HAVEN IN TERROR; COMPANY BUILDS BOOTHS AGAINST POISON, BULLETS.

Byline: Jason Takenouchi Daily News Staff Writer

Spurred by concerns about terrorism, officials of Valencia-based Delta Scientific Corp. said Tuesday that the company has developed a bulletproof guard booth with chemical and biological warfare defenses.

Among the first of their kind, the booths would help maintain security during a terrorist attack by providing a haven for victims and rescuers alike, company officials said.

Senior Vice President David Dickinson said there already is significant interest in the system, expected to cost roughly $60,000, and the first prototype is being field-tested in a location he wouldn't name.

Dickinson said the booths are intended for more than the security of soldiers and civilians in faraway lands or as a response to the deadly 1995 sarin gas attack in a Tokyo subway. Dickinson predicted the core market for the new booths will be in the United States as the international threat of terrorism grows.

``We're not prepared here, so there's a risk here,'' Dickinson said. ``This is vicious stuff.''

The booths have interlocking decontamination showers and advanced air-filtration systems, in addition to the standard 1-1/2-inch-thick bulletproof windows and steel walls that already come with Delta Scientific's ballistic-rated security booths.

A system of new booths could protect perimeter security at a facility after a chemical or biological attack. The booths also could serve as sites for medical treatment of victims and decontamination of rescuers.

While too sophisticated and costly for the corner grocery store, the chemical-biological warfare booths could gain a major following in specialized, high-security markets, said David Howard, spokesman for the American Society for Industrial Security, a trade association with about 32,000 members worldwide.

``I don't think the general demand will be astonishingly high,'' he said. ``But within that niche, demand could be fairly high.''

Dickinson said initial buyers are expected to include the Department of Defense, the State Department, federal buildings and ``sensitive corporations with an international presence.''

Delta Scientific already is noted for its heavy-duty, anti-terrorist vehicle barriers. About 125 U.S. embassies and 85 nuclear power plants use them, and the barriers account for a lion's share of the company's roughly $12 million in annual sales.

Security booths, both ballistic-rated and standard models, are a relatively small part of the company's business, representing about 10 percent of sales.

That could change with the new booths designed for protection from chemical and biological gases, but Dickinson said there are still ``some reservations as to whether this is a rational product that is needed.'' He said similar doubt once surrounded the introduction of bulletproof guard booths.

In fact, Dickinson said, there is nothing conventionally rational about criminals and terrorists.

``Although a rational person would not kill anyone using chemical and biological agents,'' he said, ``there are a lot of irrational people out there.''

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3 Photos

PHOTO (1-2--Color) (Photo 2 ran in SAC Edition only) A worker welds a new type of security booth developed by Delta Scientific Corp. of Valencia to withstand poison gas as well as bullets.

(3--Color) A worker helps assemble the new type of security booth, being tested as protection from terrorists.

David R. Crane/Daily News