The NIPC Watch and Warning Unit compiles this report to inform recipients of issues impacting the integrity and capability of the nation's critical infrastructures. Jurisdictions approve area emergency plan. Representatives of the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland and Northern Virginia approved a plan to coordinate their responses to a natural disaster or terrorist attack in the national capital region. The commitment to pool critical resources and to link communications stems from the September 11 attacks and caps seven months of discussions about how to avoid the gridlock and confusion that resulted that day. Local officials say the approved plan eliminates the uncoordinated and conflicting orders at different levels of government since 11 September. (Washington Post, 11 Apr) WWU Comment: This plan is a major development in emergency response and continuity of government actions. The coordinated efforts of federal, state, and local resources is critical in the event of a natural disaster or crisis. More airport security for NYC area. New York Gov. George Pataki and New Jersey Gov. James McGreevey announced last week tougher security measures at the major airports around New York City, including requiring criminal background checks of shop workers and fingerprint scans for all airport employees. The $100 million plan exceeds federal rules established after the 11 September terrorist attacks. In addition to tighter security for workers, the plan includes installation of infrared cameras, motion detectors and other security devices around the airports. The initiatives are designed "to make air travel as secure and safe as it can possibly be," Pataki said at a news conference at Kennedy International Airport. The measures would tighten security at Kennedy, La Guardia Airport and Newark International Airport, and would be binding on 20 smaller commercial airports in New York and two in New Jersey. Both governors said they expected some parts of the plan to be implemented by fall. (Associated Press, 12 Apr) Airport owners to seek US funds for security. Airports Council International, the organization representing the nation's airports, said it will seek billions of dollars from the federal government for airport security improvements, including funds to replace National Guardsmen with local law-enforcement officers, install bomb-sniffing equipment, and build facilities for new federal screeners. Those projected expenses are the latest in a series of unexpected costs to hit the Transportation Security Administration (TSA), and illustrate the enormous difficulty of replacing a privately run airport security system with one operated by the federal government. (Washington Post, 13 Apr) L.A. rail corridor opens; may speed flow of goods across US. The first cargo container train rolled down the Alameda Corridor on 12 April, opening a line that cuts through 20 miles of urban congestion and relieves a bottleneck between the nation's busiest port complex and downtown rail yards. The $2.4 billion corridor is designed to speed movement of about $100 billion of imported goods each year and give a major boost to US trade with the Pacific Rim. The line is ''one of America's most significant transportation projects,'' said US Transportation Secretary Norman Mineta. The project is just one of several massive infrastructure projects under way or planned for West Coast ports. The corridor will be operated by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Burlington Northern and Santa Fe railways, and Union Pacific Railroad. (Associated Press, 12 Apr) Congress urged to fund chromium 6 removal. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Pasadena, CA is urging Congress to set aside $2.25 million to help finish a study and build a plant that could remove chromium 6 from Glendale's drinking water supply. Glendale has a treatment plant capable of removing industrial solvents from water, but does not remove heavy metals such as chromium 6. The issue of chromium 6 has heightened in Glendale because high levels were found to be coming out of the city's treatment plant. The site currently removes industrial solvents, but not heavy metals such as chromium 6 from the groundwater that, once treated, is blended with Glendale's drinking water. Chromium 6 is a known industrial carcinogen when inhaled, but scientists are divided about its effects when ingested in drinking water. The proposed facility would be the first US treatment plant capable of removing chromium 6 and other heavy metals from drinking water. (Water Tech Online, 12 Apr) Ashcroft calls for web-based terrorist data system. US Attorney General John Ashcroft called on various law enforcement agencies within the Justice Department to construct a Web-based system for sharing terrorist data with state officials. Ashcroft directed the deputy attorney general to coordinate the building of a secure but unclassified Web-based system that would enable local, state and federal users to post, retrieve and read documents and photos, as well as send and receive secure e-mail. Ashcroft issued the order as part of a broader appeal urging greater information sharing among Justice Department divisions, including the FBI, the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Marshals Service and the Foreign Terrorist Task Force. (Newsbytes, 12 Apr) US questions nuclear plant's repair plan. Officials of the Davis-Besse nuclear plant near Toledo, Ohio assured federal regulators today that they could repair corrosion that had eaten nearly all the way through a reactor lid, but faced a barrage of questions from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission staff. Sixty-eight other reactors around the nation have a design similar to Davis-Besse's, and the commission is trying to determine if any of them have incurred the same kind of corrosion. After investigating, the commission staff concluded that the Davis-Besse operators had missed many opportunities to find the problem before it became so serious. (New York Times, 11 Apr) WWU Comment: In seeking to determine if other plants have incurred similar corrosion problems, the NRC apparently is gauging how maintenance, training, and awareness may have contributed to this extreme condition. The age of equipment and facilities is a factor that affects many critical infrastructures. Many nuclear power plants seek extension. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission says nearly three-quarters of US nuclear power plant operators are behind schedule on federally mandated security upgrades, mostly dealing with truck bombs. Security upgrades ordered in February included preparing a detailed analysis on the vulnerability and consequences of a truck-bomb attack. Operators at 47 of the 64 clusters of nuclear-plant sites asked for a deadline extension on the new orders. Nearly 90 percent of those who say they cannot make their deadlines are having problems with the truck-bomb analysis. (Inquirer Washington Bureau, 12 Apr)
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