Homeland
Security
Current Nationwide
Threat Level
ELEVATED
Daily Open Source Infrastructure
Report for 21 August 2009
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
For information, click here:
http://www.dhs.gov
Top Stories

A Greenpeace press release announces that a new survey of data on 18 “high risk”
chemical facilities in 16 states shows that they put more than 27 million people at risk of
sudden death or injury in the event of a terrorist attack or accident. The analysis combined
reports filed with the Environmental Protection Agency with data from the Environmental
Systems Research Institute, the U.S. Geological Survey, and reports by the Congressional
Research Service and the Center for American Progress. (See item 5)

The Beaumont Enterprise reports that a tornado hit Beaumont, Texas’ retail corridor
Tuesday afternoon, collapsing store roofs, overturning vehicles, and causing minor injuries.
Hardest hit were a Kohl’s department store and a Wal-Mart. (See item 50)
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 19, Reuters – (Texas) BP Texas City SRU back after outage. BP Plc’s
475,000-barrel-per-day Texas City, Texas, refinery has restarted a sulfur recovery unit
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(SRU) on Tuesday after a brief outage, a source familiar with refinery operations said
on Wednesday. The company had reported the incident in a filing on Wednesday with
the Texas Commission for Environmental Quality, but did not specify whether the
upset had shut the SRU unit. Separately, BP reported a benzene leak from tubing on
Wednesday which was stopped at Texas City, adding an investigation was still
ongoing. The filing cited two sources for the leak, a tank farm as well as the OMCC,
which blends fuel for shipping pipelines.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN1948380620090819
2. August 19, Associated Press – (North Dakota) ND refinery fully operational after
shutdown. The Tesoro oil refinery in Mandan, North Dakota is fully operational after a
brief shutdown. A spokesman says the plant was back online Tuesday afternoon. He
says there was no disruption to supply. The plant shut down early Tuesday after losing
power and steam during a project to upgrade the plant’s boilers. The problem resulted
in a large black cloud drifting over the Bismarck-Mandan area but state health officials
said there was no threat to the public.
Source: http://www.kttc.com/Global/story.asp?S=10955209
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Chemical Industry Sector
3. August 20, Columbus Ledger-Enquirer – (Georgia) No one injured in tractor-trailer
accident near Fort Benning. No one was injured when a tractor-trailer carrying a
shipment of batteries overturned on August 19 on U.S. Highway 27 near the Fort
Benning gate at 1st Division Road. Post public affairs said the truck was headed north
on Highway 27 when it overturned, causing significant morning traffic delays in the
area of 1st Division Road. Motorists were encouraged to use alternate routes.
Emergency response crews found no evidence of a threat from hazardous materials and
spillage was quickly contained. The driver, who was the only occupant of the
northbound vehicle, was transporting a shipment of batteries.
Source: http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/news/breaking_news/story/812890.html
4. August 20, Bethel Citizen – (Maine) Gilead train wreck forces road closings,
evacuations. Nineteen St. Lawrence & Atlantic train cars derailed in Gilead, Maine on
August 15 included 11 tankers, the composition and fate of their cargo unknown. The
derailment happened at about 1:45 p.m. between the Wild River and the New
Hampshire border, west of Gilead village. The train was made up of a total of 82 cars.
No injuries were reported. While the tanker cars were not loaded, “empty” cars can
contain roughly 10 percent of their 30,000 gallon capacity. “That’s still a lot,” the
Gilead fire chief said. “When the train crew evacuated, they said they smelled an odor.
We had the manifest, but there were conflicting reports on what was leaking.” The
manifest included chemicals such as sulfuric acid, hydrochloric acid and LP gas. The
rulebook for dealing with the substances calls for an evacuation of a half-mile radius,
also taking into account weather conditions. Even the firefighters retreated or stayed
clear, the chief said. Route 2 traffic was halted at the intersection with Route 113.
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Traffic between Maine and New Hampshire was initially detoured along the North
Road between Gilead and Shelburne. But then that route, too, was shut down after it
was determined the North Road came within a half mile of the derailment. New
Hampshire police and firefighters blocked the roads at their end. A HAZMAT
inspection, and an inspection by railroad officials, determined the scene was safe, and
nothing had leaked onto the ground or into the atmosphere. Route 2 and the North Road
reopened at about 8:30 p.m.
Source: http://www.bethelcitizen.com/story.php?storyid=6521
5. August 20, Greenpeace – (National) Millions living in chemical disaster zones in 16
states. A new survey of data on 18 “high risk” chemical facilities in 16 states shows
that they put more than 27 million people at risk of sudden death or injury in the event
of a terrorist attack or accident. Contained within the first five miles of the risk zones
surrounding these plants are 1,702 schools and 94 hospitals in the sampled states,
including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah and Louisiana. Chemical plant risk
zones frequently extend more than 10 miles downwind into densely populated urban
areas due to the bulk storage or use of poison gases such as chlorine. Twelve of the 18
plants examined each put one million or more people at risk. More than 1,700 plants in
these 16 states each put 10,000 or more people at risk. The good news, however, is that
these risks are preventable. Since 1999, at least 287 chemical facilities nationwide have
eliminated these risks to 38.5 million Americans by converting to safer chemicals. In
these 16 states there are 162 plants using safer chemical processes that eliminated these
risks for 21.6 million people. The analysis combined chemical facility reports filed with
the Environmental Protection Agency with data from the Environmental Systems
Research Institute, the US Geological Survey and reports by the Congressional
Research Service and the Center for American Progress. The Department of Homeland
Security has identified 6,300 “high risk” chemical facilities in the U.S. The Congress is
now considering legislation that could reduce or eliminate these risks in the event of a
terrorist attack or accident by requiring the use of safer chemical processes. More than
100 million Americans live in “vulnerability zones,” surrounding just 300 chemical
plants.
Source: http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2009/08/18-3
6. August 19, Charleston Gazette – (West Virginia) Chemical leak at DuPont plant calls
out fire department. A chemical leak at the DuPont plant in Belle on August 18
released less than one pound of monomethylamine into the atmosphere, said DuPont’s
human resources manager. Monomethylamine, or MMA, is a clear, colorless gas that is
recognizable by its fishy odor. At high concentrations it smells like ammonia. Vapor
exposure can be harmful, especially to the eyes, and can cause tearing and
inflammation of the lungs and upper respiratory tract. No injuries were caused by the
leak. The leak occurred on a transfer pump, the manager said. The plant sounded a
fume alert and Kanawha County Metro 911 was notified, he said. The fume alert was
sounded at 11:42 a.m. and was called off at 11:47 a.m., he said. The Belle fire
department was sent to the scene but had just arrived at the plant when the leak was
declared all clear.
