Feds Prepare Nuclear Attack Response In New Jersey

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ — Even though there have been no direct threats against the state, the federal government has been conducting exercises in New Jersey to bolster its nuclear attack response. The Federal Emergency Management Agency has been conducting exercises in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut and Washington D.C., to gauge the effectiveness of the federal government's response plan, according to a National Nuclear Safety Administration presentation on the operation.

The NNSA did not say how long "Operation Gotham Shield" will last, and it did not identify specific targets, but it did say the exercises have nothing to do with recent nuclear warfare threats made by North Korea against the United States.

But the FEMA drills have simulated a scenario in which a 10,000-ton improvised nuclear device goes off on the New Jersey side of the Lincoln Tunnel, and MetLife Stadium has served as the primary response center during the multi-day drills.

Here are other potential locations for drills:

The Morris County Office of Emergency Management has acknowledged participating in the Gotham Shield exercise that is "currently ongoing" at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford. On Tuesday, Morris County officials said they were involved in an improvised nuclear device detonation that occurred in the New York/New Jersey metropolitan area.

"Our challenge involved arriving at MetLife Stadium where thousands of people were assembled and in need of care," the Morris County Office of Emergency Management said in a statement. "Our mission was to assess, treat, and evacuate casualties to hospitals and facilities away from the impact site.

The training exercise did not involve any “real” patients, the statement said. "However, we were challenged to exercise our plans, procedures, and equipment to simulate our actions throughout the expanded scenario."

The large-scale exercise focused on multiple emergency response agencies coming together from multiple states for the purpose of preparing logistics and equipment resources while working with each other within the framework of a large scale mass casualty event, according to county officials.

"In Morris County, we plan for the worst and hope for the best," according to the statement. "We pride ourselves on our capability to respond to the worst case scenario, and today’s exercise provided a framework for dealing with the type of event we hope we never experience."

The NNSA outlined FEMA's objectives:

• Evaluate the ability of deployed DOE elements to appropriately integrate with operational planning and decision-making bodies involving DOD, interagency, and
• Evaluate the ability of DOE to properly share and interpret modeling results and create data products in the service of informing decision-making processes related to public protection
• Gauge the effectiveness n maintaining situational awareness and ensuring a smooth flow of information from/to liaisons posted in the field response locations.

Morris County Office of Emergency Management photo