Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
New threats to water, nuke plants spawn more debate
Security
Greenwire
02/01/2002
Darren Samuelsohn, Greenwire staff writer
Bush administration revelations this week of new security threats have
triggered fresh debate among those tasked with safeguarding the nation's
nuclear, electric, drinking water and wastewater infrastructure.
In the early moments of his State of the Union Speech on Tuesday, President Bush
provided a glimpse of U.S. intelligence findings in Afghanistan. The president
said that alongside videos of al Qaida members boasting of the Sept. 11 attacks
were diagrams of American nuclear power plants and public water facilities.
A day later, the Justice Department's National Infrastructure Protection Center
released an "information bulletin" that said a computer belonging to an
individual with indirect links to Osama bin Laden contained "structural
architecture computer programs" suggesting an interest in dams and other
water-retaining structures. NIPC also said al Qaida members may have sought
information related to computer programs used by both U.S. and overseas water
supply and wastewater systems.
Since Sept. 11, federal, state and local governments have warned industry and
the public alike to be on alert for more attacks. Many energy and water-related
sites have been on guard. As the Bush administration prepares to release a
budget proposal next week for Defense Department spending unparalleled in two
decades, DOD Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the United States should prepare for
potential surprise attacks that are "vastly more deadly" than Sept. 11. The
information Bush and NIPC provided this week, meantime, appears to be the first
substantial threat mentioned concerning specific targets within the water
industry.
"It's not a list I like to be on," said Van Hoofnagle, administrator for the
drinking water program at the Florida Department of Environmental Protection.
"It's like disturbing the anthill."
Indeed, homeland security was an important issue for many prior to Sept. 11.
Retired Air Force General Tom Marsh served as chairman of the President's
Commission on Critical Infrastructure Protection, a Clinton administration task
force that met in 1997 and 1998 to formulate security recommendations for a
range of sectors including water, electricity, banking and telecommunications.
Marsh said he is not satisfied with the level of government interest in homeland
security -- even post Sept. 11 -- and that he was not surprised to know
terrorists were targeting nuclear power plants or water sources "knowing the
obvious vulnerabilities" that each has.
According to Marsh, water supply systems are diverse and have their own unique
needs in terms of security. The electricity grid relies on a vast,
interconnected network where industry and government officials worry about the
"cascading nature of failures." And nuclear materials are dispersed around the
country with security measures that so far have not considered the "unthinkable
threat" of an airplane used as a missle. On top of it all are cyberattacks, he
said.
Marsh said his contacts with various industries have shown that private
companies are interested in new security measures, but government funds have not
started to flow. "It is a very slow process," he said.
According to industry and state sources, about $7.5 billion in homeland security
money that was appropriated late last year by Congress has not yet hit the
ground. The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, has yet to disburse
the $80 million for drinking water vulnerability assessments it received through
the fiscal year 2002 emergency supplemental bill. EPA did not return calls for
comment on this story, but agency spokesman Joseph Martyak said earlier this
week that homeland security queries specific to EPA's budget should wait until
President Bush formally releases his FY '03 spending proposal on Monday.
Hoofnagle said he understands the faults of the system, noting it is easier for
the government to have interaction with airports than it is for EPA to address
thousands of water systems. EPA's work is long term, he said, adding that he
expects the funds to eventually be dispensed through the Drinking Water State
Revolving Loan Fund.
Hoofnagle said individual utilities have begun taking steps to shore up their
security, though most have been quiet about their specific actions out of
concern the information would become public and serve as a roadmap for a
potential attackers. On a federal level, Hoofnagle said the Justice Department
and U.S. Marshals Office, along with officials from the University of Texas,
addressed water-specific security at a forum last week in Florida for state's
utility officials.
Ken Kirk, executive director of the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies, said the threats announced by the Bush administration this week
underscore the work done by wastewater officials since Sept. 11. "It's perfect
timing for our conference next week," he added, referring to an AMSA event in
Orlando that is expected to host some 250 local officials. The event, Managing
and Protecting Wastewater Infrastructure Assets, includes a speaking engagement
from Sandy Berger, the national security advisor for the Clinton administration.
On Capitol Hill, homeland security is likely to get the once-over from lawmakers
during hearings and within this year's appropriations process. Domestic
counterterrorism funding -- whether to spend now or later -- was among the
fiercest of partisan fights last session. White House Office of Management and
Budget Director Mitch Daniels said last week that domestic counterterrorism
spending would be in the billions, somewhere in the "high 20s;" Democrats have
already criticized the Bush administration for its fiscal restraint calls last
year. Meantime, House Budget Committee Chairman Jim Nussle (R-Iowa) said he
would be on the lookout for unrelated items that lawmakers may press for under
the guise of counterterrorism, something he called a "homeland security
hitchhiker."
A spokeswoman for Rep. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.), chairman of the House
Subcommittee on Terrorism and Homeland Security, called the most recent
announcements by Bush and NIPC the "difference between the perceived threat and
the known threat." The panel, which was turned from a working group into an
actual subcommittee shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks, is considering more
hearings this year but nothing concrete has been set, she said.