Paper Example on Chilocco Environment Assessment

Introduction

Environmental assessment refers to assessing the environment for the environmental repercussions of a policy, plan, program or an actual project whether positive or negative before deciding to proceed with the action proposed. In this assignment, the environmental assessment is a documentation of the potential impacts of a proposal suggested by the Department of Homeland Security meant to carry out test during January, and February 2018 and also June and August 2018that would involve the release of particles of low concentrations within Chilocco at two separate building. The assessment will tell whether the proposal is scientifically sound.

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The proposal had a lot of economic, scientific and social aspects despite it being an important project that would benefit the people of Chilocco and the United States as a whole. The scientific aspect of the project was that the project involved the release of Titanium Dioxide, biological particulate of the kurstaki subspecies of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis spores which have been "barcode" and inactive particles of 90:10% combination of urea powder and Chloride Fluorescent Brightener 220. All these particles have no color and odor and are non-toxic as the involved agencies claim. Titanium Dioxide in the form of nanoparticles has been implicated in loss of function of the mitochondria and also the inability of glutamate uptake in the primary astrocytes of the brain resulting in neurological dysfunction resulting from the inability to regulate the neurotransmitters like serotonin and dopamine. Also, titanium dioxide according to the International Agency for Research on Cancer is a carcinogen of Group 2B as it can cause cancer of the respiratory tract if human beings become exposed to powdered or very fine dust of titanium dioxide ("Environmental Assessment" 16).

Titanium dioxide has also been implicated in damage to the genetic makeup and inflammatory response. On the other hand, inhalation of DiPel, an insecticide containing the kurstaki subspecies of the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis can be very harmful to human health and also to the domestic animal as the safety precaution in the drug label indicates. The drug will be used at its highest concentration thus the harmful effects. This drug irritates the eyes and the skin. This chemical can also cause water contamination. Additionally, alternative 3 of the Biological Particulate will involve the use of DNATrax, a fluorescent, inert particle tag who safety is questionable thus can pose a health risk to the population and thus inappropriate as a testing object. Moreover, the testing is proposed to be carried out 470 feet to the north of the Creek of Chilocco which is an integral part of the Kay County's watershed thus possibility of water contamination. Despite the fact that Department of Homeland Security and other agencies have tested these products for safety and approved them, the population is afraid of the repercussion of the testing on their health ("Environmental Assessment" 16).

This proposed project will involve a No Action Alternative where the aerosol particulate will not be released. Consequently, there will be a missed detection by the biological sensors thus leading to reduce the likelihood the success of the program. Also, the step will lead to a higher number of released barcoded biological material thus requiring additional labor to help decontaminate every site in between the releases. Therefore, the proposed release will be a costly project and will need a lot of time. The alternative Biological material two would involve the use of the real Dipel which contains the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis that is not barcoded. It needs a lot of time and labor and thus expensive ("Environmental Assessment" 26).

Population concern for the proposed release of these particles creates the social impact. Despite the fact that the health hazards of these particles have been documented, the Department of Homeland Security insists that they will be non-toxic thus guaranteeing the public of safety during the testing. The population living around Kansas is worried about their safety, and they are criticizing the implementation of this project. The Department of Homeland Security and the stakeholders in the project are planning this testing without the consent of the public ("Environmental Assessment" 35).

Project assessment for possible merits by completing a review of the project with several questions whose answers will prove where it is essential or not carry out the testing. This question will review the whole project in various aspects. The questions will be based on bioterrorism. Bioterrorism refers to an act of terrorism where intentional dissemination or release of infectious biological agents or their toxins either in a naturally occurring form or a human-modified form to cause death or deliberating illnesses in people, plants or animals thus causing panic and widespread fear that is beyond what is caused by physical damage. Terrorists target these biological materials because of their ease to make, faster rate of dissemination in a larger area and are hard to detect. For a long time now, the United States has been a target for terrorist. Most of the terror attacks that have happened in the United States have involved Islamic states terrorists targeting the United States citizens. However, there have been terror attacks from the United States citizens who are non-Muslims. Some of the U.S attackers are believed to be radicalized. Most of the past terror attacks have involved bombing, shootings and also mass killings using cars. However, there have been cases of bioterrorism since the world war. Biological weapons are the most dangerous weapons of mass destruction that can be used by terrorists since they go unnoticed until the time people start dying, and an investigation is done. There was a 2001 bioterrorism attack where a person mailed a letter containing spores of anthrax to the journalists and lawmakers. This attack killed five people and drew the attention to a bioterrorism threat. Since then, the Department of Homeland Security launched a National Bio-defense Analysis and Countermeasures Centre to investigate cases of bioterrorism (Mclaughlin).

