SubscribeBomb Receptacles Tested, Sensitive Data Protected
A Texas City, located in Denton County near Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) recently purchased bomb resistant trash receptacles as part of their proactive Homeland Security initiative, funded by the United States Department of Homeland Security. The referenced city wishes to remain anonymous to enhance the level of security their recent procurement represents for their city, its citizens, and visitors.
Deployment locations and explosive protective ratings for these bomb receptacles will not be disclosed for security reasons and are protected by a contract clause preventing American Innovations, Inc., supplier of the city's bomb receptacles, from publicizing or disclosing this sensitive but unclassified information.
This contract clause represents the first proactive step in non-classified government purchasing to protect performance specifications for homeland security technologies. It also holds vendors to the highest of ethical standards. Implementation of this contracting clause into future government procurements will enhance all proactive homeland security initiatives and should be recognized nationally as a best practice model.
Currently there are no federal policies requiring government agencies and vendors to protect explosive protective ratings and deployment locations for bomb receptacles; despite the fact that terrorists can use this data to circumvent or defeat this homeland security technology. In addition, federal testing standards and federal testing mandates requiring all government agencies to randomly select and test bomb receptacles prior to every deployment do not currently exist.
Previous government and private sector testing have verified that several suppliers of public safety bomb receptacles have been misrepresenting their products' ability to contain primary bomb fragmentation and not create secondary fragmentation from an explosion. To ensure product reliability, the unnamed city implemented the first random selection product acceptance testing policy for bomb receptacles in U.S. history.
Testing was coordinated by the City of Denton Fire Department Bomb Squad and directed by their Fire Marshall / Bomb Squad Commander Rick Jones. Testing was witnessed by members of the unnamed city's government body, their local fire department, and the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. A pipe bomb test was conducted to verify primary bomb fragmentation containment and a high explosives test followed to verify the trash receptacles ability to withstand a high velocity explosion without creating secondary fragmentation. Both tests were conducted in the same trash receptacle and the outer wall was not penetrated from either test.
Verifying capabilities of Homeland Security technologies prior to their deployment and protecting the sensitive performance data associated with these anti-terror technologies should be recognized as a best practice model for all government agencies to follow.
January 24, 2007