Source: http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200908190245
-3-
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Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste Sector
7. August 20, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – (National) NRC to hold public
workshops in Maryland and Utah on safe disposal of depleted uranium and other
unique waste streams. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission will conduct two public
workshops in September to solicit public views on major issues for new regulations on
shallow-land disposal of unique radioactive wastes, including significant quantities of
depleted uranium. The first workshop will be held September 2-3 in Bethesda,
Maryland. The second workshop will be held September 23-24 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The Commission directed the agency staff March 18 to initiate a rulemaking to specify
a requirement for a site-specific analysis for the disposal of large quantities of depleted
uranium, and other unique waste streams, such as reprocessing wastes and the technical
requirements for such an analysis. The Commission also directed the staff to develop a
guidance document for public comment that outlines the parameters and assumptions to
be used in the site-specific analyses. The Commission said the staff should conduct a
public workshop to discuss issues associated with disposal of depleted uranium and
other unique waste streams, potential issues to be considered in rulemaking, and
technical parameters of concern in the analysis so that informed decisions can be made
in the interim before the rulemaking is final.
Source: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2009/09-138.html
8. August 20, Cherry Hill Courier-Post – (New Jersey) 3 N.J. plants seek nuclear
renewals. Three nuclear power plants in southern New Jersey have filed applications
seeking 20-year license renewals. The Salem 1 and 2 and Hope Creek plants share an
island on the Delaware River. The permit for Salem 2 is good until 2020 and Hope
Creek is licensed to operate until 2026. But PSEG Nuclear on Tuesday submitted
relicensing materials for them along with Salem 1 because all the plants share
operations. The Salem 1 license expires in 2016.
Source:
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20090820/BUSINESS/908200327/1003/3N.J.-plants-seek-nuclear-renewals
9. August 20, Reuters – (Illinois) Exelon Ill. LaSalle 2 reactor exits outage. Exelon
Corp’s (EXC.N) 1,120-megawatt Unit 2 at the LaSalle nuclear power station in Illinois
exited an outage and ramped up to 47 percent by early Thursday from 1 percent early
Wednesday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report. The unit shut on
August 15 due to a turbine trip likely due to a digital control system that monitors
turbine performance.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2012736420
090820
10. August 20, Reuters – (Kansas) Kansas Wolf Creek reactor shut. Wolf Creek Nuclear
Operating Corp’s 1,166-megawatt Wolf Creek reactor in Kansas shut from full power
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on Wednesday due to a turbine trip, the company told the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory
Commission in a report. At about the same time as the turbine trip, the unit experienced
a momentary loss of offsite power. All equipment operated as designed to shut the
reactor. The company said it was investigating the cause of the trip.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN2018786120
090820
11. August 20, Red Wing Republican Eagle – (Minnesota) Nuke study lacking, council
says. The state’s environmental report analyzing Xcel Energy’s plan to increase
operations at the Prairie Island nuclear power plant is not up to snuff, according to Red
Wing city officials. Red Wing City Council on Wednesday, during a special meeting,
approved a letter to the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Office of Energy
expressing its concerns. The letter says, “A review of the (Final Environmental Impact
Statement) reveals that many of the inadequacies and deficiencies that were present in
the (Draft Environmental Impact Statement) still remain and were not addressed”
despite a public input process. The state’s environmental study is one of a number of
regulatory measures Xcel must undertake as it seeks permission from the Public
Utilities Commission to increase Prairie Island’s output and the number of dry cask
storage containers from 29 to 65. Meanwhile, at the federal level, Xcel is seeking
permission from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to extend its operating license for
the Prairie Island reactors for 20 years. The current licenses expire in 2013 and 2014.
Source: http://www.republican-eagle.com/event/article/id/61129/
12. August 18, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission – (Kentucky) NRC requires
improvements at USEC Paducah facility. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
has issued three Confirmatory Orders to the United States Enrichment Corporation’s
Paducah, Kentucky, facility as part of settlement agreements involving three unrelated
issues. One issue involved operators concealing damaged equipment and falsifying
records while moving a uranium hexafluoride cylinder. In the second issue, classified
information was mishandled when a package was sent to an unapproved mailing
address. The third issue stemmed from a U.S. Department of Labor decision that USEC
retaliated against a former manager and an NRC concern for the potential influence this
would have on the willingness of other employees to raise safety concerns. In each
case, USEC requested the alternative dispute resolution process, which includes the use
of a mediator, to resolve its differences with the NRC concerning the apparent
violations and to discuss corrective actions. As part of the settlement agreements,
USEC has agreed to a number of corrective actions and enhancements, including
procedure revisions, improved oversight and an incorporation of lessons learned into
training. The company also agreed to a review of the events and a sharing of
information with other USEC facilities.
Source: http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/news/2009/09-047.ii.html
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Critical Manufacturing Sector
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13. August 19, WNDU 16 South Bend – (Indiana) Fire breaks out at South Bend
factory. A fire broke out on August 19 in a factory on South Bend’s south side. It
happened in the 500 block of West Ireland Road at the Lock Joint Tube facility. Just
after midnight, officials received a call from inside the building with reports of heavy
smoke. When crews arrived on scene, all employees had evacuated the building, and no
one was injured. The fire was quickly put out. The cause is unknown at this time. Lock
Joint Tube manufactures custom steel tubing. This factory is one of two company
plants in South Bend.
Source: http://www.wndu.com/localnews/headlines/53676147.html
For another story, see item 20
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Defense Industrial Base Sector
14. August 20, Reliable Plant – (Texas) BAE Systems faces $138K OSHA fine for 18
alleged violations. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) has cited BAE Systems Inc. with 16 alleged serious and two
alleged repeat violations of federal health and safety regulations following an
inspection at the company’s facility in Sealy, Texas. Proposed penalties total $138,000.
“Employees should not be exposed to safety and health hazards,” said the area director
of OSHA’s Austin Area Office. “In this case, this employer failed to protect its
employees from multiple machine guarding and compressed air hazards.” OSHA’s
Austin Area Office began its investigation February 19 on 10 West in Sealy as part of
OSHA’s Site-Specific Targeting inspection list. Some of the serious violations include
failing to ensure walking working surfaces remained clear, failing to provide safe
clearances for material handling equipment, failing to provide machine guarding and
violations related to the control of hazardous energy, welding and electrical hazards.
