Farm and Home Biosecurity
Consumer/General Public and Livestock/Row Crop Producer
Terrorism and Our Water Supply - Is There a Threat?
September 11, 2001 took Americans by surprise. That event brought about a new
awareness of just how vulnerable we are. We now know we are not and cannot be
prepared for everything.
"On that day," said Representative John Duncan (R-Tennessee), chairman of
the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee, "our nation learned that our
own equipment and our own structures can be used against us."
Because of Sept. 11, we’ve been forced to take a look at the safety of our
nation’s systems and resources, including water. The concern over terrorism on
water has brought about a heightened awareness in water resources security
across the nation.
How safe is our water? The National Ground Water Association’s Stephen
Ragone, Ph.D. said our ground water at least is relatively safe. Ragone issued a
statement to the Water Resources and Environment Subcommittee of the House
Transportation and Infrastructure Committee on October 10, 2001. In the
statement he said, "Groundwater is protected from immediate contamination by
virtue of its location tens to hundreds of feet below land surface, and from
long-term contamination by virtue of its slow rate of movement and the
probability that biological and chemical agents will be removed as water moves
through the subsurface." Ragone assured ground water wells take little effort
to secure and if one is contaminated, the pollutants are as easily contained in
one area.
Harold Seifert, division of engineering, Arkansas Department of Health, said
it’s not ground water but surface water that we think about when we consider
our water being subject to terrorism. "But," he said, "the use of water
treatment makes the impact of that kind of contamination even lower."
The ADH uses what Seifert called the "Multiple Barrier Approach" to
source water safety. The first barrier is to protect the source water. The
second and third barriers are to treat and disinfect contaminated water.
Since Sept. 11, the ADH has been developing changes regarding the safety of
our water. Seifert said they are working on coming up with an "instant expert
in security" person and have made documents available to water utilities with
information on the weaknesses in security. They’ve also been "beefing up"
the guidance manual in water facility security. "Most of it (the current
manual) is aimed at what to do when people spoil wells and not something as big
as terrorists," he said.
According to Seifert, the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency has put a lot
of money into water safety awareness so far. There will be more money coming "once
the House and Senate make up their minds toward security plans through
vulnerability assessments for water treatment facilities," he said.
A bioterrorism bill, "The Public Health Security and Bioterrorism Response
Act of 2001," that has been approved only by the House of Representatives so
far will authorize funding for the vulnerability assessments among many other
safety measures.
Alan Fortenbury, director of Beaver Water Supply, which services the Beaver
Water District towns of Rogers, Bentonville, Fayetteville and Springdale, Ark.,
said in his local area people are checking security measures and deciding which
ones to implement. A fence surrounds the water supply area, which is in the
country where very few people know of its location. Security measures the BWS
takes "might be a matter of putting a guard at the gate or closing the gate
and using cameras so we know at least who is on the premises," he said.
Harold Seifert of the Arkansas Department of Health is requesting that water
utilities across the state send phone and email contact information to the ADH.
He said email addresses are preferred due to the rapid response they allow in an
emergency.
Fortenbury agreed the probability of our water resources being attacked is
low. "Different areas are in different alert statuses," he said. "Beaver
Lake is not on high alert. It’s not a high profile place." However, he said
the probability is not low enough to dismiss the fact that it could happen and
to not do something in case it does.
"It’s like life insurance," said Fortenbury. "You are betting you die and the
life insurance company is betting you don’t. You hope they win, but you are
prepared if they don’t."
Fortenbury said there is a great likelihood to do harm by contaminating a
tank or a hydrant, but it would only effect a small portion of the city or a
neighborhood. "But that’s not what these people are usually after," he
said. "That’s not what makes them famous." But, it would take a lot of
contaminant and a lot of work to do substantial damage to source water. Like the ADH, the BWS is reviewing emergency action plans and security procedures. It is
studying situations and the probability of terrorist attacks on the source
water. Still, Fortenbury said, "Beaver Water Supply can alert (the authorities)
about intruders and slow them down, but can do little more than that to prevent
an attack."
Katie Perry
Arkansas Water Resources Center
University of Arkansas
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