Global Security Newswire

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Homeland Security Department is more prepared than ever to deal with the threat posed by weapons of mass destruction, agency chief Janet Napolitano told lawmakers yesterday (see GSN, Feb. 9).

"I would say that we are more prepared now than we were two years ago, and two years ago we were more prepared than two years before then," Napolitano said in testimony to the House Homeland Security Committee. "But there still is much work to be done."

The department continues to work at the "science and technology level" to develop effective detection mechanisms for those biological, chemical, radiological and nuclear threats, she added.

"We have funded and are continuing to fund pilots of different types with laboratories and universities, and actually private sector entities around the country, particularly in the CBRN arena," the Homeland Security secretary said, citing the department's "Securing the Cities" program as one example.

That initiative, a federally funded pilot project that deploys detection technology to protect New York City and the surrounding region from a radiological or nuclear attack, is a coordinated effort involving the department's Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, the New York City Police Department and numerous regional law enforcement agencies in New York, Connecticut and New Jersey. Securing the Cities has received more than $70 million in funding to date, though the Obama administration has tried to halt federal support for the program (see GSN, Sept. 23, 1010).

The detection office was established by presidential directive in 2005 to coordinate federal efforts to protect the United States against nuclear terrorism, leading efforts to deploy nuclear sensors around the country. The Homeland Security branch has spent roughly $230 million over the last several years attempting to develop and field the Advanced Spectroscopic Portal systems, intended to detect potential radiological and nuclear weapons materials being smuggled into the United States. The agency has come under harsh criticism from Capitol Hill and independent auditors for rushing the ASP technology into the field without proper testing (see GSN, Jan. 14).

Homeland Security also runs the Biowatch system, which has deployed detectors in more than 30 U.S. cities to test collected air samples for the presence of biological warfare materials such as anthrax and smallpox.

Last week the "West Coast Maritime Pilot program" operation in California, which was established in 2009 to detect nuclear and radiological materials being smuggled by small vessels into the country, was turned over to local authorities. The department spent about $8 million on the program and delivered funding for more than 250 radiation sensors and other relevant technology, according to an agency press release (see GSN, Feb. 9).

The department does not have a specific budget line item for WMD-related activities as efforts and programs are spread across the nearly two dozen agencies, including the Domestic Nuclear Detection Office, Customs and Border Protection and the Transportation Security Administration.

In 2009 the high-profile Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism concluded that an attack involving an unconventional system is likely to occur somewhere in the world by the end of 2013 unless significant security improvements are made.

The congressionally mandated panel also stated that there was a greater likelihood of a biological attack than a nuclear strike because of the worldwide prevalence of deadly pathogens and other disease materials.

Last year the commission gave the Obama administration an "F" in a final "report card" for failure to develop a comprehensive strategy against a disease-based attack (see GSN, Jan. 26, 2010).

Yesterday, committee Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he had a "particular interest" in biological and chemical weapons. "It's very likely that the next attack against a major city in this country will be launched from the suburbs," said King, who represents the state's suburban Third Congressional District.

"The nightmare scenario would be to have that attack involve a dirty bomb, which would put that metropolitan area off limits, besides the massive loss of human life that would result," the New York lawmaker said.

Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups have expressed a desire to obtain unconventional weapons such as a radiological "dirty bomb," which would use conventional explosives to disperse radioactive materials.

Testifying alongside Napolitano, National Counterterrorism Center chief Michael Leiter identified a Yemen-based offshoot of al-Qaeda as the leading threat to attack the United States (see related GSN story, today). Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula is believed to be behind the plot to mail hidden bombs to the United States in 2010.

"The terrorist threat to the homeland is, in many ways, at its most heightened state since 9/11," Napolitano told the panel. "This threat is constantly evolving, and, as I have said before, we cannot guarantee that there will never be another terrorist attack, and we cannot seal our country under a glass dome. However, we continue to do everything we can to reduce the risk of terrorism in our nation."

Napolitano said in addition to its own efforts, her department is working with Health and Human Services on pandemic planning and the development of medical countermeasures for a potential biological attack on the United States.

"We have been working with them on protocols. Who would do what, when and where? Do we have the surge capacity to handle, say, if there were to be an anthrax attack? We've been table-topping some of these things," the DHS chief told the panel without citing specific examples.

She declined to say whether the DHS Health Affairs Office, which is meant to serve as the department's principal authority for all medical and health issues, is adequately resourced and staffed to be effective in the event of a deliberate disease outbreak.

"All I can say is, we believe the biological threat is real and we believe it is something that we need to keep maturing our efforts about," Napolitano said.

One national security observer said homeland security efforts must be reorganized in both the legislative and executive branches first before assessing how well one department can respond to WMD threats.

"Response to chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear terrorism requires the highly coordinated efforts of dozens of federal organizations plus state and local governments and the private sector. Which committee in Congress has the responsibility to ask if America is prepared? There isn't one with the proper oversight authority," said Randall Larsen, chief executive officer of the WMD Center in Washington.

"But it's not just the legislative branch that requires reorganization," added Larsen, who served as chief of staff to the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism.

"Today there are more than two dozen presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed individuals with some responsibility for biodefense, but not one has it for a full-time job, and no one is in charge -- not exactly a recipe for success," he told Global Security Newswire yesterday by e-mail.