AUGUSTA (AP) – Willard “Bill” Brown still has cans of carbohydrate-rich lemon and cherry drops that were bought for fallout shelters decades ago when nuclear war seemed a more immediate threat than it is today.

He also remembers metal barrels of drinking water that were stocked in shelters to sustain those who would survive an atomic war. When the water was gone, the barrels were supposed to be used as commodes.

“Everything was sealed to protect it from radiation,” said Brown, 83, who served a variety of civil defense roles at state, county and local levels for 50 years. The government encouraged families to set up shelters in their basements. Yellow and black “fallout shelter” signs were common on public buildings that were considered havens in the event of a strike.

Times have changed.

The Cold War era of nuclear confrontation gave way to the age of terrorism. Along the way, Mainers had a firsthand taste of disaster with the Ice Storm of 1998, which wrecked the state’s power grid and left thousands of families in the cold and dark for days or weeks.

The Maine Emergency Management Agency is changing with the times.

In late January, MEMA opened shop in a sprawling building that covers seven acres at the northern edge of Augusta. Despite the immense size of the structure, which once was a computer-parts manufacturing plant, it is virtually hidden from the busy highway by an earthen berm and greenery.

Not only does MEMA gain new space, but it moves under the same roof with the state Public Safety Department, with which it shares expanded duties that come with guarding against terrorism. MEMA is now the coordinating agency for homeland security in Maine, tying local, state and federal agencies together.

For years, the state’s civil defense operations were housed in what was known as “the bunker” in the basement of the State Office Building. It was connected by a tunnel to the State House, providing easy access by the governor.

A major renovation of the State Office Building forced MEMA to move in February 1999 to Camp Keyes, the Maine National Guard headquarters – and ironically the original home of Maine Civil Defense, recalled Brown, of South Thomaston.

The Camp Keyes site brought state military and emergency management agencies under one roof. However, MEMA lost a third of its space just as its mission was about to expand due to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

Now, with a 10-year lease in the newly remodeled building, MEMA regains the working area it lost in 1999 and is back at 18,000 square feet.

The new offices still have the faint smell of fresh paint and new carpeting. Telephones and other equipment are being moved in and tested, and final touches are still being made to areas like the Secure Room, where classified information is received.

It is equipped with special fax machines, which receive messages that have been scrambled for security purposes. The room has a triple-locked safe in which messages are stored, in keeping with strict federal protocols.

“This allows us to follow it to the letter of the law,” said MEMA spokeswoman Lynette Miller.

On an average day, MEMA headquarters are quiet, with the staff of about 20 spread out through the building. The governor’s office, furnished like a mini-version of the real executive suite in the State House, sits ready to be occupied in the event of the unexpected.

In the weeks ahead, MEMA headquarters will see renewed bursts of activity as the annual spring flood watch brings together experts from several state and federal agencies.

Mock summer and winter power outages last month brought the Emergency Operations Room to life. The disaster-response hub is equipped with a large-screen weather monitor, four other overhead screens than can display images from sky-cams peering down on various locations of the state, and desks designated for law enforcement, transportation, National Guard and other agencies that can trade information during a crisis.

MEMA Director Art Cleaves said the Feb. 17 drill “to shake the bugs out of the system” was an overall success. In late September, when the Queen Mary 2 called in Bar Harbor, a sky cam mounted atop a local tavern kept an eye on the ship throughout the day.

The news media still has a place in the building, but reporters no longer work from the Emergency Operations Room, where in the past they could look over the shoulders of officials as they made crucial decisions. The media, who are considered a critical communications link in an emergency, now reside in a briefing room with rows of desks for reporters. But they can watch what’s going on in the Operations Room via TV monitor.

In the new Fusion Center, a small staff sifts through intelligence gathered around the state – including telephone tips from the public – that can be shared with federal authorities to see if suspicious patterns or unknown threats exist.

MEMA stands ready to field calls in the aftermath of a major event.

“If an earthquake occurred today, the phone lines would get hot,” said Cleaves, adding that 20 help lines could be set up to advise citizens with questions. And in the event a disaster takes out regular telephone, cell phone and Internet service, there’s room for a team of Ham radio operators to complement MEMA’s communications network.

There is also a complete kitchen with two refrigerators – something Camp Keyes lacked – and more bathrooms than the old center had.

While he’s pleased with MEMA’s new space and upgraded equipment, Cleaves said the agency still lacks a large enough staff to handle all of its new duties.

It was authorized last year to hire eight more people to handle homeland security functions, but was able to bring on only three.

Cleaves said that won’t stop MEMA, which has an annual budget of well under $1 million, from doing its job.

“We’re going to make this work,” said Cleaves.

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On the Net:

Maine Emergency Management Agency: http://www.state.me.us/mema//

AP-ES-03-06-05 1216EST

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