Photo by Heidi on Flickr
When the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority outlined its new safety measures last week, I shook my head in puzzlement. Number three on the list is to set a schedule for three years for emergency quarterly drills. Drills are important because they help first responders and law enforcement officials identify gaps before an incident occurs. Why haven’t these drills been scheduled before? Are they not occurring on a regular basis? More importantly, why didn’t past drills identify the weaknesses exposed on January 12th
Mass transit security drills and exercises were first mandated by the federal government in 2007. Pursuant to the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission Act, mass transit systems are required to complete them. Congress also authorized and appropriated billions of dollars to help mass transit systems like WMATA complete this important security measure. Did the federal government without funds from WMATA?
In 2007, WMATA received $2,655,654 for emergency training for front-line employees. That same year it also received $2,274,182 for alternate Operations Control Center radio redundancy, and an additional $292,363 for a security operations control center. In 2008, the federal government gave WMATA $2 million for closed circuit television on rail cars, $500,000 for a security risk assessment, and $1.62 million for training. More recently, WMATA received $3.5 million in 2013 and $7,179,016 in 2014. The federal government was providing WMATA with ample funds so money wasn’t the problem.
In 2011, Congress held a hearing entitled “Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: Is There A Security Gap?” Police Chief Cathy Lanier testified “(w)hile all of the joint exercises and coordinated efforts have worked well to build relationships and enhance operational effectiveness, the best example of our joint efforts occurred on June 22, 2009, when nine people were killed as a result of a collision on Metro’s Red Line.” So if the relationship between the agencies was good and exercises occurred before June 21, 2009 what happened between June 22, 2009 and January 11, 2015 that created the mass confusion on January 12, 2015?
The National Transportation Safety Board is currently examining what caused the accident. It’s my hope that they review WMATA’s exercise and drill regime as part of the process. The Washington Post is reporting that firefighters used runners instead of radios to convey information. The paper also states that WMATA and firefighters have had a “tense relationship for years”. These facts lead me to believe that WMATA’s exercise and drill regime has not been successful.
As an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner for ANC6B10, I am very concerned about the possibility that a L’Enfant metro tunnel type incident could occur at Stadium Amory, the metro stop my constituents use. Thousands of residents use the blue, orange, and silver line trains to get to work everyday. Are fire fighters and WMATA ready to assist them if a fire occurs? What happens if something happens between the Stadium Armory and Benning Road stops? How will residents get off the train? I can’t answer these question and based on what happened on January 12th, I’m not sure WMATA can either.
At the WMATA Board meeting this week, I requested that WMATA hold one of its training exercises at the Stadium Armory metro stop. I want residents to know what to do if an accident occurs at the station, in the tunnel, or on the rail line between the Stadium Armory and Benning Road metro stops. I also want residents to have confidence that WMATA and fire officials are prepared to assist them. They lost this confidence on January 12th and it won’t be regained without significant changes in the current processes.
K. Denise Rucker Krepp is a homeland security and transportation consultant. Ms. Krepp wrote the mass transit security provisions in the Implementing Recommendations of the 9/11 Commission. She is also ANC Commissioner for ANC6B10.