Source:
http://www.reliableplant.com/article.aspx?articleid=19532&pagetitle=BAE+Systems+f
aces+$138K+OSHA+fine+for+18+alleged+violations
15. August 19, Navy Times – (National) Mishaps point to possible problem for
Hornets. The Navy suffered two major mishaps involving F/A-18 Hornets in early
August, both suggesting problems with the jets’ airflow system and one resulting in an
engine fire. Both mishaps prompted emergency landings after indications of a failed
bleed air system, which can cause an engine fire or cut the cockpit’s oxygen supply. A
Navy spokeswoman at the Pentagon said the mishaps were under investigation and it
was “premature to speculate” about whether the mishaps were related or whether the
Navy plans any inspections. No injuries were reported. The bleed air system siphons
compressed air from the engine system and redirects it for uses that can include
pressurizing the cockpit or de-icing wings. In the first mishap, an F/A-18A+ Hornet
made an emergency landing in San Diego on August 7 after the cockpit’s control panel
showed dual bleed air warning lights. In the second, an F/A-18F Super Hornet made an
emergency landing in central California on August 13 after a fire erupted in the
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starboard engine, said a Navy spokesman with Naval Air Forces, Pacific.
Source: http://www.navytimes.com/news/2009/08/navy_hornet_mishaps_081909w/
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Banking and Finance Sector
16. August 20, Bloomberg – (National) AIG customers sue insurer for not covering
Madoff fraud losses. American International Group Inc. customers with homeowners’
insurance policies accused the company in a lawsuit of denying coverage for losses
suffered in the largest Ponzi scheme in history. The suit was filed on August 19 in
Manhattan federal court by two individuals of Los Angeles, who had homeowners’
policies through AIG subsidiaries and who lost money in the scandal. They say AIG
will not pay for their losses “even though the fraud is covered by the policies.” Other
insurers have also fielded related claims to the Ponzi scheme. XL Capital Ltd. has
received 36 claims tied to scheme, the head of insurance operations for XL Capital Ltd
said July 29. XL has adequate reserves, he said.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=a7zs0ab9ROrE
17. August 20, Denver Post – (National) Admitted swindler Merriman charged in
Denver. When federal marshals clasped the handcuffs on a accused Ponzi schemer in
federal court on August 19, more than 20 of his alleged victims stood up and
applauded. The moment came minutes after he was formally charged by the U.S.
attorney’s office with mail fraud for his method of delivering bogus financial
statements that declared huge profits for his investors. The schemer pleaded not guilty
to criminal mail fraud and a count of asset forfeiture. But he is expected to change
those pleas in a settlement with the U.S. attorney’s office, according to letters federal
prosecutors sent to his victims. During the hearing the schemer’s attorney
acknowledged that his client had confessed his crimes and would not be contesting
prosecutors’ move to keep him jailed until the charges are resolved. Prosecutors say
schemer ran a Ponzi scheme for 15 years, cheating dozens of people of up to $20
million. Instead of investing their money in securities, he squirreled away their cash to
fund his own world travel, safari hunting and art collection. In recent months, he
confessed to authorities and his friends, phoning them or showing up at their doors to
apologize.
Source: http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_13164490
18. August 20, Bloomberg – (National) FDIC may add to special fees as mounting
failures drain reserve. Colonial BancGroup Inc.’s collapse and the prospect of
mounting failures among regional lenders may prompt the Federal Deposit Insurance
Corp. to impose a special fee as soon as next month to boost reserves by $5.6 billion.
The FDIC board might act sooner than expected after the August 14 failure of
Alabama-based Colonial cost the agency’s insurance fund $2.8 billion, and as banks
such as Chicago-based Corus Bankshares Inc. report dwindling capital and Guaranty
Financial Group Inc. of Austin, Texas, says it may fail. The fund fell to the lowest level
since 1992 in the first quarter. “With the failure of Colonial Bank and the possible near-
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term failures of one or two more large banks, the FDIC may be forced to levy a special
assessment on the industry sooner than it had planned,” said the president of the
Independent Community Bankers of America, an industry group. The failure of 77
banks this year is draining the fund, prompting the agency in May to set an emergency
fee of 5 cents for every $100 of assets, excluding Tier 1 capital, to raise $5.6 billion in
the second quarter. The agency has authority to set fees in the third and fourth quarters,
if needed, to prevent a decline in the fund from undermining public confidence.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aqxHLAHU_m2k
19. August 19, Datamonitor – (International) Emerging alternatives to chip and PIN to
tackle card fraud in the U.S. Card fraud is expected to increase in the United States
with the country still no nearer to introducing the chip and PIN technology which has
proved successful in Europe. With fiscal pressures particularly evident in the current
economic climate, technology vendors are rushing to pilot alternative solutions to the
costly chip and PIN option. With the recent adoption of chip and PIN technology in
Canada and Mexico, following its successful adoption in Europe, fraudsters are
expected to increasingly target the U.S. market. A recent survey by Actimize found that
around 66 percent of bankers, card issuers or payment processors anticipate U.S. card
fraud levels to increase, with 11 percent expecting a significant level of fraud growth in
the near future due to progressing technology upgrades in Canada. U.S. institutions
appear to be aware of this apparent threat, yet the U.S. card industry remains reluctant
to embrace chip and PIN. Although the introduction of the technology has proven
successful in reducing card-present fraud, it remains a costly solution. While chip cards
cost $1.25 to $1.50 each, compared with 20 cents for magnetic stripe cards, the
technology also requires upgrades to ATM fleets and point-of-sale devices. In the
United States, because the current infrastructure is considered to be reasonably secure,
fraud losses are written off as a manageable cost of doing business. Moreover, given
the impact of the current economic climate on the banking industry, the focus is not on
expensive initiatives but on survival.
