On Wednesday, April 11 and Thursday, April 12, Plymouth State University will be the site of a Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) drill for the state of New Hampshire. The drill will take place at the P.E. Center. The town of Plymouth is sponsoring the drill, along with the N.H. Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Plymouth’s fire and police departments will be on scene, as well as the town of Holderness fire and police departments, the PSU police department, Central New Hampshire Hazardous Material Response Team and the New Hampshire National Guard 12th Civil Support Team.
The drill will take place starting at 6 A.M. on April 11, and will conclude late afternoon on April 12. The purpose of the drill is to train local and state respondents as well as military personnel in the event of a New Hampshire bio-terrorism attack. For the drill, a fake WMD discovery scenario has been created, and the response teams will be trained on how to handle such a situation. The drill will allow local, state and military responders to identify the threat, assess the possible consequences, acquire advice on response and assist with requesting additional support.
As for campus involvement or activity, public relations director Chris Williams said it will be “business as usual; the purpose of the drill is to train the professionals in case of an attack.”
During the drill, some traffic delays can be expected along River Street in Holderness, as emergency response vehicles will be using that road. PSU parking lot 503, a commuter and visitor lot located on the P.E. Center’s south side will be closed from the hours of midnight on April 11 until 2 P.M. and then closed again at midnight on Thursday April 12 until 6 P.M. for the exercise. Commuter students and university visitors will need to find alternate parking and Lot 603, near the facilities center, will be available.