Federal agencies choose Oklahoma City as test site

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Federal agencies will release harmless gases in Oklahoma City this summer to test how chemical and biological weapons would work in a terrorist attack. <br><br>``The goal of this program

Wednesday, October 30th 2002, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Federal agencies will release harmless gases in Oklahoma City this summer to test how chemical and biological weapons would work in a terrorist attack.

``The goal of this program is in domestic terrorism preparedness,'' said Jerry Allwine, a scientist with the Environmental Technology Division of Pacific Northwest National Laboratory. ``It's important to the protection of the homeland against chemical and biological threats.''

The $4 million test is a project of the U.S. Departments of Energy and Defense. It will also involve the University of Oklahoma meteorology department and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

The study is scheduled for July and will use sulfur hexafluoride and perfluorocarbon tracer gases. Allwine said the gases are innocuous and are used to inflate athletic shoes and tennis balls. They have also been used to study atmospheric conditions since the 1960s.

Details of the study were discussed at Tuesday's Oklahoma City city council meeting.

``I think it will do a lot to understand our atmospheric conditions -- especially since we're in tornado alley,'' Councilwoman Willa Johnson said. ``When I first saw this item, that it involved gas, I started reading about how this works. And I now feel fine about it.''

City Manager Jim Couch said the study will help Oklahoma prepare better for an emergency and also improve officials' understanding of how to measure air quality. Mayor Kirk Humphreys predicted that Oklahoma City's strong winds would quickly scatter the gas.

Allwine said Oklahoma's geography makes downtown Oklahoma City the ideal place to build computer models that will simulate how gases disperse in urban areas.

``It's a very flat and very well-defined urban area with tall buildings,'' Allwine said. ``There's also a very consistent wind from the south.''

He said it was the second time such testing has been done in a U.S. city. Allwine said an earlier limited study was conducted in Salt Lake City.

Oklahoma City's study will also use weather ballons and several weather stations that have already been installed downtown.