Source: http://www.tmcnet.com/usubmit/2009/08/19/4331395.htm
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Transportation Sector
20. August 20, Occupational Health and Safety – (National) New airworthiness directive
addresses MD-11 fuel tank ignition risk. The Federal Aviation Administration on
August 19 proposed a new airworthiness directive for certain McDonnell Douglas MD11 and MD-11F aircraft to reduce the risk of fuel vapor ignition inside their upper
auxiliary fuel tanks. The proposed action, which includes a one-time inspection and
installation of nonmetallic barrier/shield sleeving, new clamps, new attaching
hardware, and a new extruded channel, is based on the manufacturer’s fuel system
review and would affect 111 aircraft in U.S. service at a total cost in parts and labor of
$2,251,635 to $2,721,831 (cost per airplane differs because of differences in their
configuration, the notice states). “We have determined that the actions identified in this
AD are necessary to reduce the potential of ignition sources inside fuel tanks, which, in
-8-
combination with flammable fuel vapors, could result in fuel tank explosions and
consequent loss of the airplane,” it states. “We have received a report that wire bundles
routed above the center upper auxiliary fuel tank are in close proximity to the upper
surface of the tank on certain McDonnell Douglas Model MD-11 and MD-11F
airplanes. In addition, some wire harness mounts may have loosened, allowing the
wires to contact the tank. This condition may cause wire damage or chafing that can
lead to possible arcing, sparking, and burn-through on the fuel tank upper surface,
which can result in a fuel tank explosion.”
Source: http://ohsonline.com/articles/2009/08/20/new-airworthiness-directive.aspx
21. August 20, Sarasota Herald-Tribune – (Florida) FAA cites faults at Venice
Airport. The Venice (Florida) Municipal Airport is on a tight deadline to clean up
problems discovered by Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) inspectors or face
losing millions of dollars in federal funding. A land lease with Sharkey’s Restaurant is
invalid and must be rewritten, according to an FAA report released this week. Other
problems cited in the report include a driving range intruding on runway safety space,
several other land leases that have not been approved by the FAA, and boundary maps
that do not match the FAA’s. The airport will also be required to prove it reinvested in
airport operations with money received from selling former federal lands. The airport
has 30 days to develop a plan for correcting the various faults.
Source:
http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20090820/ARTICLE/908201098?Title=FAAcites-faults-at-Venice-Airport
22. August 20, Lake County News-Sun – (Illinois) Sequoit Creek bridge work to
begin. Replacing the 40-year-old Hillside Avenue bridge over Sequoit Creek will start
by the end of this August. It is a priority project because the roadway is rapidly
deteriorating. Pease Construction will take about six weeks to replace the bridge that
developed holes in the asphalt after heavy rains and flooding, circumstances that
allowed Antioch to secure a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) grant to
pay for 75 percent of the costs for the project. Flooding in June and July of 2008 caused
debris to wash into the creek and accumulate on the upstream side of the bridge. Storm
water flooded the road, resulting in damage to the road, storm drains, and sidewalk. Fill
material supporting the road washed away, the culvert failed and holes appeared in the
road. “The damage from last year’s flooding created unsafe conditions,” said the
village administrator, noting so much so that the county was declared a disaster area
and Antioch qualified for the FEMA grant. The metal pipe, sidewalk, curb, gutter, road,
and the bridge will be repaired or replaced. Total cost of the project, including
engineering, is approximately $285,000, he said.
Source:
http://www.suburbanchicagonews.com/newssun/news/1725394,5_1_WA20_SEQUOIT
_S1-090820.article
23. August 19, New York Times – (National) Fugitive still licensed to fly by the FAA. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is offering a $50,000 reward for a Seattle man it
says is a domestic terrorist. But that has not kept him from keeping his pilot’s license or
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from trying to sell his airplane online, apparently because the Transportation Security
Administration (TSA) has not compared the FBI’s wanted list with the Federal
Aviation Administration’s (FAA) list of licensed pilots. The pilot was indicted with 10
other people in January 2006, in Eugene, Oregon on charges that they committed arson,
destroyed an electric tower and other acts of domestic terrorism. Credit for those acts
and others were claimed by two groups, the Animal Liberation Front and the Earth
Liberation Front. The FBI says the pilot may have fled to Syria. According to FAA
records, the pilot still owns a single-engine airplane, a 1977 Grumman/American
Cheetah. He is also trying to sell the plane on the Internet for $39,000. The New York
Times learned that he still has his license and his plane from a database processing
company, Safe Banking Systems, which in June released the names of six other people
with FAA. licenses who had been charged or convicted of terrorism crimes or
otherwise were considered a threat to national security. After the names were released,
the TSA suspended the six licenses and said it would take steps to weed out other pilots
who posed security risks from among the nearly four million names in the FAA’s
public database. Last week, the Democratic and Republican leaders of the Senate
Commerce Committee and its aviation subcommittee sent a letter to TSA and FAA
asking whether the two agencies were reconsidering which lists to use to match against
the list of pilots. The letter referred to “apparent weaknesses in the existing vetting
system.”
Source: http://www.ocala.com/article/20090819/ZNYT02/908193011?Title=FugitiveStill-Licensed-to-Fly-by-the-F-A-A
For more stories, see items 3, 4, 47, and 53
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Postal and Shipping Sector
Nothing to report
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Agriculture and Food Sector
24. August 20, Port Huron Times Herald – (Michigan) Officials: Farm is fish kill
source. An official of the Department of Environmental Quality said Noll Dairy Farm
in Croswell is the source of the manure runoff that killed the fish in the Black River last
week. As Michigan state officials continue to investigate the farm, wildlife experts say
the fish population there already is starting to recover. A fish biologist for the
Department of Natural Resources Fisheries Division said fishermen already are
catching fish in the 12-mile section in which a manure runoff killed thousands of fish.
“We are getting reports that people are seeing fish in the area now,” he said. “The fish
are recolonizing.” He said officials saw the runoff from the farm going into a creek that
flows to the Black River. The official said it is unclear whether the farm will face fines.
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The farm has no record of problems in the past.
Source: http://www.thetimesherald.com/article/20090820/NEWS01/908200313
25. August 19, Associated Press – (Wyoming) Wyo. grasshopper surge raises toxic
beetle worry. An outbreak of grasshoppers this summer in Wyoming could be behind
the recent detections of a toxic beetle that can be deadly if eaten by horses, agriculture
officials said Wednesday. Ranchers in Fremont and Sheridan counties have reported
blister beetles this summer, but neither has reported any livestock poisonings, said an
extension entomologist with the University of Wyoming. A state veterinarian said
blister beetle outbreaks often follow significant grasshopper infestations since the
beetle larva eat grasshopper eggs. Horses that eat blister beetles can become severely ill
or die from gastrointestinal, heart or kidney effects.
