After years funding research and assessments of various technologies with a number of companies, the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) Science and Technology (S&T) branch early next year plans to begin a pilot test of biological detection systems in an indoor environment.
The testing will occur in an undisclosed mass transit system and last about a year. If successful, the program may be handed off to another DHS component, such as the Office of Health Affairs (OHA) or the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), which are the customers that S&T is working with on the Detect-to-Protect (D2P) program, Anne Hultgren, S&T’s D2P program manager, tells TR2.
There’s no guarantee that either OHA or TSA would take D2P on, Hultgren says.
That transition model appears to be similar to how S&T and OHA have collaborated on the next-generation BioWatch program, which is aimed at creating an automated, networked bio-detection system for outdoor environments in major urban areas. For the Gen-3 BioWatch program S&T funded the research, development and initial testing whereas as OHA is currently in the process of working with two companies to test prototype systems in operational environments (See following story in this issue.).
“Really this is a broad test that could feed into an acquisition project for one of our customers,” Hultgren said. “Now is a good time for them to get a plan around it.”
The potential threat DHS has in mind with the D2P solution is the release of a deadly biological agent into the air in an indoor, high-traffic environment, in this case a subway system or underground commuter rail terminal. With D2P DHS wants to quickly know that a pathogen is airborne so that local authorities can keep people out of the affected area and treat those that are or were in that area, Hultgren says.
The challenge with bio-detection is that it’s hard to do quickly and even harder to do it in an operational environment, she says.
In the upcoming pilot S&T will be looking at “trigger and confirmation system,” comparing the performance of triggers against each other and confirmer against each other, Hultgren says. The systems will also be networked into the communications system of the mass transit system where the demonstration will occur, allowing for real time data collection and observation she says. The networking of the devices is another aspect of the pilot test that will be analyzed, she says.
Trigger systems are basic detectors that continuously draw in air and alert if it is biological or not.
“All your asking is, “Is there more biological material in the air right now than I would expect,” Hultgren says. “Or is there a lot more than five minutes ago.” It could be due to mold or pollen or something else, all of which happens, she adds.
But if the trigger goes off, then the confirmer system located nearby would turn on. A confirmer would pull in air for a few minutes and then analyze the sample and then quickly provide an answer as to what biological agent is present, Hultgren says. The goal is to have an answer in 15 minutes, she says. A confirmer system is also expected to dramatically cut down on false alarms that might occur if a detection system was only relying on trigger systems, she said.
Participants
S&T has contracted with several companies for their various systems and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Lincoln Laboratory, a federally funded research and development center, which will perform the system integration, installation, maintenance and data collection role. MIT’s contract with S&T is for $864, 565 with an option for $1.7 million.
ICx Technologies will be supplying three systems, one trigger and two confirmer systems. IBAC, which ICx has sold to some customers, is the trigger system. The confirmer systems are the IBAC-Plus and the RapidPlex. ICx’ contract with S&T for the IBAC and IBAC-Plus is $684,114 and the award for the RapidPlex is $2 million with an option for another $1.6 million.
Menon and Associates, a small California-based firm that is developing a number of chemical and biological detection systems for DHS and the Department of Defense, is supplying one of its Mentor systems for the pilot. Menon’s contract is for $775,000 with an option for $123,864.
Northrop Grumman [NOC], which is one of the contractors that has been selected to move forward in the BioWatch program, will supply a trigger system called Co-BASS. The company’s contract is for $75,000 with an option for another $75,000.
QinetiQ North America, through its Foster-Miller business unit, will supply a trigger device called IBATA. The company’s contract is still under negotiation, S&T tells TR2.
Hultgren says S&T is purchasing several devices from each company to be used in the pilot testing. Air flow modeling that has been going on and continues will be integrated into the testing. In early December S&T will be doing another air flow test, this one in Boston, where it will release inert gases to see how they move throughout the subway system.
The companies involved in D2P have participated with DHS for several or more years in separate research and technology projects such as the Instantaneous Bio-Aerosol Detector Systems, Low-cost Bio-Aerosol Detector System and Rapid Automated Biological Identification System. Those programs were consolidated under the D2P project in 2006 at the direction of former S&T Chief Jay Cohen.