m. Sunday with orientation at 5 p.m. Shuttle service is available from Santa Fe to Ghost Ranch.

Ghost Ranch is a national education and retreat center of the Presbyterian Church U.S.A. in Northern New Mexico. Its synergy of beauty, its scientific value, its cultural and historical traditions and its spirituality make it like no other place in the world.

For more information contact Becky A. Chamberlain, Faith Community Liaison, at beckyc@ghostranch.org or phone by phone at 505-685-4333, ext. 4156.

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Creating a new year every day