Pentagon officials will test the effectiveness of cleanup measures during a simulated biohazard attack Saturday.
A harmless dust used in organic farming will be released near the Pentagon’s south parking lot from the back of a moving truck. As many as 50 volunteers will stand in the parking lot and be “treated” by Pentagon and Arlington County emergency response teams.
The event is a test, not an exercise, said Paul Benda, director of the Pentagon’s chemical, biological, radioactive and nuclear directorate. Benda’s office is responsible for protecting the Pentagon, Navy Annex and about 30 other buildings in the Washington area from such attacks.
Testers want to determine the amount of dust that lands on the people and cars in the parking lot, and the most effective method of removing it. Arlington County Fire Department trucks will pump water to decontaminate the volunteers and cars.
The test is part of a five-year process to put an automated biohazard sensor system into place, Benda said. Sensors are used because biohazard attacks are hard to see and often do not cause immediate illness. When the system is operational, sensors that detect an airborne biohazard will automatically alter the heating and air conditioning systems at the defense buildings to reduce the biohazard’s impact, Benda said.
After the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, letters containing the biohazard anthrax sickened a score of people and killed two employees at the Brentwood postal facility in the District.
Benda would not say if the system is operating at the Pentagon now. The system will also be extended to Arlington County, Benda said.
The test will be conducted between 8 a.m. and 1 p.m. Saturday.
