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Concerns Raised About Buildings’ Readiness for Biological, Chemical Attack Following Weekend Warning By Joe Fiorill WASHINGTON — Sunday’s warning of a terrorist threat to financial institutions in the eastern United States has prompted new scrutiny of buildings’ ventilation-based defenses against biological and chemical agents. New York police instructed building managers to review their defenses, while a leader in the air-filter industry said most commercial buildings probably lack adequate protection. U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge said Sunday that a car or truck bomb appears to be the “preferred method of attack” for those he said are seeking to attack the Prudential headquarters in Newark, N.J., the New York Stock Exchange and Citigroup buildings in New York and the International Monetary Fund and World Bank here. Although he did not mention a WMD threat in his announcement, Ridge highlighted recent steps the Homeland Security Department has taken to prepare for such an attack. “This summer, given the volume of symbolic events and large gatherings,” Ridge said, “we have ramped up protective measures more than ever before. … Thousands of radiological pagers have been given to law enforcement around the country, and more are on their way. At work are more HAZMAT [hazardous materials] technicians, undercover agents, and emergency-response teams and more K-9 units capable of detecting explosives and weapons of mass destruction. Advanced air-monitoring technologies that can check for biological pathogens are operating in key locations.” Following the announcement, the New York and Washington police departments both issued advice on measures building managers and emergency responders can take to defend against and respond to a biological or chemical attack. New York Police Department Commissioner Raymond Kelly said Sunday that buildings in the city should review protections in their heating, ventilation and air-conditioning systems against biological and chemical agents (see GSN, March 4). The Washington Metropolitan Police Department posted a document yesterday on its Web site describing how police and other emergency responders are trained and equipped to respond to biological and chemical attacks. Asked yesterday whether the department and threatened institutions had discussed ventilation defenses, however, Chief Charles Ramsey said, “I doubt there’s a whole lot more that we could be doing than we are right now.” Ventilation-based defenses against a WMD attack typically involve heavy-duty air filters and can also include sensors to detect biological and chemical agents. Although facilities such as hospitals and government buildings often have filtering systems that can prevent the circulation of dangerous agents, most commercial buildings probably lack such equipment, according to National Air Filtration Association Executive Director Alan Veeck. “You would probably be pretty surprised about the institutions that are not protected. … There are certainly many buildings in New York City that are vulnerable and at risk,” Veeck said today in an interview. High-efficiency particulate air filters, the most effective filters widely available, cannot be installed in most buildings because of technical obstacles involving air pressure and energy requirements. Recent research demonstrates, though, that less effective and more easily installed filters ― those with a minimum efficiency reporting value as low as 11, compared with up to 17 for a high-efficiency particulate air filter ― can provide significant protection against a WMD attack. Veeck said that “probably not that many commercial buildings” have such filters in place. “A lot of times,” Veeck said, “the strike is made to a building where they know there’s probably not a great deal of filtration.” Veeck said warnings about ventilation systems such as the one issued in New York could be useful, given the scarcity of adequate systems in commercial facilities. “Any time one of these threats comes along,” he said, “people are jarred into remembering that that’s something that needs to be done, and it may well spur some of them into action.”
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