Posted on 03/30/2006 11:19:47 AM PST by LouAvul
BOSTON - Jim Sawyer already had brushed his teeth, taken a shower and had a cup of coffee by the time he learned that the water flowing into his Blackstone home might have been contaminated.
Authorities allege that three teenagers had broken into the water storage facility, about 55 miles southwest of Boston, after cutting barbed wire and slicing the lines to an alarm.
"I didn't think it was that easy to get at our water supply," said Sawyer, 21.
Authorities ruled out terrorism, but the breach in the town of 9,000 highlighted the vulnerabilities of municipal water supplies and showcased the fears of terrorism in towns big and small.
"It could happen anywhere," said Blackstone resident Hollyanne Knust Graichen. "Why not pick a small town and make a big statement? That's the first thing I thought of. Ever since 9-11, that's the only thing everyone thinks of."
Police have arrested two 15-year-old boys and charged them with malicious destruction of property, tampering with a public water supply and polluting the water supply, all felonies. They were also charged with trespassing.
A summons was issued to a 15-year-old girl suspected of trespassing.
Authorities said Wednesday that tests found no evidence of chemical contamination in the water, also used by about four dozen homes in neighboring North Smithfield, R.I.
But the damage already was done: Schools and businesses were closed, use of water for any purpose was banned, residents had been put on edge and thousands of dollars were spent on tests and repair.
"No matter how careful you are, something can go wrong," said Blackstone Town Administrator Ray Houle.
While water is not a spectacular target for vandals or terrorists when compared with a nuclear plant or giant sports stadium, towns depend on it for drinking, bathing, business and firefighting.
"People are very concerned about the tainting of a water supply where you can incur mass illness and death in one fell swoop," said state Sen. Stephen Brewer, the sponsor of a bill to toughen penalties for trespassing on water supply lands.
Brewer said the Blackstone case should bring attention to the need to strengthen laws.
"It's not an issue to be taken lightly," he said. "Trespassing on a public water supply is not Huck Finn taking a dip in the local reservoir. The world is a far different place since 9-11."
After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, the federal government ordered water utilities to assess their vulnerability to attacks and seek ways to protect against them.
Since 2002, the Environmental Protection Agency has provided $2 million in grants and training programs to large public water supply systems in New England, said Jane Downing, chief of the drinking water branch for EPA New England. That's in addition to general grant funding for all communities for water-related needs.
Communities are taking security seriously, she said, "but doing the balancing act with the cost."
Houle, the Blackstone town administrator, said the community had planned even before Monday's breach to upgrade security at the storage tank. He said officials will now reassess their needs and the financing available.
"What this may highlight is that some of our homeland security monies may need to be refocused," said state Rep. Jennifer M. Callahan, whose district includes Blackstone. "Every community has these issues, big and small."
Still no reason why they broke in, and what they poured into the supply (accdg to first reports). The townspeople are scared to drink the wtaer or bathe in it.... Perhaps I'm just a bit dull, but that sounds like terrorism to me.
"Why don't we just inform terrorists in the US, foreign born and domestic, of our vulnerability?"
We don't need to. Go drive by your local water processing facility. They are.
Sometimes news stories are needed to wake up our sleeping officials. Sometimes it even works, although not usually.
Again, go drive by your city's water purification facilities. See how they're doing with that security business.
In San Diego, Roger Hedgecock pointed out we have an unusually high number of Muslims in our water purification dept.
The local water supply for my town is located in a nice lake about 2 miles from my house, great place to fish and hike. Minimal security, but what are you going to do????
Interesting.
In either case, poisoning the water supply to the level where it would actually kill is very, very difficult. You have to dump a lot of (pick your poison) in order to reach lethal levels. Even with the nasty stuff. They might succeed getting a number of people sick, but killing off a good number of citizens... very unlikely.
"The local water supply for my town is located in a nice lake about 2 miles from my house, great place to fish and hike. Minimal security, but what are you going to do????
"
You aren't drawing directly from the lake, I'll guarantee. There is a water purification facility somewhere. That would be the point of attack, if there was going to be one. Do you know where that is?
You must not have seen the 1960s documentary, or maybe it was a hippie fantasy movie. In the movie hippies put LSD in the DC water supplies then forced the stoned congress to give the vote to 14 year olds, then we put everybody over thirty into concentration camps, and the teenage baby boomers took over the country. It seems to me any scary contamination would totally disrupt a city. Just as a dirty bomb doesn't has to be very effective to strike fear in a population afraid of anything nuclear, the hint of any deadly substance in the water supply would end its use for a period of time, and what about blowing up the plants vital points?
The movie was "Wild in the Streets" a very fun movie.
Really? That's is eerie. But, please don't question anyone's patriotism nor commit the mortal sin of racial profiling.
"In either case, poisoning the water supply to the level where it would actually kill is very, very difficult."
But that's not necessary, you see. There are a number of chemical compounds that, if added to the water supply, even in very low dilutions, would contaminate the supply and the delivery system for a long time to come.
The concentrations would not have to be fatal to cause the entire system to be shut down for an indefinite period. I can think of one which would require the complete replacement of the entire distribution system.
I will refrain from mentioning which chemicals in this public place. That does not mean that they do not exist, nor that it would be difficult to introduce them to a water distribution system.
Just because you do not know how something could be done doesn't mean it cannot be done.
We have a really serious need to safeguard our water systems in this country, and we're not doing it.
Ridiculous.
So, do we have any info yet on the ethnicity and/or religious affiliation of these teens?
In San Diego, Roger Hedgecock pointed out we have an unusually high number of Muslims in our water purification dept.""
What is wrong with this picture????
I had a look at the town's school website, and this is a pretty whitebread community. Not a lot of "diversity" there.
Hmmm. OK, just wonderin'. I know that sometimes kids just do totally stupid things with no real reasonable cause, and this maybe one of those times. However, it sounds like they went to an awful lot of trouble, which makes me curious about their motivation...
after cutting barbed wire and slicing the lines to an alarm.
That's the part that worries me, what were they doing that they had to silence an alarm.
"However, it sounds like they went to an awful lot of trouble, which makes me curious about their motivation...
"
Well, they were all 15 years old. A little known fact about 15 year olds is that their brains have been temporarily switched with their gonads. Sometime around 18 or so, they switch back somehow.
It causes all sorts of odd behavior at times.
Yes I have a (vague) memory of that time period in my own life. Did a number of stupid, probably even reprehensible things. Hopefully that's all this is, I just wonder...
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