Source: http://cbs4denver.com/wireapnewswy/Wyoming.officials.warn.2.1134658.html
26. August 18, Associated Press – (New Mexico) 7 NM counties declared disasters due
to drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has declared seven New Mexico
counties as disaster areas after losses due to severe drought and high winds. The
designation covers Chaves, Eddy, Lincoln, Roosevelt, DeBaca, Lea, and Otero
counties. The USDA also named Dona Ana, Curry, Guadalupe, Sierra, Torrance, Quay,
and Socorro counties as contiguous disaster counties. Farmers in all 14 counties are
eligible to apply for financial assistance from the USDA’s Farm Service Agency.
Assistance includes emergency loans and a supplemental revenue assistance payments
program.
Source: http://www.connectamarillo.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=338684
27. August 18, Westside Connect – (California) Bomb threat briefly clears
supermarket. Police investigated an early-morning bomb threat at Nob Hill Foods in
Newman on Monday. Police officials said a man called the store at about 6:30 a.m.,
told the employee who answered that there was a bomb in the store and hung up. The
store was evacuated until police and employees had searched the premises. No
suspicious objects were located, and employees reported no suspicious behavior on the
part of any early customers. The fire department also responded to the call.
Source: http://www.westsideconnect.com/content/view/2638/57/
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Water Sector
28. August 19, American Chemical Society – (California; National) Homes pollute:
Linked to 50 percent more water pollution than previously believed. According to a
recent study, the typical house in California — and probably elsewhere in the country
— is an alarming and probably underestimated source of water pollution, according to
a new study reported at the 238th National Meeting of the American Chemical Society
on August 19. In the study the researchers explain that runoff results from rainfall and
watering of lawns and gardens, which winds up in municipal storm drains. The runoff
washes fertilizers, pesticides and other contaminants into storm drains, and they
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eventually appear in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water. “Results from our sampling
and monitoring study revealed high detection frequencies of pollutants such as
pesticides and pathogen indicators at all sites,” one of them says of their study of eight
residential areas in Sacramento and Orange Counties in California. Preliminary results
of the study suggest that current models may underestimate the amount of pollution
contributed by homes by up to 50 percent. That is because past estimates focused on
rain-based runoff during the wet season. Use of pesticides, however, increases
noticeably during the dry season due to gardening. To encourage pollutant reduction,
the researchers initiated community outreach programs centered on improving both
irrigation control and pest management.
Source:
http://portal.acs.org/portal/acs/corg/content?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PP_ARTICLEM
AIN&node_id=222&content_id=CNBP_022767&use_sec=true&sec_url_var=region1
&__uuid=445d8525-e1a1-4827-8645-09171bdc1638
29. August 19, Hawk Eye – (Iowa) Burlington seeks wastewater discharge. The city of
Burlington, Iowa is trying to locate a problem with a sewer line that is sending
untreated wastewater into the Mississippi River. A boater reported the discharge to the
city, identifying the location as south of the BNSF Railway river bridge. The city has
identified the problem to be in a sewer line that sends untreated sewage to the city’s
wastewater treatment facility. While the city does not know when the discharge began
or how much wastewater has entered the river, the pressurized sewer line has an
estimated flow rate between 300 and 1,500 gallons per minute. The city will continue
to work to find the cause of the discharge and make repairs. Until repairs are made,
people should use caution in the area south of the railroad bridge. The Department of
Natural Resources has requested that the city notify the drinking water supplies in
Keokuk and Fort Madison of the discharge.
Source: http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/sewage-discharge-081909
30. August 19, Eco Factory – (West Virginia) West Virginia town sued for pumping
sewage into public water source. West Virginian Environmental Protection Agency
(EPA), and Health and Human Resources have filed a lawsuit against the town of Fort
Gay, West Virginia to stop discharges of untreated sewage from pipes, manholes, and
pumping stations into Mill Creek. Mill Creek is a tributary that feeds the Tug Fork
River, the intake of the town’s public water. The lawsuit goes on to allege that
untreated sewage has been leached into residential yards, basements, as well as other
streams and rivers. This untreated sewage could contain viruses and protozoa
(ameboea) that could lead to life-threatening illnesses. The complaint seeks an
immediate injunction against Fort Gay to eliminate or minimize the risk to human
health as required by federal and state law. The town could be subject to serious fines if
the lawsuit is successful. Fort Gay was warned in 2003 by the EPA to take measures to
minimize or eliminate these discharges. According to a statement released by the EPA,
Fort Gay is in direct violation of the Clean Water Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act,
and the West Virginia Water Pollution Control Act. Fort Gay residents responded to the
national attention by posting pictures of what looks like fecal material floating in a
slowly flowing creek. Fort Gay residents are apparently familiar with water treatment
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issues, as evidenced by boil water notices issued early this year due to equipment
failure.
Source: http://www.ecofactory.com/news/west-virginia-town-sued-pumping-sewagepublic-water-source-081909
31. August 18, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency – (Arkansas; Missouri; West
Virginia) Home development company agrees to settle federal lawsuit for Clean
Water Act violations at construction sites. Cooper Land Development, Inc., a luxury
home development company headquartered in Rogers, Arkansas, has agreed to pay a
civil penalty and implement a storm water compliance program at its construction sites
to settle allegations that it violated the Clean Water Act, the Justice Department and
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced on August 18. According to a
consent decree filed in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Missouri, Cooper Land
Development has agreed to pay a $513,740 civil penalty to settle the allegations that it
failed to properly manage construction site storm water runoff and implement erosion
control at five of its housing developments located in Missouri, West Virginia, and
Arkansas. The penalty will be paid in four annual installments, plus interest, according
to the consent decree. Additionally, the consent decree requires Cooper Land
Development to implement a company-wide storm water compliance program that
provides for improved environmental performance and increased oversight of its
operations at all of its current and future construction sites. The settlement resolves a
civil complaint filed Sept. 22, 2008, in which the United States alleged that inspections
in 2006 found Cooper Land Development had violated the terms of separate National
Pollution Discharge Elimination System permits issued by respective state
environmental authorities for its Creekmoor housing development in Raymore,
Missouri, and the Glade Springs Village housing development near Daniels, West
Virginia.
Source:
http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/849A7AFECC7407CD85257617004A7CA
3
[Return to top]
Public Health and Healthcare Sector
32. August 20, Associated Press – (National) Biden to announce almost $1.2B for
medical records. The Vice President plans to announce Thursday nearly $1.2 billion in
grants to help hospitals transition to electronic medical records. He and the Health and
Human Services Secretary were set to detail in Chicago how that piece of the $787
billion economic stimulus plan would help Americans when they go to the hospital or
their doctors. “With electronic health records, we are making health care safer, we’re
making it more efficient, we’re making you healthier and we’re saving money along
the way,” the Vice President said in remarks provided to The Associated Press ahead of
delivery. “These are four necessities we need for health care in the 21st century.”
