Homeland
Security
Current Nationwide
Threat Level
ELEVATED
Daily Open Source Infrastructure
Report for 25 August 2009
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
For information, click here:
http://www.dhs.gov
Top Stories

According to Reuters, Singapore has downplayed media reports of a plot to attack the AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation summit in Singapore in November, the Straits Times
newspaper reported on Monday. The U.S. President will attend the summit. An
investigation also revealed that terrorists planned to use snipers to attack the President’s
convoy during a planned visit to Indonesia around the same time. (See item 29)

The Associated Press reports that a girl died and 11 people were taken to the hospital after
they were swept into the water on Sunday off Acadia National Park’s Thunder Hole in
Maine, where an estimated 10,000 tourists gathered to try to get a good view of waves
more than 15 feet high crashing against the rocky shore. (See item 40)
Fast Jump Menu
PRODUCTION INDUSTRIES
• Energy
• Chemical
• Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste
• Critical Manufacturing
• Defense Industrial Base
• Dams Sector
SUSTENANCE AND HEALTH
• Agriculture and Food
• Water Sector
• Public Health and Healthcare
SERVICE INDUSTRIES
• Banking and Finance
• Transportation
• Postal and Shipping
• Information and Technology
• Communications
• Commercial Facilities
FEDERAL AND STATE
• Government Facilities
• Emergency Services
• National Monuments and Icons
Energy Sector
Current Electricity Sector Threat Alert Levels: Physical: ELEVATED,
Cyber: ELEVATED
Scale: LOW, GUARDED, ELEVATED, HIGH, SEVERE [Source: ISAC for the Electricity Sector (ES-ISAC) [http://www.esisac.com]
1. August 23, Gloucester County Times – (New Jersey) Train cars derail in Paulsboro,
West Deptford. The Conrail bridge over the Mantua Creek buckled early August 23 as
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the end of a train largely carrying cars loaded with coal passed over it, derailing up to
16 cars and rendering useless a key transportation artery to Delaware River industries
in Gloucester and Salem counties. The derailed cars tore up railroad ties over
approximately a half mile of track and damaged at least three intersections in Paulsboro
before the operator brought the train to a halt. The incident occurred as the train was
heading to a co-generating plant in Salem County. A Conrail spokesman could not
confirm the exact number of cars that had derailed. In addition to “rerailing” the cars
the spokesman said Conrail was attempting to determine what caused the section of
bridge to buckle and what sort of repairs will be necessary. The line is the only rail
access to co-generation plants in Carneys Point Township, the DuPont Deepwater
facility, Pureland Industrial Park, Valero Refinery and other industrial businesses.
Source: http://www.nj.com/gloucestercounty/index.ssf/2009/08/train_cars_derail_in_paulsboro.html
2. August 21, Bloomberg – (Texas) Citgo toxic release termed ‘significant’ by federal
agency. Citgo Petroleum Corp.’s plant in Corpus Christi, Texas, had a “significant”
release of a potentially lethal chemical from an alkylation unit July 19, seriously
injuring a worker, a federal agency said. Nearly 4,000 pounds of hydrogen fluoride was
discharged during the July 19 incident after a fire broke out in the unit, according to a
Citgo filing with the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Hydrogen fluoride
is “toxic to humans, flora, and fauna in certain doses and can be lethal as demonstrated
by documented workplace accidents,” according to the Environmental Protection
Agency.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aD1MJZ5mdGWs
3. August 21, Associated Press – (California) Chevron reports equipment failure at
California refinery. Oil major Chevron Corp reported equipment failure early on
Friday at its 245,271 barrel-per-day Richmond, California, oil refinery, according to a
company filing with state environmental regulators that did not specify which units
were affected. ‘Equipment failure caused the release,’ of sulfur dioxide, the company
said in a filing with the California Emergency Management Agency. Company officials
were not immediately reachable for comment.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/afx/2009/08/21/afx6802322.html
4. August 21, WOFL 35 Orlando – (Florida) Fire strikes power station. A fire, believed
to have started as the result of a lightning strike, destroyed parts of a Progress Energy
power transfer substation on Thursday evening. The fire began shortly after 10 p.m.
and was fully contained about three hours later, according to the Seminole County,
Florida, fire department. The substation, located in Altamonte Springs, had to be
isolated from the power grid and taken offline before fire crews could work to
extinguish the flames. The fire was contained to the power station facility and there
were no injuries or evacuations ordered, according to a lieutenant. The cause of the
blaze is still under investigation. At its peak, about 7,700 Progress Energy customers
were without power during the incident.
Source:
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http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/seminole_news/082109_Fire_strikes_power_
station
[Return to top]
Chemical Industry Sector
5. August 22, Parkersburg News and Sentinel – (West Virginia) Chemical leak closes
W.Va. 2. The northbound lane of West Virginia 2 was closed for nearly eight hours
August 21 after a chemical leaked onto the roadway from a parked trailer. A motorist
heading north on West Virginia 2 called 911 around 2 p.m. after seeing a liquid
substance leaking from containers on the back of a truck parked near the intersection of
West Virginia 2 and Pike Street, said the St. Marys police chief. The truck was
traveling from Hebron, Ohio, to Martinsburg, West Virginia. The chemical was
identified as eitropylene glycolmonomethyl ether, an ether-based substance used as an
industrial cleaning fluid. Three containers were aboard the trailer holding the same
chemical, but each was owned by a different company. “It was not a volatile spill, and
the material is non-hazardous,” the police chief said. “But it is very slippery.” A cleanup crew used an oil absorbent to soak up the material, and it was put into containers to
be taken off site. Sand was placed on the roadway after the substance was removed to
help with traction, officials said. Northbound traffic was redirected through side streets
for about an hour until the Department of Highways set up a perimeter around the spill.
