DEP Invoice or Financial Record, September 30, 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

wool.... But she and other experts concede “This has always been in the back ?y GREG WINTER that they are looking at everything of our minds,” said Thomas Tipa, and WILLIAM J. BROAD differently now, “in light of what we operations director for the New York thought could never happen.* City Department of Environmental Cities and states are reassessing Though pipes and spigots might the safety of their drinking water, not be so effective as scattering tox­ Protection. “It’s finally become a probing for weaknesses and shoring ins'into the air, some researchers reality. We’re on full alert.” up defenses in what experts consider say they believe that the water indus­ But while cities regularly test for the unlikely event of a terrorist at­ try may have underestimated the dozens of compounds in the water, tack on water supplies. risk that biological and chemical they are still incapable of screening Helicopters, patrol boats and agents could make their way into for many known chemical and bio­ armed guards sweep across the wa­ homes without being detected. logical agents, according to the dis­ tershed feeding New York City, en- , Many cities, with their thousands ease control centers. Even if they forcing a temporary ban on fishing, of miles of pipe, were never designed had the technology to do so, the time hunting and hiking. Massachusetts to prevent terrorists from patching and expense involved in testing for has sealed commuter roads that run the many organisms that can sur­ atop dams or wind down to the wa­ into neighborhood lines and poison­ vive in chlorine would be prohibitive. ter’s edge. And Utah has enlisted the ing the water after it has been As a result, utility companies are help of the Federal Bureau of Inves­ treated and tested for safety. looking for cues overseas, from coun­ tigation to peer down at reservdirs “If someone is going to attack us, tries like Israel that have lived with from planes and satellites, hoping to that’s where they would do it,” said the threat of such weapons for years. spot any weak points before the Dr. Dennis D. Juranek, associate di­ Emulating them, many cities hope to crowds gather in Salt Lake City in rector of the Division of Parasitic place robots in the pipes, armed with February for the Winter Olympics. Diseases at the Centers for Disease computer chips that light up when Since Sept. 11, fears of biological or Control and Prevention. “We’re dangerous microorganisms pass by. chemical attack on water systems highly vulnerable.” have spread through e-mail mes­ Such an attack, experts advise, sages that warn consumers to stock j could sicken small nei^borhoods or large buildings, but would probably up on bottled water, fueling anxious not result in the widespread loss of conversations in offices and living life that terrorists generally seek. rooms. Still, the threat is real enough that security experts checked the White Yet experts say any threat to pub­ House for sirtiilar weaknesses years lic water suppUes remains largely ago and found it to be vulnerable. remote. In fact, experts on germ Extensive changes were made there warfare say, to cause widespread health problems by contaminating a to safeguard against poisoning. public water supply verges on the Now cities are doing what they can impossible. to protect their pipes, putting pad­ “The water threat is mostly sci­ ence fiction,” said Richard Spertzel, locks on access doors, setting up surveillance cameras and installing II a microbiologist who formerly led alarms to prevent tampering in their the United Nations’ biological-weap­ tunnels. ons inspection teams in Iraq. They have also dispatched lobby­ Poisoning the voluminous rivers ists to Washington to drum up money and reservoirs nourishing cities for security and, while they are at it, would require truckloads of chemi­ to get financing for fixing leaky pipes cals or biological agents that would and other outdated infrastructure. be difficult to produce and relatively In addition, utility companies are easy to spot, experts say. pushing to be allowed to keep many / Even if terrorists crashed a details of their security plans a se­ /Boeing 767 laden with anthrax into a cret. At present, federal law requires / reservoir, the lethal agent might well utilities to publish reports on how I be destroyed in any resulting fire, or they would tackle their worst emer­ ( fail to diffuse effectively. gencies. That information may be Perhaps most important, most cit­ important for fire departments and ies could simply close off a contami- the police, cities say, but could also nated reservoir and draw water be useful to anyone interested in from another source. New York City, causing trouble. Testing for organisms at a rtiunici-. for example, has nearly 20 reser­ “We don’t need to advertise where pal laboratory in Corona, Queens. voirs to choose from. the weakest links in the armor are,” Rather than tainting a city’s water said Tom Curtis, deputy director of supply, experts say, terrorists would the American Water Works Associa­ be more likely to try to interrupt it tion. entirely, perhaps by destroying Some cities have greatly increased dams or aqueducts. their testing efforts. In New York “That is the larger threat,” said City, technicians stare through mi­ Diane Vande Hei, executive director croscopes at any organisms they of the Association of Metropolitan find, and pore through computer Water Agencies, who helped coordi­ printouts of chemicals around the nate Clinton administration efforts to safeguard water against terror­ clock, making sure nothing out of the ism. ordinary appears.

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