Source: http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-08-20-bidenhealthrecords_N.htm
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33. August 20, Health Day News – (National) Swine flu vaccine delay manageable,
experts say. Health experts do not believe that the delay in receiving swine flu vaccine
will thwart the U.S. government’s strategy to protect Americans against the newly
circulating virus. But having only 45 million doses on hand by October 15, rather than
the originally anticipated 120 million doses, does throw a slight wrench into plans to
vaccinate those who might need the shots the most.”The vaccine undoubtedly will still
be useful,” said a professor of medicine and of microbiology and immunology at the
University of Rochester Medical Center in New York. “It may not be as useful than if it
were ready in September, but I think it will still be useful.” According to federal health
authorities, after mid-October, 20 million more doses of the vaccine will be shipped
each week.
Source: http://www.ajc.com/health/content/shared-auto/healthnews/flu-/630185.html
34. August 20, Occupational Health and Safety – (National) New rule mandates
disclosure if health data lost. Health care providers, health plans, and other entities
covered by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPA) must notify
individuals when their health information is breached, under a rule issued August 20 by
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and set to take effect in 30 days.
The regulations, developed by the HHS Office for Civil Rights, say prompt notification
must be made to the individuals, and it must be made to the HHS Secretary and the
media if more than 500 individuals are affected. Breaches affecting fewer than 500
individuals will be reported annually to the Secretary. The rule implements provisions
of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act, which
was passed as part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.
Source: http://ohsonline.com/Articles/2009/08/20/New-Rule-Mandates-Disclosure-ifHealth-Data-Lost.aspx
35. August 19, Flu.Gov – (National) Guidance for businesses and employers to plan and
respond to the 2009 – 2010 Influenza season. The Centers for Disease Control has
released new guidance that recommends actions that non-healthcare employers should
take now to decrease the spread of seasonal flu and 2009 H1N1 flu in the workplace
and to help maintain business continuity during the 2009–2010 flu season. The
guidance includes additional strategies to use if flu conditions become more severe and
some new recommendations regarding when a worker who is ill with influenza may
return to work. The guidance in this document may change as additional information
about the severity of the 2009-2010 influenza season and the impact of 2009 H1N1
influenza become known. Please check www.flu.gov periodically for updated guidance
Source: http://www.flu.gov/plan/workplaceplanning/guidance.html
[Return to top]
Government Facilities Sector
36. August 20, Athens Banner Herald – (National) Man sentenced for threats to FBI. An
Auburn man who spent a year behind bars for threatening the former U.S. President got
a new 22-month prison term Wednesday for sending an e-mail saying he planned to
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blow up every FBI office in the nation. The 24-year old suspect was ordered to federal
prison for a year for the bomb threat — which investigators called a hoax — plus 10
months for violating probation on the charge of threatening the former President. The
suspect pleaded guilty in May to using the Internet to threaten to destroy FBI buildings.
The suspect sent the threat February 4 from a public-access computer at the Auburn
Public Library.
Source: http://www.onlineathens.com/stories/082009/new_483498613.shtml
37. August 19, WDAF 4 Kansas City – (Kansas) Diesel leak evacuates Washington High
School. Washington High School in Kansas City was evacuated on Wednesday
morning after a diesel smell traveled through the building. Students were taken to the
football stadium, where buses or parents picked up the students. An official with the
Kansas City, Kansas School District said the smell was coming from a fuel leak in the
boiler room from old diesel fuel furnaces that were no longer in use. Crews were sent in
to soak up the fuel that was floating on water on the basement floor. Wednesday was an
in-service day at Washington High School with dismissal at 12:30, but classes
dismissed early because of the leak. About 1,100 to 1,200 students were evacuated. A
hazmat team was also at the scene testing the air quality. Officials said that there was
no explosive risk at the school, but inhaling the fumes could lead to dizziness and
nausea.
Source: http://www.fox4kc.com/wdaf-diesel-washington-high-081909,0,2974340.story
38. August 19, Nextgov – (National) USDA unit bans browsers other than Internet
Explorer. An Agriculture Department agency has begun enforcing a policy banning
the use of Web browsers other than Microsoft’s Internet Explorer, to the surprise of
employees who rely on other browsers, such as Mozilla’s Firefox, to help in developing
Web sites for public use. An operations manager at USDA’s Cooperative State
Research, Education and Extension Service on Friday e-mailed a memo to CSREES
employees that stated, “In keeping with the requirements of the Federal Desktop Core
Configuration, all third-party browsers will be removed from customer workstations
beginning Tuesday, Aug.18. Internet Explorer is the standard browser and will be
maintained. Netscape, Google Chrome and Firefox will be removed.” The Federal
Desktop Core Configuration, a 2008 government-wide policy administered by the
Office of Management and Budget, requires that agencies standardize operating system
and browser settings to prevent security breaches. OMB officials said the configuration
does not require agencies to bar non-IE browsers.
Source: http://www.nextgov.com/nextgov/ng_20090819_3426.php?oref=topstory
[Return to top]
Emergency Services Sector
39. August 19, Homeland Security Today – (National) Dealing with local disasters
locally. Disaster preparedness and response must be pushed from the level of the
federal government to state and local governments and even to individual US citizens
whenever possible, urged the president of the National Emergency Management
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Association (NEMA) in a forum in Washington, DC, Tuesday. Doing so could vastly
increase preparedness in communities while saving money, said NEMA’s president,
who is the top emergency manager for the state of Ohio. She called for a new paradigm
in declaring federal disasters through resisting calls for federal assistance until
transparent, documented criteria are met, thereby encouraging the management of
disasters at local levels.
Source: http://www.hstoday.us/content/view/9862/149/
40. August 19, WECT 6 Wilmington – (North Carolina) Two counties lack emergency
management directors. Both Bladen and Pender counties in North Carolina are
currently lacking permanent emergency management directors as hurricane season
begins. Both have interim directors in charge. Pender County’s assistant director
assured the public that “nobody should be concerned at this point.” Filing for Pender
County’s vacant position has closed with several people vying for the position.