Around 9 p.m., officials had sealed the containers holding the chemical and transported
the truck and trailer to the St. Marys Refining Co. on Pike Street. The northbound lane
of traffic was open and clean shortly after 10:30 p.m.
Source:
http://www.newsandsentinel.com/page/content.detail/id/520674.html?nav=5061
6. August 19, Evansville Courier and Press – (Illinois) Illinois sheriff on the lookout for
colorful thieves. The White County, Illinois sheriff is seeking help from the public in
identifying the people who tried to steal anhydrous ammonia from a farm service
dealership in Epworth the early morning of August 19. The suspects will likely be
heavily stained with coloring from an additive in the product. The sheriff said the
suspects tampered with as many as five anhydrous tanks at the Brown Chemical Plant
at Epworth, spilling much of the product as they carried out the theft. “Several of the
tanks had been treated with GloTell,” he said. “This substance causes all objects
coming in contact with it to have a magenta-purple colored stain.” GloTell is now being
used by many farm service dealerships as a way to stop the theft of anhydrous ammonia
for the manufacture of methamphetamine. The additive is designed to stay with liquid
anhydrous ammonia throughout the methamphetamine cooking process resulting in a
gooey pink stained final product of greatly diminished quality. Based on the mess left
behind by the thieves, the sheriff believes the suspects would have GloTell stain on
their hands, arms, and face. The makers of GloTell say their product leaves a
nonpermanent stain that will wear off in the sun in three to seven days.
Source: http://www.courierpress.com/news/2009/aug/19/sheriff-lookout-colorfulthieves/
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[Return to top]
Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste Sector
7. August 23, Associated Press – (California) Diablo Canyon reactor restarted after
repairs. A nuclear reactor at the Diablo Canyon plant has returned to service after it
was shut down a week ago because of a transformer problem. Pacific Gas & Electric
said Unit 2 at the Central Coast plant was restarted Saturday night after being fixed
earlier this week. A monitoring system on August 13 had revealed a problem with a
bushing in one of the transformer banks. The utility says a transformer bushing is a
non-nuclear part that insulates electricity as it moves from the plant to transmission
lines.
Source: http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/2009/aug/23/ca-cencoast-diablocanyon-082309/?california&zIndex=154018
8. August 23, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle – (New York) Lack of clean-up funds
may land Ginna power plant in ‘safe storage’. With Constellation Energy short on
the cash it needs to eventually clean up the Robert E. Ginna Nuclear Power Plant, the
energy company might mothball the plant for a time. The Baltimore-based utility
company has submitted a plan to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission on how it
intends to make up more than $80 million in funding shortfalls for the eventual
decommissioning of several of its nuclear power plants, including Ginna.
Source:
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/article/20090823/BUSINESS/908230313/1001
[Return to top]
Critical Manufacturing Sector
Nothing to report
[Return to top]
Defense Industrial Base Sector
9. August 21, Online Defense and Acquisition Journal – (National) Army tests spin-out
technologies. The Army recently completed a full scale military exercise testing its
new surveillance and reconnaissance technologies due to equip infantry brigade combat
teams, as part of its spin out of technologies from the former Future Combat Systems
program. Soldiers from the Army’s Force Development Testing and Experimentation
unit ran a number of battalion level exercises that put a new aerial drone, sensors, and
missiles through a series of battlefield scenarios. The tests, conducted at White Sands
Missile Range, New Mexico, included the small unmanned aerial vehicle, or the Class I
UAV, the unattended ground sensors both urban and tactical, the small unmanned
ground vehicle, an early network integration kit, and the non-line of sight launch
system, commonly known as the rockets in a box. In the field tests, “the equipment has
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performed relatively close to what we expected,” a colonel said, “we are moving
forward with the operational tests to make an informed decision with regard to
purchase of early production items.” The exercises were the precursor to a Limited
User Test that will be held in September. The range of scenarios included offensive
movement to contact, defensive operations in open terrain and cordon and search and
raid missions in urban areas.
Source: http://www.dodbuzz.com/2009/08/21/army-tests-spin-out-technologies/
10. August 21, Global Security Newswire – (California) Giant laser system to be fired in
2010. A full test of the National Ignition Facility (NIF) at the Lawrence Livermore
National Laboratory in California is scheduled for 2010, Environment and Energy
reported August 20. The massive $4 billion system is designed to fire 192 lasers at tiny
targets to create the conditions necessary for nuclear fusion. Among its anticipated uses
would be measuring the safety and reliability of weapons in the U.S. nuclear stockpile.
The laser has been undergoing testing after being completed earlier this year. All 192
lasers are set to be fired in a test next year in order to produce a fusion reaction.
