Surreal images from September 11, 2001, are once again flooding our broadcast airways and magazine racks, reminding us of the pain and horror we felt that day. Events that would have remained local knowledge in colonial days are, through the magic of global communication technology, now experienced viscerally and immediately around the world, but especially by those of us who live in this country. Before the destruction of the World Trade Center, we were smug in our cocoon of imagined immunity from the devastation of terrorism. Now we feel as exposed as a newly-emerged moth with wings too wet and fragile to carry it away from danger that might descend at any minute from the blue sky above.
I live in a very small community, once rural, now a haven for retirees, in western Montana. Like millions of other citizens across the country, I became glutted on repetitious videos of the airplanes smashing into the towers and Pentagon, black smoke confirming the horrible deaths of thousands of innocent people. The attack had an immediate effect on my work life as well. As a flight instructor, I earn my living by flying several times a day into the freedom of U.S. airspace. For two weeks after terrorists turned aircraft into weapons, all flight instruction activity ceased by federal order. Even after the ban on flight was lifted, new areas were designated as off-limits to civilian aircraft. Almost three thousand miles from "Ground Zero" the restrictions imposed in an effort to prevent future attacks are a daily reminder of our country’s state of war to those of us who fly.
A new controversy has surfaced here in our little town that is directly related to 9-11. In the 1930’s, a tiny laboratory was opened here to study the cause and possible cure of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, a frequently fatal illness now known to be caused by a parasite carried by ticks. The Rocky Mountain Lab moved on to study other viral and parasitic diseases, and still exists as a government laboratory. After September 11, 2001, a fence and guard posts were quickly erected around the laboratory grounds, which are located within the city limits in a residential area, and public access to the buildings was halted. Several months ago, the federal government announced plans to expand the Rocky Mountain Lab to a level four biological hazard facility. Researchers will study existing and potential biological weapons-grade viruses, bacteria, and toxins. Officials insist that the expansion is essential to the war effort and will help protect our citizens from future attacks. Valley residents are quickly converting to the NIMBY outlook on life, and are trying to send the facility somewhere else, to exist in someone else’s backyard.
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