-----Original Message----- From: NIPC Watch [mailto:nipc.watch@private] Sent: Tuesday, December 04, 2001 8:45 AM To: daily Subject: The NIPC Daily Report for 4 December 2001 The NIPC Daily Report 4 December 2001 NOTE: Please understand that this is for informational purposes only and does not constitute any verification of the information contained in the report nor does this constitute endorsement by the NIPC or the FBI. Significant Changes and Assessment - No significant changes. U.S. SECTOR INFORMATION: Water Supply - Water managers from across California are more closely eyeing options for securing the state's water resources, including measures to guard facilities, test water and respond to terrorist and biological attack emergencies. The Association of California Water Agencies' (ACWA) featured a panel as part of its fall conference on 30 November. Managers from the US Army Corps of Engineers, Bureau of Reclamation, CA Dept. of Health Services and CA Dept. of Water Resources participated. "We clearly don't have all the answers - we're on the steep part of the learning curve" for terrorist attack readiness, said the Corps' Steve Stockton. The Corps is partnering with state and local agencies to develop detection, protection and response plans and assure that operations at water facilities can continue in the face of any threat. Several new cross-agency actions were detailed by the panel during the session, from vulnerability surveys, to infrastructure security partnerships with industry, to expanded law enforcement staffing and upgraded laboratory testing facilities. The group painted the picture of local, state and federal agencies hardening their level of readiness, and re-securing the facilities after having shelved emergency Y2K plans. (Source: Water Technology Online, 3 December) Water supplies in the US are generally safe, but are not invulnerable to attack, experts said at a "Water Security Summit" on 3 December. About 600 water company officials, security experts and others attended the two-day conference. Health experts said it would be very difficult to tamper with public water supplies because of testing procedures already in place and because contaminants would be quickly diluted in the vast water supplies of most water companies. Experts said odds were remote but not zero that a terrorist could provide a lethal dose of anthrax or some other substance. Anthrax in particular is a concern, because it is resistant to chlorine, the chemical typically used to treat water. Anthrax can be filtered with sand and could be detected by normal testing procedures. Anthrax has never been used to attack the nation's water supplies, but that does not mean it never will be. (Source: Associated Press, 3 December)
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