Livermore scientists, though, are being careful as they move ahead. “We don’t want to
break the world’s biggest laser in its first month of operation,” said an NIF researcher.
Source: http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20090821_1458.php
[Return to top]
Banking and Finance Sector
11. August 22, Credit Unions Online – (Alabama; Georgia; Texas) 4 banks closed by the
FDIC on August 21st. The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took over 4
banks on Friday, August 21, 2009. These closings bring the total for the year to 81. The
banks closed are located in Alabama, Georgia, and Texas. The banks include Guaranty
Bank, Austin, Texas; CapitalSouth Bank, Birmingham, Alabama; First Coweta Bank,
Newnan, Georgia; and ebank, Atlanta, Georgia.
Source: http://www.creditunionsonline.com/news/2009/4-Banks-Closed-by-the-FDICon-August-21st.html
12. August 21, Investment News – (California) Court freezes San Diego firm’s funds
after SEC accuses it of fraud. The Securities and Exchange Commission yesterday
received a court order from the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of
California to freeze the assets and halt alleged ongoing securities fraud by MAK 1
Enterprises Group LLC of San Diego. In its complaint, the SEC alleged that its owner
claimed to have raised $70 million from 300 investors through his company, MAK 1
Enterprises — which provides business solutions, and wealth preservation and
enhancement through consulting and private portfolio management, according to its
website — and used the money to buy cars and homes. In reality, the SEC charges, the
average daily balance in the account never exceeded $197,000. The complaint alleged
that the owner and his company solicited investors in California and several other states
and claimed to pool the funds to invest in commercial paper, foreign currency trading
products and other guaranteed investments, the SEC said in a statement. But the
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investment products were non-existent and the accused used the money to buy luxury
cars and residential properties, the SEC alleged.
Source:
http://www.investmentnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090821/REG/90821998
3
[Return to top]
Transportation Sector
13. August 24, KTLA 5 Los Angeles – (California) Plane lands on SoCal freeway, crashes
into 3 cars. A small airplane was forced to make an emergency landing on the busy
101 freeway August 23 in Santa Barbara. The pilot of a Piper PA-24 Comanche with
two people aboard reported that the small plane ran out of gas, a Federal Aviation
Administration spokesman said August 23. After alerting air traffic controllers, the
pilot landed the plane on the southbound side of the 101 freeway at 10:36 a.m., just one
mile northeast of the Santa Barbara Airport. According to an Officer from the
California Highway Patrol, three on-coming cars were unable to avoid hitting the plane
and crashed into it. One of the motorists was treated for minor injures, but no one else
was injured. The plane had departed from an airport in Temecula, and was headed for
the airport in Santa Barbara, 180 miles away.
Source: http://www.ktla.com/news/landing/ktla-plane-crash-freeway,0,5375430.story
14. August 24, WGME 13 Portland – (Maine) Maine bridge shuts down after bomb
scare. Officials say a bomb threat at Maine’s Penobscot Narrows Bridge Observatory
shut down traffic on the span connecting two counties and caused the evacuation of the
420-foot observatory and Fort Knox State Park. The Bangor Daily News reports no
bomb or other devices were found. An observatory attendant said he spotted a torn
scrap of paper shortly before 3 p.m. August 23 in an observatory stairwell. It said,
“This is no joke. A bomb will go off at 4 p.m. Be warned.” The attendant, who also
serves as a firefighter in the nearby town of Stockton Springs, said he called the park
manager and the control booth. About 15 visitors were in the tower and about 200
people were at the park. The Penobscot Narrows Bridge was shut down for about 25
minutes.
Source: http://www.wgme.com/template/inews_wire/wires.regional.me/36bfad94www.wgme.com.shtml
15. August 23, Aviation Herald – (North Carolina) Atlantic Southeast CRJ2 at
Wilmington on Aug 23rd 2009, rejected takeoff due to bird strike. An Atlantic
Southeast Airlines Canadair CRJ-200 on behalf of Delta Airlines, performing flight
EV-4939/DL-4939 from Wilmington, North Carolina to Atlanta, Georgia with 42
people on board, rejected takeoff from Wilmington’s runway 35 at high speed (around
100 KIAS) when the airplane hit a number of birds. The airplane slowed safely and
taxied off the runway to the apron, the crew did not need any emergency services. The
airport reported, that one bird hit the nose of the airplane, another hit the nose gear
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causing some damage. The engines were not affected.
Source: http://avherald.com/h?article=41ea93a8&opt=4865
16. August 22, Aviation Herald – (Vermont) American B752 near Burlington on Aug
21st 2009, fumes in aircraft. An American Airlines Boeing 757-200, flight AA-547
from Boston, Massachusetts to Chicago, Illinois was enroute on a weather related
reroute, when the crew reported fumes in the aircaft and requested emergency services
on standby for their diversion to Burlington, Vermont. The aircraft landed safely 55
minutes after departure from Boston.