Bio-weapons targeting the United States citizens have been a threat for many years now. It is hard to control the spread of biological weapons and also hard to detect them hence terrorist target them as agents of mass destruction. The advancements in technology have made it easier to generate biological weapons that can kill millions of people in a short span before it is noticed. Thus, the United States needs to be adequately prepared to counter bioterror attacks should they occur. Although it is not known where terrorists are planning to attack using their bioweapons, it is crystal clear that the United States as a whole is facing the threat of biological weapon attack. There have been efforts to ensure preparedness to bio-attack in the United States since President Obama's regime (Mclaughlin).

The United States cannot turn a blind eye to any threat posed by the terrorist groups. On 6th February 2017, the Homeland security team released a snapshot of the terror threat. In this report, it was indicated that there had been an unknown spike in terror threat in terror threats coming from U.S citizens resulting from the growth of Islamic States of Iraq and Syria group. Despite Trumps' administration efforts to ban immigrants from some Muslims countries into the United States, the current reality of terror is that the country is facing more risk if inside generated terror than foreign originating terror. Most of the recent terror attacks have been from residents of the United States whether citizen or residents who are legally in the United States. Terrorists have been using different methods of attack in different countries. Currently, the threats the United States is facing include the aviation attack threat; there is also the threat or chemical terror attack like the sulfur mustard attacks that happened in Iraq and Syria (Mclaughlin).

The United States Department of Homeland Security is focused on ensuring that the residents are protected from the effects of bioterror attacks. In achieving this, the department is aiming at preventing, detecting and protecting and recovering from a bioterrorism attack. The aim of carrying out the Hazard of Dynamic Release project is to assess the preparedness of the United States to protect the residents from a biological weapon release into the air in case such an attack occurs. There is a great need for research in the area of biological weapon attack to find out how to handle such a situation in case an attack occurs. The United States should invest a good amount of money on epidemiological research involving bio-weapons of mass destruction. These weapons can cause deliberating consequences to the resident like weaponized pathogens being untreatable by the ordinary means. These weapons can also be aerosolized making them spread faster than expected. Aside from direct effects on the human population, these biohazards can also indirectly affect the population for example through agricultural produce. Currently, the American agricultural byproducts and food supply are not resilient enough to targeted bioterrorism. Thus, there is a greater need for research aimed at developing discovery methods specialized to security research sources and bioterrorism in general (Cruickshank).

The need for this testing raises a lot of different views from a different group. However, in the event of a suspected attack, the Department of Homeland Security can conduct tests to see how prepared the state infrastructure is to deal with a release of biological agents of mass destruction like Bacillus anthracis which is the most common biological weapon that is easy to use. The testing is worthwhile since currently is not known how prepared the United States is in the event of a biological weapon terror attack. The knowledge of how prepared the country will make it easier to makes needed improvements to protect the citizens. Proxies are used during testing because they are the inert form of the particulate being tested and thus protecting the public from harm caused by the biological hazards ("Environmental Assessment" 13).

Conclusion

Overall this project is meant to see how people will fare in case a terror attack involves a biological weapon. The project will increase the understanding biological weapons among the citizen regarding how they can be used in an attack and how the population can be protected from the effects of such releases. This test will also bridge the gap existing in the understanding of Building Protection Factor in the event of biological weapon use.

Works Cited

Cruickshank, Paul. "A View from the CT Foxhole: Lisa Monaco, Former Assistant to President Barack Obama for Homeland Security and Counterterrorism - Combating Terrorism Center at West Point." Combating Terrorism Center at West Point, 2018, https://ctc.usma.edu/a-view-from-the-ct-foxhole-lisa-monaco-former-assistant-to-president-barack-obama-for-homeland-security-and-counterterrorism/. Accessed 25 Apr 2018.

Environmental Assessment of Proposed Tracer Particle and Biological Releases for the Hazards of Dynamic Outdoor Release (HODOR) Project. 2017, pp. 1-58, https://www.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/publications/DHS%20HODOR%20Enviromental%20Assessment%2010%2025%202017-508.pdf. Accessed 25 Apr 2018.

Mclaughlin, Jenna. The Invisible Threat. 2017,http://foreignpolicy.com/2017/09/21/the-invisible-threat-biological-weapons-trump/. Accessed 25 Apr 2018.

Strack, Columb. "The Evolution of the Islamic State's Chemical Weapons Efforts." Combating Terrorism Center (2017).