Copyright 2002 The Seattle Times Company  
The Seattle Times
November 19, 2002, Tuesday Fourth Edition
SECTION: ROP ZONE; Local News; Pg. B3

LENGTH: 434 words

HEADLINE: Airport won't meet screening deadline
Sea-Tac says it will use other methods

BYLINE: Frank Vinluan; Seattle Times business reporter

BODY:
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport and several others around the nation won't meet the federal government's Dec. 31 deadline for complete baggage screening.

But Sea-Tac Federal Security Director Bob Blunk said the airport will use other methods bomb-sniffing dogs, explosive-detection equipment and physical searches for checked baggage until it has enough X-ray machines to handle the screening.

Congress set the Dec. 31 deadline in the Aviation and Transportation Security Act passed last year. The act created the Transportation Security Administration to oversee screening of passengers and baggage at the nation's 429 commercial airports. The screening had been done by private security companies.

Last week, the House of Representatives voted to extend the deadline until Dec. 31, 2003, as part of the bill creating the Homeland Security Department. The Senate is expected to approve the plan next week.

Airports around the country need the X-ray machines, but production lines are backlogged.

Sea-Tac Airport has four screening machines three in the ticketing-level lobby of the main terminal and one behind the American Airlines ticket counter but needs 30. Each machine is about the size of a car, and Sea-Tac does not have room for them, airport officials say. As the machines become available, airport officials will explore construction options to accommodate them.

Each screening machine costs about $1 million. U.S. Rep. Jay Inslee, D-Bainbridge Island, said the federal government will pay most of the cost for the machines and infrastructure changes, which can vary from airport to airport.

"This is a national priority," Inslee said. "It needs to be nationally funded."

In the meantime, the interim screening measures will be used. By the end of the year, every bag at Sea-Tac will undergo some type of screening, Blunk said.

Boeing and Siemens, both selected to oversee installation and testing of explosive-detection equipment, has placed systems in 200 airports. The detection systems analyze residue on bags for explosive material.

The deadline to have federal security employees screening passengers is today, the one-year anniversary of Bush signing the Aviation and Transportation Security Act into law.

Sea-Tac, which hired the last of its federal screeners more than a month ago, retained about 350 of its previous 1,200 security workers, Blunk said. More than 44,000 have been hired nationwide.

Information from The Associated Press is included in this report.

Frank Vinluan: 206-464-2291 or fvinluan@seattletimes.com

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