Source: http://avherald.com/h?article=41e9c558&opt=4865
17. August 22, Aviation Web – (New York) Manager claims safety regs could cripple
airport. The Ithaca Tompkins Airport manager has told the County Legislature to
oppose federal legislation that might require additional airport firefighting staff,
according to the Ithaca Journal. A companion bill to the FAA Reauthorization Act that
among other things would authorize the FAA to change fire and rescue regulations is
being considered by the Senate. The American Association of Airport Executives
suggests that the financial impact of adopting the changes that bill might represent
could cost nearly $4 billion in the first year without bringing a material improvement in
safety for passengers. Still, the Senate bill “does not specifically include any of these
proposals,” noted the Journal, but the potential for change is clearly scaring people. As
written, the bill authorizes the FAA to change fire and rescue regulations and does not
specifically include any proposals that would impose a cost burden on airports.
Opponents fear the FAA could require the purchase of 1,000 emergency vehicles and
the hiring of more than 10,000 firefighters at a cost that would be passed on to airlines
and passengers, further depressing that segment of the economy. The Tompkins Airport
manager fears he could be forced to triple his firefighting staff and be forced to expand
their facilities as well. He estimates the cost of maintaining that force to be more than
$1 million per year.
Source:
http://www.avweb.com/avwebflash/news/airport_safety_regulations_oppose_ithaca_20
1038-1.html
For more stories, see items 1 and 5
[Return to top]
Postal and Shipping Sector
18. August 23, Associated Press – (Kansas) Man charged with second anthrax scare. An
Overland Park, Kansas, man has been charged for a second time with sending a letter
he claimed contained anthrax to a government official. The U.S. Attorney said the 47
year-old suspect was charged Friday with sending the letter to an assistant U.S. attorney
in Kansas. The suspect allegedly mailed on Wednesday an envelope containing a white
substance and a piece of paper bearing the misspelled warning, “YOU HAVE BEEN
EXPOSED TO ANTRAX DIE.” The suspect was sentenced to a year and a day in a
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similar case for sending a letter in June 2008 to the Internal Revenue Service in Austin.
Authorities said the letter did not contain anthrax. He was caught in the first case after
investigators traced his letter to an area postal center where he paid with his credit card.
Source: http://www.kansas.com/news/crime-courts/story/941289.html
19. August 22, Silver City Sun News – (New Mexico) Officials find uranium ore at port
of entry. A box of uranium ore was discovered Friday at the Anthony port of entry,
according to New Mexico State Police. A Fed-Ex truck going through radiological
screening set off an alarm and was found to be emanating high levels of gamma rays.
The uranium ore was found in an unmarked, 8-inch by 8-inch by 8-inch box mailed by
an out-of-state firefighter who travels the country teaching how to detect radiological
dirty bombs, according to state police, which did not release the firefighter’s name. It is
legal to ship uranium ore, but it must be disclosed to the shipping company and a
placarded and hazardous material-certified driver must drive the truck. Vehicles
carrying low-level, naturally occurring radioactive material in things like clay floor
tiles, gravel, fertilizer and propane sometimes trip alarms. The radiological detection
equipment at the port of entry had just been tested this week by Department of Public
Safety Motor Transportation Police and the National Nuclear Security Administration
Emergency Operations Radiological Assistance Program team.
Source: http://www.scsun-news.com/ci_13182065?source=most_emailed
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Agriculture and Food Sector
20. August 24, Altoona Mirror – (Pennsylvania) Machine malfunction causes fire at
Boyer Candy. Firefighters from the Altoona Fire Department responded to a fire at the
Boyer Candy Co. Inc. about 12:25 a.m.on August 24. Seven employees were evacuated
from the building. There were no injuries, according to an Altoona police officer at the
scene. Firefighters from Altoona’s four companies responded to the alarm. One of the
employees at the plant said a gas-fueled coconut roasting machine caught on fire. The
machine is in a room at the rear of the first floor of the building. Firefighters had the
fire under control by 1:10 a.m. The plant manager said it would take a few days to
clean up the plant and that he hoped normal operations could resume on August 26 or
27. Production will be stopped until then, he said.
Source: http://www.altoonamirror.com/page/content.detail/id/521915.html?nav=742
21. August 21, Beaufort County Island Packet – (South Carolina) Arson suspected in
Bluffton grocery store blaze. The Bluffton Police Department is investigating an
August 21 blaze at a Bluffton, South Carolina grocery store that apparently was
sparked when someone threw a molotov cocktail through the glass front door, police
and fire officials said. There are no suspects in the fire, which is being investigated as
an arson, the Bluffton police chief said. The calls for a burglary and fire at El Super
Internacional market on Simmonsville Road came in about 3:15 a.m., according to the
Battalion Chief of the Bluffton Township Fire District. Although there was some fire
and smoke damage inside, the store was not a total loss, he said. The adjacent stores
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were not damaged, he said. The fire was extinguished in about 10 minutes, and the
arson investigation was turned over to the Bluffton Police Department. Detectives took
surveillance video from the store. Firefighters returned to the area about 9 a.m. after
residual smoke was seen in the building, the fire captain said. They doused smoldering
embers.
Source: http://www.islandpacket.com/news/local/story/942322.html
For another story, see item 6
[Return to top]
Water Sector
22. August 24, Associated Press – (International) French workers lift threat to spoil
Seine over pay. Workers at a transportation company say they are no longer
threatening to pollute the Seine River in France with toxic substances if they are not
given severance pay. Serta is a transit firm outside the northwestern city of Rouen.
