"Editorial: Good news for DIA security"

Friday, September 5, 2003

Editorial: Good news for DIA security
The Denver (CO) Post

 
The proposed $95 million automated explosives-detection system to screen
checked baggage at Denver International Airport is a welcome development for
two reasons. First, it will allay travelers' fears, and second, it should
greatly reduce delays during rush periods. 

Revamped security at the nation's airports became a priority after the 9/11
attacks in which al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners and used three
of them in kamikaze-style attacks on the World Trade Center in New York and
the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. Air travel suffered mightily because of the
hijackings, but has begun to recover.

This week, the federal Transportation Safety Administration agreed to pay
DIA $71.3 million to cover three-fourths of the cost of the automated
detection system, which will be integrated into the conveyor belts that
carry checked bags at the airport.

The airport will be getting 50 of the eight-ton machines, which cost $1
million each and are similar in concept to medical CT scanners.

DIA is one of six major airports chosen by the government to build automated
explosives-detection systems for checked baggage. The others are in Boston,
Dallas, Seattle, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.

Construction of the reconfigured DIA conveyor system is expected to take
about 16 months. The airport already has spent $13 million to build a
prototype system to check for bombs, and that section will screen about a
sixth of the luggage at DIA. Once completed, the entire project will have a
capacity of 12,000 bags an hour.

The city's matching share of the TSA project is about $24 million. However,
it's estimated the feds will take about four years to pay out their $71.3
million share, so the airport plans to ask the Denver City Council for
authority to borrow money for the upfront financing of the project.

Whether other large airports will build similar systems hasn't been
determined yet, according to Mike Fierberg, the TSA's spokesman at DIA.
"It's a budgetary issue out of Washington," he said. So far, the government
has issued letters of intent totaling more than $700 million for the
projects.

In the meantime, smaller airports will use manually fed explosives-detection
machines or portable monitors that detect even trace amounts of explosives.
These methods are as effective as the automated system planned for DIA and
actually make more sense for smaller airports that don't have the huge
passenger volumes of major airports like DIA, according to Fierberg.

DIA's new system will be less labor-intensive, requiring fewer people to get
the job done, Fierberg said.

Travelers also may find an extra measure of comfort in Homeland Security
Secretary Tom Ridge's plan to cross-train as many as 5,000 customs and
immigration agents to do double duty as air marshals when needed.

While $95 million may seem like a lot, it's money well-spent if it helps
avoid another tragedy like the 9/11 attacks and eases the public's fears
about flying.


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