Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Wastewater Security Bill Expected To Reach Senate Floor In September
by Elizabeth Judd
(July 30, 2003) -- Drinking water facilities have gotten the
lion's share of government funding for security enhancements, but wastewater
treatment facilities, also designated part of the nation's critical
infrastructure, could soon receive some funding for the security assessments
they've been performing voluntarily, according to Adam Krantz, managing director
of government and public affairs for the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage
Agencies.
Krantz tells Homeland Security News he anticipates that the Wastewater Treatment
Works Security Act of 2003 (S. 1039), which was introduced by James Inhofe, R-Okla.,
and is similar to legislation that passed the House by a "near unanimous"
413-to-2 vote, could be enacted in September.
The legislation authorizes $200 million for the Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA) to provide grants to states, municipalities, and inter-municipal or
interstate agencies to conduct vulnerability assessments of the nation's
approximately 16,000 publicly owned wastewater treatment works and "to implement
security enhancements to reduce vulnerabilities to terrorist attack." The bill
also calls for technical guidance and assistance to smaller facilities (those
serving fewer than 20,000 individuals).
Although the potential risks to drinking water are widely recognized, the
security needs of wastewater facilities are less well understood. One of the
greatest threats, according to Krantz, is that there's "a large underground
tunnel network beneath the nation's cities, financial districts, etc. The
concern is that someone could go underneath buildings through that system and
perform terrorist acts from below the buildings."
Another risk, says Krantz, is that a highly flammable gas could be introduced
into the sewerage system and then set on fire. He also notes that the
destruction of a wastewater facility might have very dire consequences since
treated water is often used for fighting fires; the loss of one of these
facilities could pose a considerable risk to a city where firefighters rely on
that water supply.
Finally, Krantz emphasizes that wastewater facilities are subject to
cyber-terrorism. He points out that a disgruntled employee in Australia hacked
into the computer system at a wastewater facility and opened the floodgates into
the ocean, creating an environmental disaster.
Although Krantz characterizes S. 1039 as "non-controversial," the good news is
that the wastewater industry has not waited for funding to begin assessing the
status of its security systems. Krantz points out that more than 5,000 copies of
the free Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool, designed specifically for the
wastewater industry, have been sent out so far.