Source: http://www.wect.com/Global/story.asp?S=10958009
[Return to top]
Information Technology Sector
41. August 19, Internet Evolution – (International) Nasty malware attack targets web
developers. There is a nasty bug going around the Web that targets developers. When a
developer visits an infected site, the page installs a virus on their machine that silently
copies the passwords stored in FileZilla, CuteFTP, and possibly other File Transfer
Protocol (FTP) client software, and sends them to a central server. The server then runs
a bot to access all sites for which credentials have been stolen and installs an iframe
injection attack on many pages, further spreading the infection. Infected sites
occasionally break if they use the Web scripting language PHP, but frequently they
continue to operate, and thus infect more users with the virus. When a search engine
such as Google detects the infection in a site, they may remove the site from their
index, resulting in a financial loss to the site owner. Some browsers may flag the site as
infected and show a warning that scares away users. This attack is interesting because
of the way it spreads, and the risk to developers. No one would want to be the freelance
Web professional who has to explain to a few dozen clients why their sites all got
hacked. Presumably, this attack vector will eventually be used to install a payload, such
as software for sending spam or executing denial-of-service attacks. After all, today’s
best malware is all about making money.
Source: http://www.internetevolution.com/author.asp?section_id=732&doc_id=180663
42. August 19, The Register – (National) Obama site smackdown spam only offers
malware. Spam messages offering links to a tool designed to knock out the website of
the U.S. President lead only to malware. Junk mail ostensibly promoting software that
allows anti-Obama-ists to become cyberactivists says: “If You don’t like Obama come
here, you can help to ddos his site with your installs.” The terse spam message links to
a website where prospective marks are offered money for installing the “packet
flinging” tool. Visitors to the site advertised by the spam are told to come back
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regularly for updates and warned that security scanner software may come to identify
the software on offer as malign, and consign it to quarantine. That is certainly true,
though not for the reasons suggested. The spam was one theme of a larger spam run,
reports email security firm Proofpoint. Other spam messages in the series offered more
typical lures, such as pornography, while again pointing to the same malware
download. As Proofpoint helpfully explains, users would be foolhardy to take the
description offered by hackers at face value. Leaving aside ethical concerns and
potential for prosecution, it is always more likely that any supposed U.S. President
website attack tool would turn compromised machines into spam-relaying zombies than
anything else. “Regardless of your political leanings — installing such software is a
really bad idea,” Proofpoint concludes.
Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/08/19/obama_ddos_tool_ruse/
43. August 18, San Francisco Chronicle – (International) Apple looking into reports of
exploding iPhone/iPod Touches. Apple’s iPhones and iPod Touches are being
examined by the European Commission after a few incidents in which the devices
exploded. There are reportedly two incidents in France involving an iPhone and one in
Britain with an iPod Touch. A spokesperson for the commission said that Apple was
cooperating and labeled the incidents “isolated.” An Apple spokesperson told Reuters
that the company was aware of the reports but would not comment until receiving more
information. In one case, a teenager in France was hurt when an iPhone overheated,
hissed and shattered, sending glass into the boy’s eyes. A similar incident in Britain
reportedly occurred with an iPod Touch that exploded and flew into the air. KIRO TV
in Seattle obtained 800 pages of documents from the Consumer Product Safety
Commission that found there have been 15 reports of burn and fire-related incidents
involving iPods. Last year, after the Japanese government warned of fire risks from
iPod Nanos, Apple offered to replace batteries in some of the devices.
Source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgibin/blogs/techchron/detail?blogid=19&entry_id=45742
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
44. August 20, Data Center Knowledge – (National) State Dept. to consolidate data
centers. The U.S. State Department has posted a notice indicating it will consolidate its
data center, according to Federal Computer Week. The consolidation plans are
described in a presolicitation notice on the Federal Business Opportunities Web site.
- 17 -
The project “includes a broad range of services not limited to hardware and software
evaluation and recommendations, configuration management system design and
implementation, physical server virtualization and transition, and LAN administration
support for server transition and consolidation,” the document states. The U.S.
President’s stimulus plan includes $290 million for a “Capital Investment Fund” for the
Department of State to beef up its IT security and mission-critical operations, with $38
million of that earmarked for the Agency for International Development.
Source: http://www.datacenterknowledge.com/archives/2009/08/20/state-dept-toconsolidate-data-centers/
45. August 19, Localtechwire – (North Carolina) ‘Cloud computing’ likely to be focus of
Apple’s $1B NC data center. Apple’s new $1 billion data center that is to be built in
western North Carolina reportedly will be a mammoth, 500,000-square-foot structure
with a focus on ‘cloud computing.” So says the editor of Data Center Knowledge, a
magazine focused on the data hosting market. In June, North Carolina’s General
Assembly passed legislation awarding generous tax incentives if Apple chose to build
its East Coast data center in North Carolina. However, Apple has been very tight lipped
about some details of the project. “Apple is planning about 500,000 square feet of data
center space in a single building,” the editor told the web site Cult of Mac. “That would
place it among the largest data centers in the world â ¦ This would qualify as a bigaâ ¦data center.” The editor said the size of the facility implies that it would be for
much more than supporting “apps,” or applications, for Apple devices. He therefore
believes the data center would be built to host servers to provide cloud computing
capacity. Apple’s existing data center in California covers 109,000 square feet. The
new center will be built in Maiden, North Carolina on a 255-acre site.
Source: http://localtechwire.com/business/local_tech_wire/news/blogpost/5818065/
[Return to top]
Commercial Facilities Sector
46. August 19, Associated Press – (Missouri) 200 guests evacuated in St. Louis hotel
fire. Nearly 200 guests were evacuated from a downtown St. Louis hotel following an
early morning fire Wednesday. Fire investigators believe a deep fryer started the fire at
the Millennium Hotel around 4 a.m. Several downtown streets were blocked near the
hotel while fire crews worked the fire. Guests were allowed back into their rooms about
an hour later. No one was hurt in the fire.
Source: http://www.bnd.com/breaking_news/story/888400.html
47. August 19, Newark Star-Ledger – (New Jersey) Maryland man admits to hijacking
Atlantic City bus, threatening to blow up casino. A convicted bank robber from
Maryland pleaded guilty in federal court in Trenton, New Jersey on August 19 to
hijacking a shuttle bus in Atlantic City in 2007 and threatening to blow up the
Showboat Hotel and Casino, authorities said. The bank robber said he used an unloaded
BB gun and fake explosives to take several hostages and keep 100 police officers at bay
for five hours on a cold night in November, paralyzing much of downtown Atlantic
- 18 -
City. Up to 2,000 hotel guests, gamblers and employees were evacuated from nearby
hotels and casinos. After demanding $3 million ransom, the 39-year-old home
contractor eventually surrendered peacefully. The man pleaded guilty to kidnapping,
extortion, and making threats to interfere with interstate commerce. His sentencing has
been scheduled for October 19.
