Treasury grants cannot be used for chemical detection
The federal government told the Boston transit authority and other municipal transportation agencies that they cannot use anti-terrorism grants to install chemical threat detection systems at subway stations
The federal government has rejected a request by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) and other large transit agencies to use anti-terrorism grants to install chemical threat detection systems at subway stations. The Boston Herald reports that the MBTA has had the technology at one station since 2001, and acting transit police chief Paul MacMillan wants to use $3 million in federal money to install it at three more stations.
Federal guidelines, though, exclude the systems for subways because it is thought they would not warn passengers quickly enough. The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has focused its grant program on training, surveillance, public awareness, and making stations and tunnels more physically resistant to explosive attacks.
