MSG DDT

On March 7, it was reported (barely) that sometime that day, researchers wanting to study the behavior of gases in a cavernous environment like Midtown were going to release a "harmless" gas into the air and then track it around the city. The idea was to better understand and be better prepared for what might happen in the case of a toxic leak or chemical attack.

That much is fine with us, and we hope the experiment is a fruitful one. But what troubled us about the whole thing was the fact that we could only find three local news sources who even mentioned that the experiment was taking place. Of the three, two didn't mention what kind of gas was being used, except to describe it as "odorless, colorless and harmless." And one didn't mention where the release of the gas would originate. Only Newsday got the whole story down, or at least as much as they were told.

The gas was to be released from Madison Square Garden, a few short blocks north of the Press offices. Sensors placed atop buildings in a several block radius would try and track how the gas spread in and amongst the buildings.

The gas in question is perfluorocarbon tracer gas, or PFT. Little is said about it except that it's the same gas Con Ed uses to detect underground electricity leaks. (Funny-we thought they used dogs for that.)

Perhaps we're a touch on the paranoid side, but when someone conducting an experiment involving public space and on the government's behalf remains this mum about it, we're left with two suspicions. Either this gas isn't as harmless as they say it is, or the whole thing's another empty Homeland Security public relations stunt.

Whatever the case, we kept our windows closed tight that afternoon.