Homeland Security to study airflow on T
Data could help shape response to chemical attacks
A team of researchers from the US Department of Homeland Security yesterday started six days of tests at 20 MBTA stations designed to determine how airborne contaminants would spread in a terrorist attack on Boston’s subway system.
“We hope to gain information from airflow tests that tell us what type of [protection measures] to take and where to place that,’’ said Teresa Lustig, program manager of the chemical/biological division of Homeland Security. “Unfortunately, as we know, terrorists have targeted these types of systems in the past.’’
Threats of a chemical attack have been made against the New York subway system since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In 1995, a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway system by domestic terrorists killed 12 people and injured dozens.
Boston’s MBTA system has never received a threat or attack, said MBTA Police Chief Paul MacMillan. “But we know by their very nature that subway systems are vulnerable to a terrorist attack,’’ he said during a press briefing yesterday at Haymarket Station. “This will help us prepare and improve our response plan.’’
Nontoxic gases and particulate matter, frequently used in air-quality monitoring, will be released into the air at three underground MBTA stations. Samples will be taken at 20 other locations and on subway cars along the Red, Green, Orange, Blue, and Silver lines. The goal is to measure how the gas spreads throughout tunnels and subway cars.
“The gases we will be using are very safe,’’ Lustig said.
Testing today is due to be conducted at 2 p.m. to measure the effect during off-peak hours of transportation use. Tomorrow, testing will be done during the evening rush hour. No testing is scheduled for Tuesday, but it will be done on Wednesday and Thursday during morning rush hour. On Friday, testing will be conducted during the morning rush hour at South Station on both subway and commuter rail services, officials said.
Researchers will be dressed in orange and yellow vests. Monitoring equipment will be set up on station platforms. Tests will be conducted on both platforms and in subway cars. Commuters and other T riders should not be disrupted by the testing, MacMillan said.
“Nobody should be alarmed,’’ he said. “We’re doing this to protect our passengers and employees to help us detect an attack on the system.’’
A second round of testing will be conducted next summer to understand seasonal differences in air flow, MacMillan said.
Boston is the second US subway system chosen for the testing by Homeland Security. Tests were earlier done on the subways in Washington, D.C.
The findings will help guide the design of future detection systems and help strengthen evacuation, ventilation, and other emergency response plans on mass transit across the country.
“We hope to use the data from the two to come up with a model to predict the behavior [of chemicals] in other subway systems,’’ Lustig said.
Kathy McCabe can be reached at kmccabe@globe.com. 
