Lawrence officials aren’t just worried about “dirty bombs.” They’re also concerned about explosives in trash Dumpsters and about terrorist attacks on other targets in the city.

That’s why more than 40 officials from the city, county and Kansas University gathered Tuesday for the beginning of a three-day seminar on how public works employees can prevent and respond to terrorism.

Two trainers from the National Emergency Response and Rescue Training Center in Texas led Tuesday’s session. The workshop was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Justice Office of Domestic Preparedness.

“If you find a bomb device  have you trained your public works people how to respond to that bomb device?” asked Terry Blackman, one of the trainers.

No, Lawrence Public Works Director Chuck Soules said later. But he now thinks there might be a need for such training.

“We have people out all over the city,” Soules said. “We probably need to do a little better training, for your trash collectors, say, because you don’t know what they’ll come up against.”

During the three days, officials will also discuss the potential ramifications of a terrorist attack for the city’s water supply, electricity, roads, communications and other infrastructure. The city already has plans to protect the water supply, Assistant City Manager Debbie Van Saun said, although she wouldn’t reveal the details.

“We are looking to learn more, if there’s more to learn,” she said.

“A lot of the response plans are going to be similar to those in a natural disaster,” said Luke Stevens, the other trainer. “We talk about where you have to tweak the plan.”

The training seminars have taken place in cities across the country, Stevens said, starting long before Sept. 11.

“Our books had the Twin Towers on them, with a target,” he said. “We had to change that.”

But Sept. 11 was on the mind of many officials participating in the workshop.

“Obviously, (the training) has taken on a new impetus,” Van Saun said.

Stevens said, however, that the best response plan will have limitations.

“There’s always going to be chaos in any incident. We want to minimize the chaos,” he said.