Source:
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2009/08/maryland_man_admits_to_hijacki.html
48. August 18, Associated Press – (Oregon) Pool fumes at Sunriver condos prompt
evacuations. The Sunriver Fire Department says a pool attendant accidentally created
hazardous fumes at The Ridge condominiums, prompting the temporary evacuation of
four nearby condo units. Fire officials say two staff members were affected, including
one who sought treatment at St. Charles Medical Center in Bend. Fire officials say the
attendant accidentally mixed muriatic acid and liquid chlorine on Monday. The liquid
was confined to the pool house, but Sunriver police evacuated the four units and called
a hazmat team from Eugene. By the time the team arrived about 2 p.m. Monday, the
fumes no longer posed a threat and the pool was reopened.
Source: http://www.oregonlive.com/newsflash/index.ssf?/base/national49/1250644887211350.xml&storylist=orlocal
49. August 18, Fresno Bee – (California) Odor sickens 10 at Yosemite’s Wawona
Hotel. The main building of the Wawona Hotel in Yosemite National Park closed
about noon today after 10 employees were sickened by an odor in the building. A
hazardous materials crew from Merced, Mariposa County health workers, and National
Park Service paramedics responded. Hotel employees were treated for nausea and
irritated throats. Wawona customers were sent to the Tenaya Lodge for meals and will
stay there if the Wawona stays closed tonight, a Yosemite spokeswoman said shortly
before 8 p.m.
Source: http://www.fresnobee.com/updates/story/1604794.html
50. August 18, Beaumont Enterprise – (Texas) Beaumont tornado causes fear and panic,
no fatalities. A tornado sliced through the heart of Beaumont, Texas’, retail corridor
Tuesday afternoon, collapsing store roofs, overturning vehicles, and causing minor
injuries but no deaths. The twister, which was preliminarily rated an EF-1 with winds
of 86 to 110 mph, closed several area big-box retailers. Hardest hit were a Kohl’s
department store that lost a third of its roof and saw several shoppers briefly trapped in
dressing rooms, and a Wal-Mart where winds rippled the roof, flipped over several
vehicles in the parking lot and hurled shopping carts through the sky. Wal-Mart
employees were readying the store to reopen as soon as possible, a company
spokesman said late Tuesday from Arkansas.
Source: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/metropolitan/6577941.html
[Return to top]
National Monuments and Icons Sector
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51. August 19, Associated Press – (Wyoming) Yellowstone trail closed because of new
hot spots. A popular trail in Yellowstone National Park has been closed because of
new geothermal hot spots that could endanger hikers. Park officials said Wednesday
that geologists will use thermal imaging, temperature readings and a ground survey to
examine hot spots on the Clear Lake Trail. The 1.5 mile-trail overlooks the Upper and
Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Three other Yellowstone trails
have reopened after repairs: a boardwalk in the Back Basin of the Norris Geyser Basin,
Uncle Tom’s Trail on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and the
Wraith Falls Trail.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/news/ci_13159005
[Return to top]
Dams Sector
52. August 20, Delhi News Bureau – (New York) Repairs OK’d for old dam. The Delhi,
New York Village Board agreed Monday to remove a portion of a dam on Steele
Brook. This will allow the stream to return to its original course and lower the dam to a
point that it will no longer be a regulated structure. The village mayor said previously
that the dam was partially breached during the 2006 flood to avoid having the structure
give way and cause massive flooding in the village. The dam was originally part of a
reservoir that supplied Delhi’s drinking water, but it is no longer in use. He said during
the flood, a portion of the dam next to the spillway was torn out, allowing the water to
empty through the gap in the dam rather than over the spillway. The board approved
spending not more than $61,000 to complete the work, using the contractor who holds
the county bid. He said the project will lower the spillway portion of the dam to allow
the water to flow over that section and return the stream to its normal streambed.
Lowering the dam by two feet will remove the structure’s status as a dam and from
state oversight. In its current state, the dam is subject to all of the inspection and repair
requirements that larger dams.
Source: http://www.thedailystar.com/local/local_story_232040031.html
53. August 19, Mid Columbia Tri-City Herald – (Washington) Corps to replace
navigation lock gate at Lower Monumental. The Army Corps of Engineers plans to
replace the downstream navigation lock gate at Lower Monumental Lock and Dam on
the Snake River (Kahlotus, Washington) with over $10 million in federal stimulus
money, the Corps said on August 19. Inspections of the gate showed structural fatigue
and required annual welding repairs to continue reliable operations, the Corps said in a
statement. Replacing the gate will include fabrication and construction work,
employing an estimated 523 people. Work is expected to take from seven to 10 months.
Project managers said they estimate installation of the new gate will take about 13 to 16
weeks and is planned to occur during late-2010 to early 2011. More than 1,000
recreational and commercial vessels were locked past Lower Monumental Dam last
year. Commercial vessels transported almost 2.2 million tons of commodities through
that lock, the Corps said. The Corps’ Walla Walla District says it will fund about $48
million worth of projects, employing an estimated 1,888 people with direct and indirect
- 20 -
jobs over the next two years.
Source: http://www.tri-cityherald.com/945/story/686564.html
54. August 19, Meridian Star – (Mississippi) Phase II of the Bonita Lakes dam project
due to start in Sept. Work is scheduled to begin on or around September 1 to restore
the structural integrity of the lower dam at Bonita Lakes, Mississippi to restore normal
pool elevation. The project is expected to take about 180 days to complete. During the
construction, portions of the walking track and other areas will not be accessible due to
the operation of heavy equipment in the area. The water level in the lake will be
lowered to allow for work in the lake and along the dam. Trees that are causing
problems along the southwest part of the earthen dam will be removed and portions of
the drainage channel along the northeast side will be replaced with a concrete box
culvert and gabions to address erosion issues. Gabions are mesh baskets full of large
rocks that line the walls of the water channel. Funding for the repairs are from a
Hurricane Katrina Community Development Block Grant administered by the
Mississippi Development Authority and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development.
Source: http://www.meridianstar.com/local/local_story_231232408.html
[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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