FEMA Ricin Exposure

In Alabama, the government agency FEMA or The Federal Emergency Management Agency has a training center for Domestic Preparedness. The training center teaches first responders to handle hazardous materials that include but are not limited to Ricin or anthrax. The training center has many deadly toxins but at a lower purity to train with.

           

In 2016 an employee discovered that the training facility has been using a 90% pure form of Ricin to train the first responders. The training facility had mistakenly exposed over 10,000 firefighters, paramedics, and other students from all over the country to the deadly toxin for the past five years. FEMA states that no reports of any personnel have been affected by the lethal form of Ricin and provided no other information on the matter.

           

FEMA conducted an internal investigation and found that the training facility had a shipping error from the start of 2011 and was not discovered until late 2016. FEMA stated that the fault does not lie with them but rather the vendor who supplied them with Ricin. However, they refused to give a name when asked who their vendor was. Reporters found that the vendor who supplies FEMA with Ricin was Toxin Technology. When asked about their shipments of Ricin, Toxin Technology stated that all shipments of Ricin that were delivered were labeled correctly.

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References: 

 

Young, Alison. “FEMA Counterterrorism Training Center Suspected Lethal Toxin Mix-up Years Ago.” USA Today, Gannett Satellite Information Network, 21 Feb. 2017, https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2017/02/20/fema-center-for-domestic-preparedness-ricin-foia-documents/98173336/.

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“Ricin Poisoning.” Tennessee State Government - TN.gov, https://www.tn.gov/health/cedep/reportable-diseases/ricin-poisoning.html.

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“Training the Best for the Worst.” About - Center for Domestic Preparedness, FEMA, https://cdp.dhs.gov/about.