Officials stage MDI emergency drill First responders tested during weapons of mass destruction exercise

BAR HARBOR – Emergency first responders simulated a weapons of mass destruction incident at the Bay Ferries terminal on Wednesday evening in what one ranking official called a “routine drill.”

“If you don’t exercise with the first responders, you don’t know what to do if the real day comes,” Ralph Pinkham, director of the Hancock County Emergency Management Agency, said Thursday.

The Bay Ferries terminal on Route 3 was selected for a weapons of mass destruction drill because law enforcement experts think the maritime industry is susceptible to a terrorist strike.

He said Bay Ferries officials, who run the catamaran ferry called The Cat daily from Bar Harbor to Nova Scotia, “were real gems to work with.”

The Bay Ferries manager declined to comment, referring calls to Pinkham.

The drill was conducted on Wednesday evening because The Cat made only one trip to Canada and was docked for the night, Pinkham said.

About 20 men and women from various agencies took part in the drill, including the Maine State Police special operations team, the U.S. Coast Guard, the Army National Guard’s WMD Civil Support Team, the Downeast Civil Air Patrol squadron stationed in Trenton and the county Emergency Management Agency, Pinkham said.

The drill lasted about six hours. Pinkham declined to talk about specifics.

“More than ever we realize since 9-11 that it takes every discipline and every agency working together” to respond to a terrorist threat or attack, Pinkham said.

The EMA director said he tries to be careful in scheduling the drills on Mount Desert Island because some merchants get angry and worry that the drill will scare away tourists.