Workers there voted unanimously against pouring fuel into the Seine if the firm refused
to pay each worker who gets laid off $21,300. A labor union representative said on
August 24 that barrels containing nearly 2,115 gallons of toxic products have been
removed from the company premises, where they had been stored. The company has
struggled to stay afloat and a bankruptcy court is now examining two possible buyers.
The workers promised to stage further action against the possible buyers.
Source: http://www.aol.co.nz/news/story/French-workers-lift-threat-to-spoil-Seineover-pay/2349756/index.html
23. August 21, KY3 Springfield – (Missouri) Sewage leaks at Lake of the Ozarks
property twice in one year. Raw sewage is found leaking onto the ground only 50 feet
from the shore at the Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri. It is not the first time the owner
of Mickeyland has been in violation of the Missouri Clean Water Law. Last September,
the wastewater treatment facility near Sunrise Beach at a residential area called
Mickeyland, was found to be malfunctioning, leaking raw sewage from a pumping
station. One month ago, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources (DNR) found
another leak. On September 2, the DNR discovered a malfunctioning pumping station
with raw sewage leaking about 30 feet from shore. A water sample found high levels of
fecal coliform bacteria. The Mickeyland owner fixed that problem. But on July 20,
more trouble was found. “While I was out there, I discovered another bypass. It was a
different pumping station than the one found last September,” said an environmental
specialist with the DNR. This time, the sewage was about 50 feet from the water.
“There was quite a bit of untreated wastewater on the ground around that pumping
station, but I did not observe it entering Lake of the Ozarks. I could kind of follow it
toward the lake, and then it disappeared into the ground,” the specialist said. It is not
clear how long the sewage had been flowing onto the ground. The owner has until
Monday to give DNR a written response on how he fixed the leak, makes sure there is a
working alarm, controls the overgrowth of weeds, and puts up proper signage around
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the sewage treatment facility.
Source: http://www.ky3.com/news/local/53990732.html
24. August 21, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (Kansas) Wamego Sand
Company agrees to $95,000 civil penalty for violations of Clean Water Act at
Manhattan, Kan., plant. Wamego Sand Company, Inc., has agreed to pay a $95,000
civil penalty to settle allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act at its Midwest
Concrete Materials Company facility in Manhattan, Kansas. According to a civil
complaint and consent agreement filed in Kansas City, Kansas, Environmental
Protection Agency Region 7 determined that the facility substantially exceeded the
effluent limits of its storm water permit over a nearly four-year period, beginning in
2005. The company also violated sampling, reporting, recordkeeping and inspection
requirements of that permit, according to the filing. Since being notified of the
violations by EPA after a June 2008 inspection, Wamego Sand has made significant
improvements to its storm water management systems.
Source:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/A0F4070A9BAD35FC85257619007642D
4
25. August 20, National Geographic News – (International) Plastic breaks down in ocean,
after all — and fast. Though ocean-borne plastic trash has a reputation as an
indestructible, immortal environmental villain, scientists announced on August 19 that
some plastics actually decompose rapidly in the ocean. And, the researchers say, that is
not a good thing. The team’s new study is the first to show that degrading plastics are
leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A into the seas, possibly
threatening ocean animals, and humans. Scientists had previously thought plastics
broke down only at very high temperatures and over hundreds of years. The researchers
behind a new study, however, found that plastic breaks down at cooler temperatures
than expected, and within a year of the trash hitting the water. The Japan-based team
collected samples in waters from the U.S., Europe, India, Japan, and elsewhere, the
lead researcher who is a chemist with the College of Pharmacy at Nihon University in
Japan, said via email. All the water samples were found to contain derivatives of
polystyrene, a common plastic used in disposable cutlery, Styrofoam, and DVD cases,
among other things, said the research lead, who presented the findings at a meeting of
the American Chemical Society in Washington, D.C., on August 20. Plastic, he said,
should be considered a new source of chemical pollution in the ocean.
Source: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plasticdecomposes-oceans-seas.html
[Return to top]
Public Health and Healthcare Sector
26. August 24, Occupational Health and Safety – (National) FDA proposes mandatory
electronic safety reporting. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is
proposing to amend postmarket safety reporting regulations for three of its centers to
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require that manufacturers and other facilities subject to current reporting requirements
submit their reports in an electronic format. The agency issued two proposed rules on
Friday—one that applies to electronic medical device adverse event reporting and one
that applies to electronic drug and biologic product adverse experience reporting. The
rules would not change what types of incidents are required to be reported to the FDA,
but they would require that the incidents be reported in an electronic format that the
FDA can process, review, and archive. “Both proposed rules will improve the agency’s
ability to obtain safety information more quickly, which will help lead to faster
identification of potential safety problems,” said the director of the Division of
Postmarket Surveillance at the FDA’s Center for Devices and Radiological Health.
