Maine official raps Congress More funds sought for security

AUGUSTA – Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham, leader of the state’s homeland security efforts, says Congress needs to wake up and realize defense now includes state and local government, not just the military.

“They need to start looking beyond the Beltway,” he said. “Everything has changed since September 11th, and I think there are still those in Congress that do not understand that.”

Tinkham, the Maine commissioner of defense, veterans and emergency management and adjutant general of the Maine Army and Air National Guard, gave a preview Thursday morning of testimony he plans to give before Congress next week. In a speech during the annual state transportation conference, Tinkham said he will testify next week as commissioner, so he can be “more free and candid” than he could be as part of the military.

“Every morning when I get up, I realize how much the world has changed,” he said. “As part of the military for nearly all my life, I thought I knew our role. To protect the public from our enemies. Now I realize that I, and all of you in this room, are as much at risk of attack as anyone.”

Tinkham said state and local governments have been running up sizable bills that can only be described as defense expenditures. He said the response of the federal government so far has been inadequate and piecemeal.

“In the transportation area, there has been some help,” he said. “The National Guard soldiers we have on duty at six airports in the state are paid for by the federal government, and the soldiers we will deploy at the border later this month will be paid for, but a lot that has been done is not being paid for and it should.”

Tinkham was also critical of the spending priorities so far for the $60 billion appropriated by Congress. He said much of the money has gone for the fighting in Afghanistan and to pay for costs in New York City. But some of the expenditures, he said, show a wrong set of priorities.

“In this last round of money that was drawn down there was more money for New York and new funding for security at courts,” he said. “I have no problem with that, but $25 million to compensate the concessionaires at Reagan National Airport? When there are needs by the states and local cities and towns?”

Last month, officials at the Maine Emergency Management Agency estimated it would cost Maine about $31 million in the first year following the terrorist attacks for additional security, and $20 million a year thereafter. Costs range from overtime for police and lab technicians to additional security measures at public facilities.

“These are defense costs and they are not in the budget of the state or the City of Augusta or any other town,” he said. “This is going to get very expensive and Congress needs to help.”

Tinkham said there is far more that needs to be done to protect potential targets in Maine from terrorist attacks. He said about two dozen potential targets have been identified as needing additional security, through either government resources or the private sector. While declining to name the list, he said it wouldn’t take anyone very long to figure out the most likely targets.

“Let me talk about one example, without naming the company, about what we have found as we visit these sites,” he said.

Tinkham said there is a transfer station where the hazardous chemicals used by several paper companies in the state are stored before being transferred to trucks for delivery to the plants.

He described the fence surrounding the plant as in disrepair and actually down in some locations. He said there was clearly a lack of security and said he asked the facility manager what would happen if there was an accidental release of chemicals, let alone an intentional one.

“He pointed to a red bell on the building,” Tinkham said, “and said the bell would ring and all the employees would evacuate the building. He then said they would look at the wind sock to see which way the wind was blowing, and then run in the other direction.”

Tinkham told the conference participants that states need to be given the flexibility to address such needs without getting approval from Washington. He said his message to Congress will be that state and local governments are willing to pay part of the bill, but that defense is primarily the responsibility of the federal government.

He suggested the Federal Emergency Management Agency model for distributing federal aid in emergencies is one Congress should consider. He said in a federally declared emergency, like the ice storm a few years ago, the federal government pays for 75 percent of the costs with state and local governments paying the remainder.

Tinkham will testify before the full Senate Government Operations Committee next Tuesday. He was invited by U.S. Sen. Susan Collins, a member of the panel.