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In addition to all the other exotic fumes
roiling around the subway, the NYPD will this summer release some nice,
“harmless” gases into several stations in order to test for
“risks posed by airborne contaminants, including chemical, biological
and radiological (CBR) weapons,” the department announced today.
“The NYPD works for the best but plans for the
worst when it comes to potentially catastrophic attacks such as ones
employing radiological contaminants or weaponized anthrax,” Police
Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said in a statement. The airflow tests will be
performed in partnership with the energy department’s Brookhaven National
Laboratory using perfluorocarbon tracer gases (PFTs), which, though
alarmingly named, are apparently benign. (Wikipedia tells us the gases are
regularly used to map oil reserves and, awesomely, to track ransom money
following kidnappings.)
The $3.4 million study, called the
Subway-Surface Air Flow Exchange, will be the largest of its kind. The exact
dates of the test, to be held over the course of three non-consecutive days
in July, will be determined by weather conditions and announced to the public
one day in advance. Research will be conducted during the daytime in parts of
all five boroughs, but is not expected to hamper operations.
“The NYPD, in partnership with the MTA, is
responsible for keeping more than 5 million daily subway customers safe and
secure, Acting Chairman Fernando Ferrer said in a statement. “This study
will bolster the NYPD’s understanding of contaminant dispersion within the
subway system as well as between the subway system and the street, thereby
improving its ability to better protect both our customers and the city
population at large.”
http://gothamist.com/2013/04/24/nypd_to_inject_harmless_gas_into_su.php
http://www.rumormillnews.com/cgi-bin/forum.cgi?read=275185
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