Source: http://ohsonline.com/Articles/2009/08/24/FDA-Proposes-Mandatory-eSafetyReporting.aspx
27. August 24, Los Angles Times – (National) Overuse of antivirals could make H1N1
pandemic even worse. Indiscriminate use of antiviral medications to prevent and treat
influenza could ease the way for drug-resistant strains of the novel H1N1 virus, or
swine flu, to emerge, public health officials warn — making the fight against a
pandemic that much harder. Already, a handful of cases of Tamiflu-resistant H1N1
have been reported this summer, and there is no shortage of examples of misuse of the
antiviral medications, experts say. People often fail to complete a full course of the
drug, according to a recent British report — a scenario also likely to be occurring in the
U.S. and one that encourages resistance. Stockpiling is rife, and some U.S. summer
camps have given Tamiflu prophylactically to healthy kids and staff, and have even
told campers to bring the drug to camp. Experts anticipate more problems in the fall as
children return to school and normal flu season draws nearer. “Influenza viruses mutate
frequently and any viral resistance could be acquired easily,” said the director of the
National Center on Immunization and Respiratory Disease at the Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention in Atlanta. “It won’t surprise us if we see resistance emerge as
a bigger problem in the fall or in the years ahead.”
Source: http://www.latimes.com/features/health/la-he-tamiflu242009aug24,0,4664654.story
28. August 23, Washington Post – (National) Swine flu campaign waits on
vaccine. Government health officials are mobilizing to launch a massive swine flu
vaccination campaign this fall that is unprecedented in its scope. The campaign aims to
vaccinate at least half the country’s population within months. Although more people
have been inoculated against diseases such as smallpox and polio over a period of
years, the United States has never tried to immunize so many so quickly. As scientists
rush to test the vaccine to ensure it is safe and effective, the campaign is lagging.
Officials say only about a third as much vaccine as they had been expecting by midOctober is likely to arrive by then, when a new wave of infections could be peaking.
Among the unknowns: how many shots people will need, what the correct dosage
should be, and how to avoid confusing the public with an overlapping effort to combat
the regular seasonal flu. To prepare, more than 2,800 local health departments have
begun recruiting pediatricians, obstetricians, nurses, pharmacists, paramedics and even
dentists, along with a small army of volunteers from churches and other groups. They
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are devising strategies to reach children, teenagers, pregnant women and young and
middle-aged adults in inner cities, suburban enclaves and the countryside.
Source: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wpdyn/content/article/2009/08/22/AR2009082202337.html
[Return to top]
Government Facilities Sector
29. August 24, Reuters – (International) Singapore shoots down “rumor” of APEC
attack plot. Singapore has downplayed media reports of a plot to attack an AsiaPacific summit in the city-state in November, the Straits Times newspaper reported on
Monday. The Singapore Police Force and the Ministry of Home Affairs were not
available for immediate comment. An intelligence analyst from the Center for
Intelligence and National Security in Indonesia told Reuters last week probes into last
month’s bombings in Jakarta had uncovered a plot to target the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation (APEC) summit in Singapore. The U.S. President and other leaders of the
21-member APEC group will attend the mid-November summit in Singapore, a
regional financial center and shipping hub. The investigation also revealed that
terrorists planned to use snipers to attack the President’s convoy during a planned visit
to Indonesia around the same time. The second home affairs minister said Singaporean
authorities took security “very seriously.”
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE57N0N920090824
30. August 22, CNN – (Ohio) Small plane crashes near high school football field. A
small plane crashed Friday near an Ohio-area high school during a football scrimmage.
Spectators at a practice game at Harrison High School watched from the bleachers as
the plane went down at 8:08 p.m. ET, said a police officer who witnessed the incident.
Two people on the plane died at the crash scene, authorities said. According to CNN
affiliate WLWT, witnesses said the plane was heading toward the football field when it
suddenly dropped, crashing in a gravel pit near the school. It is not yet known what
caused the plane to crash. Harrison is in the southwest corner of Ohio.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/08/22/ohio.plane.crash/index.html
For another story, see item 18
[Return to top]
Emergency Services Sector
31. August 23, KBTX 10 College Station – (Texas) Arrest made after Bryan ambulance
stolen. A Bryan, Texas, fire department ambulance in service was stolen Sunday
morning from an area hospital and later ditched in a neighboring county. The suspect in
the theft has been arrested. He was taken into custody Sunday morning, more than twoand-a-half hours after he allegedly took an ambulance from St. Joseph Regional Health
Center. According to Bryan Police, he was found along OSR and Highway 6 wet, dirty
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and scratched up. In addition to a public intoxication charge, multiple charges of theft
of a firearm and other charges, the suspect faces a first degree felony charge of theft of
property of more than $200,000.
Source: http://www.kbtx.com/home/headlines/54321212.html
32. August 22, CNN – (Kentucky) Authorities quell inmate riot at Kentucky
prison. Authorities regained control of a Kentucky prison early Saturday after inmates
torched buildings, shattered windows and threw rocks at guards. Inmates set fire to a
Kentucky prison on Friday after the warden said he would ease restrictions on a
lockdown. Inmates at the medium-security Northpoint Training Center in Burgin
started an uprising shortly after the warden announced he would ease restrictions on a
lockdown, a Northpoint Public information officer told CNN. Inmates were evacuated
to the prison yard and authorities threw tear gas over the fence to subdue the prisoners.
The damage to the facility was so severe that all the prison’s 1,200 inmates had to be
kept outside in a prison yard.
