Homeland Security Insider
A Pure Solution
AFTER returning from a business trip earlier this week, I undertook the all too familiar task of sorting through mail, newspapers and magazines that had accumulated during my absence. Among the articles were a number of stories from different parts of the country that reported about local officials having ordered evacuations of neighborhoods because of the release of toxic gases. The largest incident, in North Carolina, required 17,000 residents to evacuate their homes -- from a town of 28,000. The residents were ordered out because of a fire at an industrial site, a hazardous waste business that housed a variety of volatile chemicals, including chlorine. These toxic releases were not related to acts of terrorism, but do highlight the inherent danger of living near chemical facilities.
Experts agree that chemical facilities are among the most attractive targets for terrorists' intent on causing massive damage. Despite the risk these facilities pose, no one has yet to comprehensively assess security at chemical facilities.
Across the nation, approximately 15,000 facilities produce, use or store more than threshold amounts of chemicals identified by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as posing the greatest risk to human health and the environment if accidentally released into the air. These facilities include chemical manufacturers, storage and distribution facilities, fertilizer and pesticide facilities, pulp and paper manufacturers, water and wastewater treatment facilities, and refineries. Experts agree that chemical facilities are among the most attractive targets for terrorists' intent on causing massive damage. Despite the risk these facilities pose, no one has yet to comprehensively assess security at chemical facilities. The Department of Homeland Security has identified 3,400 facilities that, if attacked, could pose the greatest hazard to human life and health, and has initiated programs to assist both the chemical industry and local communities to protect these facilities.
Three years ago, the Department of Justice warned that al Qaeda operatives may attempt to launch conventional attacks against chemical facilities to cause contamination, disruption and terror. While these facilities potentially put large numbers of Americans at risk of injury or death in the event of a chemical release, the chemicals the plants produce, use, store and distribute are critical to the world's economy.
Terrorist attacks on U.S. chemical facilities can damage public health and the economy. While the EPA formerly led federal efforts to ensure chemical facility security, DHS is now the lead federal agency coordinating efforts to protect these facilities from terrorist attacks. Because existing laws allow DHS to have only limited authority to address security at chemical facilities, it has relied primarily on the industry's voluntary security efforts. However, the extent to which companies are addressing security is unclear.
We all recall the ridicule leveled at then-DHS Secretary Tom Ridge over his duct tape and plastic sheeting recommendation. At the time, this recommendation, coupled with creating a safe room within your home, was about the best most Americans could hope for in the event of a chemical accident or terrorist attack involving the release of toxic substances into the air. We know that local authorities will instruct you on the best course of action in an emergency. This may be to evacuate the area immediately, to seek shelter at a designated location or to take immediate shelter where you are and seal the premises. Likewise, the best way to protect yourself and your family is to take emergency preparedness measures ahead of time and to get medical attention as soon as possible, if needed.
During my 30 years in the Army and more than seven years in the Pentagon, I was very confident of our armed forces' ability to not only survive a chemical attack, but to continue working during it. But beyond duct tape and plastic sheeting, there was little on the market to protect homes or non-government workplaces. Recently, I was introduced to a company that may have a solution that not only works, but is affordable for protecting what has been until now the unprotected. That company is Patriot Defense Systems of Youngstown, Ohio. Patriot Defense Systems produces a patented air filtration and room pressurization device called the Patriot Defender (PD). The PD creates enclosed environments in workplaces, commercial building, homes and public venues that are safe from most airborne chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) toxins. The PD device is placed either through a wall or window to the exterior or a common area of a structure. It processes air contaminated by a wide range of CBRN particulates and gases, purifies the air to meet military specifications, then produces a large volume of air flow and pressure in the 300 to 1,000 cubic-feet per minute range and 0.1 to 0.2 inches of water column to the living space. This allows the user protection of the living space without extensive structural changes to the room to be protected.
To provide effective protection against military-grade CBRN agents, the PD system must perform to a higher degree than any commercially available filter on the market. Most commercial filtration systems that typically use free-standing indoor air purifiers or filtration units vary widely in configuration and effectiveness, relying on a high-efficiency particulate air filter designed for the removal of microbiological aerosols like bacteria, fungi and viruses and a commercial-grade-activated carbon filter for the removal of chemical gas or vapor agents. These filter systems are not designed for or capable of protecting against military-grade toxic agents.
The Patriot Defender contains a carbon filter that meets military specifications in combination with HEPA and pre-filtration for heavier debris. The device has a fan inside of the living space and the filter set outside of the living space and is sized to conform to the actual air volume and pressure for the particular space.
The Patriot Defender is unlike other products currently being installed in critical government buildings where the entire structure or large area of a building is to be protected. This is especially attractive to facilities managers of corporate or other civilian structures where control or other safe room areas and individuals within the structure itself are assured protection.
Where cost is especially important, in residential and non-government markets for example, the PD system costs less than larger systems. The system also includes the option to imbed sensors for all types of CBRN agent detection. Once a CBRN agent is detected, the unit will activate automatically or be activated remotely and can be tied into early-warning wired or wireless systems.
As the residential and non-government sectors gear up to protect themselves from terrorist or accidental threats, users can rest assured that a complete and affordable system of detection, activation and protection is available to protect people at home or at work in the event of a CBRN-type attack.
This article originally appeared in the December 2006 issue of Security Products pg. 66.