Changes in security study at Boston's Logan airport questioned

BOSTON -- A final report on security lapses at Logan International Airport was purged of references that pointed to infighting as a contributing problem, a newspaper reported Saturday.

The Massachusetts Port Authority hired Counter Technology Inc. last year to conduct a security risk assessment at the airport. Massport had called for the study before the two hijacked planes that crashed into the World Trade Center took off from Logan.

Preliminary drafts of the company's report were circulated among top Massport executives in November and described a turf battle between Thomas Kinton, the aviation manager, and Joseph Lawless, the former head of airport security, Massport officials familiar with the document said in Saturday's The Boston Globe.

One draft said a rivalry between the two men had blocked many of Lawless' recommendations from being implemented, including increasing control over access to secure areas and tightening checkpoint security.

When the final report arrived in January, however, it contained no criticism of Kinton and Lawless.

Massport board chairman Mark E. Robinson told the Globe that after concerned board members discussed the matter last week, he agreed to ask Israeli security specialist and Massport consultant Rafi Ron to look into the report and its methodology.

"I want to make sure it has integrity in its substance and in its process," Robinson said.

Lawyers for the agency released a statement saying, "At no time has Massport mandated that the consultant either reach or avoid certain conclusions."

Counter Technology President Richard Roth said he was unaware that Massport's board of directors was seeking a review of the report. He acknowledged the report had changed where "the chain of command" was concerned and attributed that to new information from Massport employees.

Kinton was named Massport's acting executive director after the Sept. 11 hijackings, and Lawless was demoted and reassigned to head of security for the Port of Boston.

Kinton and Lawless declined to comment on the report.