Source: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/08/21/kentucky.prison.riot/index.html
33. August 21, Memphis Commercial Appeal – (Tennessee) Collierville fire station deals
with lightning damage. The Collierville, Tennessee, Board of Mayor and Aldermen
on Monday will formally approve a $10,260 emergency payment to replace equipment
that alerts firefighters to roll out on emergency calls at the fire station on Houston
Levee. A nearby lightning strike during a severe thunderstorm on July 26 fried
everything connected to the main telephone line, including the telephone, public
address and Zetron Fire Station Alerting systems, said the chief of administration for
Collierville Fire & Rescue. All but the alerting system have since been repaired, he
said. In the meantime, firefighters are using portable radio and back-up pager alerts
through the public address system.
Source: http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/aug/21/fire-station-deals-withlightning-damage/
[Return to top]
Information Technology Sector
34. August 21, The Register – (International) Open-source firmware vuln exposes
wireless routers. A hacker has discovered a critical vulnerability in open-source
firmware available for wireless routers made by Linksys and other manufacturers that
allows attackers to remotely penetrate the device and take full control of it. The remote
root vulnerability affects the most recent version of DD-WRT, a piece of firmware
many router users install to give their device capabilities not available by default. The
bug allows unauthenticated users to remotely gain root access simply by luring
someone on the local network to a malicious website. Messages sent through the DDWRT website to the software designers were not returned by time of publication, but
comments posted to this user forum thread said the vulnerability affected the most
recent builds, prompting a user by the name of autobot to declare the vulnerability a
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“mini code red.”
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/07/21/critical_ddwrt_router_vuln/
35. August 21, SCMagazine – (National) Researcher details Facebook CSRF flaw. A
security researcher this week described a flaw that hackers could exploit to siphon
Facebook users’ personal information, without their knowledge, through the use of a
rogue application. The researcher said that to be infected, a user must merely open a
non-related website, ideally an online forum, where the attacker has seeded a malicious
image tag link. If successful, the perpetrator could evade privacy settings and retrieve
victims’ full names, profile pictures and friend’s lists. He described the cross-site
request forgery (CSRF) vulnerability — which Facebook has since fixed —
Wednesday on his Quaji blog. Much of the blame for the bug rests on a site feature
known as “Automatic Authentication,” he said. This component allows Facebook
applications to receive personal information about a user when he or she visits the
application’s “canvas page.”
Source: http://www.scmagazineus.com/Researcher-details-Facebook-CSRFflaw/article/146986/
Internet Alert Dashboard
To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US-CERT at sos@us-cert.gov or
visit their Website: http://www.us-cert.gov.
Information on IT information sharing and analysis can be found at the IT ISAC (Information Sharing and
Analysis Center) Website: https://www.it-isac.org/.
[Return to top]
Communications Sector
36. August 23, WNEP 16 Scranton – (Pennsylvania) Verizon building filled with
smoke. There was no major damage, but a lot of smoke at a fire in Lackawanna
County, Pennsylvania on August 22. Firefighters said a cord on a generator caught fire
inside the Verizon building in Olyphant around 9 a.m. No one was hurt, but there was
some smoke damage to the building. The building supplies phone service to sections of
the valley. Verizon officials said customers were not affected by the fire in
Lackawanna County.
Source: http://www.wnep.com/wnep-lacka-verizon-smoking,0,1286609.story
[Return to top]
Commercial Facilities Sector
37. August 24, WHIO 7 Dayton – (Ohio) Teen charged with park explosion. A New
Carlisle, Ohio, teenager was arrested after he was accused of creating an explosion in a
park. The Clark County Sheriff’s office said someone called them to report an
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explosion at the New Carlisle park over the weekend. When deputies arrived, they
found evidence from a bottle bomb and soon caught up with the suspect, an 18 yearold. The suspect was taken into custody and charged with criminal damaging. Police
said no one was hurt.
Source: http://www.whiotv.com/news/20530004/detail.html
38. August 23, Bradenton Herald – (Florida) Police arrest suspect in bomb
threat. Bradenton, Florida, police detectives arrested a 23-year-old man who allegedly
called in a bomb threat to a Wal-Mart store from which he was fired, according to an
arrest report. The suspect was arrested Friday and later posted a $2,500 bond on a
charge of falsely reporting a bomb, according to the Manatee County Jail Web site.
Police were able to get a recording of the phone call made from a gas station pay phone
to emergency communications. Store employees identified the suspect’s voice from the
recording in which he said, “There might be a bomb at Wal-Mart.” The suspect was
recently asked to leave the store after he set off firecrackers close to the store’s
entrance. The man told detectives he was let go as an employee in June after he hurt his
back.
Source: http://www.bradenton.com/news/local/crime-and-courts/story/1656536.html
39. August 23, Associated Press – (Massachusetts) Boston high-rise reopens after
evacuation. The Prudential Center in Boston has reopened, a day after a pipe burst,
sending 60,000 gallons over the building’s bottom floors and forcing an evacuation. A
spokeswoman for Prudential operator Boston Properties, said the skyway at the 52story center opened at 10 a.m. Saturday and the building was fully operational. She said
damages from the accident had not yet been calculated. A plumbing cap on a pipe burst
on the second floor Friday, causing the flooding. Building officials ordered the
evacuation after power outages shut down air conditioners and elevators. A firefighter
was taken to a hospital after he slipped and hurt his wrist. Two others were evaluated at
hospitals after they had trouble breathing after walking down several flights of stairs.
Source:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090823/NEWS11/90823
9997/-1/NEWSMAP
[Return to top]
National Monuments and Icons Sector
40. August 24, Associated Press – (Maine) Bill weakening after leaving 2 dead on East
Coast. Hurricane Bill was hundreds of miles from shore and weakening as East Coast
wave watchers and surfers came out to meet the storm. A 7-year-old girl died in Maine
after she, her father, and a 12-year-old girl were swept into the water on August 23 off
Acadia National Park’s Thunder Hole, where tourists often gather to watch waves crash
into a crevasse and make a thundering sound while splashing high in the air. Park
officials at Acadia National Park, about 110 miles northeast of Portland, said an
estimated 10,000 people, lured by the wild ocean, converged on the park’s loop road
trying to get a good view of waves more than 15 feet high crashing against the rocky
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shore. “The problem was there were thousands and thousands of people to try to keep
an eye on,” said the chief ranger. The U.S. Coast Guard reported that the waves swept
over 20 people. The chief ranger said 11 people were taken to the hospital, mainly for
broken bones after being slammed onto the rocks. A Thunder Hole viewing platform
was closed, and they were among hundreds of people watching the waves from nearby
rocks. Many people did not even move when the waves splashed them and instead
seemed to laugh it off, the chief ranger said.
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gVWjsPEiqe1tEu2mhBIRaxxG
i8owD9A93BK02
41. August 24, Cape Cod Times – (Massachusetts) Old military shell found at Wellfleet
beach. A police team headed to the Wellfleet, Massachusetts police station to disarm
what appears to be old military artillery found on at White Crest Beach, the police said.
Police received a call at around 8:45 a.m. Monday about a foot-long shell on the beach.
Police officers brought the shell to the station. The beach is in the Cape Cod National
Seashore, off Ocean View Drive.
Source:
http://www.capecodonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090824/NEWS11/90824
9982
42. August 21, Examiner – (Pennsylvania) Gettysburg National Military Park—dig for
artifacts, get caught. Two men were caught digging for artifacts in Gettysburg
National Military Park. On Tuesday, August 18, a park maintenance employee notified
rangers that two men had been seen metal detecting behind the McLean House in the
northwest corner of the park. The two men were caught in the act, one of them on his
knees in the process of digging. A search of the area found 11 holes dug on National
Park Service (NPS) property. Rangers seized two metal detectors and a small amount
of relics from both men. The NPS says an investigation is ongoing.
Source: http://www.examiner.com/x-4661-National-Parks-TravelExaminer~y2009m8d21-Gettysburg-National-Military-Parkdig-for-artifacts-get-caught
For another story, see item 14
[Return to top]
Dams Sector
43. August 24, NorthJersey.com – (New Jersey) Dam under repair. The North Jersey
District Water Supply Commission (NJDWSC) will be completing repairs to the left
and right walls nearby the Pompton Dam. A professional engineer with the NJDWSC,
said a temporary wall was built on the left side of the dam in April 2007 after water
breached the wall. After completion, he said new wall will keep water from flooding
Terhune Drive during a storm. On the right side NJDWSC will replace some loose
concrete. This six-month project costs $1.4 million. It was funded by the state
Department of Environmental Protection and is being administered by the NJDWSC.
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Source:
http://www.northjersey.com/news/environment/local_environment/dam_under_repair.h
tml
44. August 21, WDEL 1150 Wilmington – (Delaware) Pipe bomb removed from Hoopes
Reservoir. Police officers from three departments were called on August 21 to deal
with a pipe bomb found at Hoopes Reservoir. A Wilmington, Delaware cop on patrol
found the bomb around 10:30, and the County and State Police bomb squads were
brought in to help remove and dispose of it. While that was being done, part of nearby
Hillside Mill Road was closed. Police say the bomb was apparently submerged for
some time and was exposed because the water level in the reservoir’s gone down in the
last few months. Bomb squad members searched the area for similar bombs, but none
were found.
Source: http://www.wdel.com/story.php?id=604868276207
[Return to top]
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DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report Contact Information
About the reports - The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a daily [Monday through Friday]
summary of open-source published information concerning significant critical infrastructure issues. The DHS Daily
Open Source Infrastructure Report is archived for ten days on the Department of Homeland Security Website:
http://www.dhs.gov/iaipdailyreport
Contact Information
Content and Suggestions:
Send mail to NICCReports@dhs.gov or contact the DHS Daily
Report Team at (202) 312-3421
Subscribe to the Distribution List:
Visit the DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report and follow
instructions to Get e-mail updates when this information changes.
Removal from Distribution List:
Send mail to support@govdelivery.com.
Contact DHS
To report physical infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact the National Infrastructure
Coordinating Center at nicc@dhs.gov or (202) 282-9201.
To report cyber infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact US-CERT at soc@us-cert.gov or visit
their Web page at www.us-cert.gov.
Department of Homeland Security Disclaimer
The DHS Daily Open Source Infrastructure Report is a non-commercial publication intended to educate and inform
personnel engaged in infrastructure protection. Further reproduction or redistribution is subject to original copyright
restrictions. DHS provides no warranty of ownership of the copyright, or accuracy with respect to the original source
material.
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