Homeland
Security
Current Nationwide
Threat Level
ELEVATED
Daily Open Source Infrastructure
Report for 12 August 2009
Significant Risk of Terrorist Attacks
For information, click here:
http://www.dhs.gov
Top Stories

Reuters reports that Unit 3 at the Indian Point nuclear power station in Buchanan, New
York shut on Monday during a thunderstorm. (See item 7)

According to CNN, Kuwaiti security forces arrested six Kuwaitis linked to al Qaeda who
planned to attack Camp Arifjan, a major logistics base for the U.S. military, during the
upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the country’s state-run news agency reported
Tuesday. (See item 29)
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 11, Associated Press – (West Virginia) McDowell Co. coal truck fire ruled
arson, reward offered. The state Fire Marshal’s Office is offering a reward for
information about an arson that destroyed four coal trucks in McDowell County. The
fire occurred early Sunday in Keystone. Three firefighters were injured fighting the
blaze and a fifth truck was damaged. The Fire Marshal’s Office ruled the fire as an
arson. A reward of up to $2,000 is being offered for information leading to an arrest
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and conviction. The assistant state fire marshal estimates the cost of damage and
cleanup will be nearly $1 million. The trucks are owned by Appalachian Leasing Inc.
of Rocky Gap, Virginia. An office manager says the trucks were used to haul coal from
Bluestone Coal’s mines near Keystone to its preparation plant.
Source: http://sundaygazettemail.com/News/200908110171
2. August 10, Reuters – (International) U.S., Mexico probe oil thefts from Mexican
company. The U.S. and Mexican governments are probing a scheme to steal millions
of dollars worth of crude oil and refined products from Mexico’s state-owned oil
company and sell it to U.S. refiners, a U.S. official said on August 10. “There is a
cooperative effort by the United States and Mexican governments to investigate the
theft of petroleum products from Mexico,” said a spokeswoman for the U.S. Attorney’s
office in Houston. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency (ICE) will hold
a news conference in San Antonio on August 11 to announce that the United States will
return $2.4 million in funds generated from oil smuggling to the Mexican government,
the agency said. At least one U.S. energy industry executive has pleaded guilty in a
scheme to steal about $2 million worth of petroleum products from Mexico’s state oil
monopoly Pemex and sell it to U.S. refiners. The president of Houston-based Trammo
Petroleum, pleaded guilty in May to smuggling stolen petroleum products, including
crude oil condensate, from Pemex, according to court documents. Trammo Petroleum
purchased the stolen petroleum products, which were shipped into the United States on
barges and trucks then sold them to unspecified unnamed companies, according to
documents filed by the U.S. government in May 2009.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssEnergyNews/idUSN1045829320090810
3. August 10, Associated Press – (New York) 2 die as thousands lose power in storms,
flooding. Gowanda, a rural valley town of 2,600 people 30 miles south of Buffalo,
New York appeared to be one of the worst-hit areas in the state. A hospital was
evacuated and more than 80 residents spent the night in a school after swollen creeks
breached their banks Sunday, flooding homes and streets overnight. Of the town’s
1,000 or so homes, 300 to 400 were damaged, authorities said.The New York governor
declared a state disaster emergency and promised help for Cattaraugus, Chautauqua and
Erie counties. Authorities said the storms toppled trees and power lines, and severe
flooding was also reported in nearby Silver Creek, where dozens of trailers in a mobile
home park were lifted from their lots. The storms knocked out power Sunday to more
than 20,000 utility customers in western New York and about half of them remained
without power on August 10.
Source: http://www.newsday.com/2-die-as-thousands-lose-power-in-storms-flooding1.1359156
See item 27
4. August 10, KPCC 89.3 Pasadena – (California) Chevron refinery ammonia spill
draws violations from regulators. For 11 days at the end of June, a pollution control
device at Chevron’s El Segundo plant was not working as it was supposed to, so the
equipment released an unusually high amount of ammonia gas. Functioning correctly,
the equipment releases some ammonia into the air, but this time Chevron reported
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releasing seven times the amount of the gas rules allow for more than a week and a
half. The company did inform state emergency managers, but the South Coast Air
Quality Management District learned of the spill from KPCC. Regulators set limits on
ammonia pollution because it contributes to smog, poses respiratory concerns for
people nearby, and can contribute to warming climate. An AQMD spokesman says
now that Chevron’s gotten a notice of violations, the district and the company will
work to determine penalties out of court.
Source: http://www.scpr.org/news/2009/08/10/chevron-ammonia/
5. August 7, Morris County Daily Record – (New Jersey) Driver of tanker that flipped
in Morris Twp. charged. The driver of the tanker truck that tipped over August 5 and
spilled 7,000 gallons of gasoline was charged with careless driving, authorities said on
August 6. Environmental officials said they hired more than a dozen companies to
clean up the spill, and that work continued on August 6. People who were evacuated
from nearby buildings were allowed to return the night of August 5. The driver was
driving a 1995 Mack gasoline tanker truck and trying to make a left turn from
Columbia Turnpike onto Whippany Road at 3:36 p.m. when the truck fell over on its
right side, landing at the intersection of Whippany Road and Lindsley Drive, authorities
said. The driver works for Lee Transport Systems LLC, based in Elmer. Some 7,000
gallons of gasoline leaked from the tanker and entered parts of the Whippany River,
wetlands, and parts of the Frelinghuysen Arboretum, said a spokesman for the Morris
County Prosecutor. Several roads closed after the accident had reopened by early
August 6 and normal traffic patterns were back into effect. Lindsley Drive, where a
Morris County Hazardous Materials unit spent the overnight hours removing the fuel
that leaked from the truck, reopened at 5 a.m. A State Department of Environmental
Protection spokesperson said that the state agency contracted about 15 companies to
clean up the affected areas. As a preventive measure, firefighters sprayed foam to
suppress gasoline vapors.
Source:
http://www.dailyrecord.com/article/20090807/COMMUNITIES/90806054/1005/NEW
S01/Driver+of+tanker+that+flipped+in+Morris+Twp.+charged
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Chemical Industry Sector
6. August 10, Associated Press and Charleston Gazette – (West Virginia) Chemical
board chief says Bayer probe is dragging. The chairman of the U.S. Chemical Safety
Board says a final report on a deadly explosion at the Bayer CropScience plant in
Institute is taking longer than expected. He says the board is investigating whether the
plant should continue storing the deadly chemical methyl isocyanate. As a result, he
says it could be spring before the report on the August 2008 explosion is finished. The
board has said safety lapses contributed to the explosion, which killed two workers.
Source: http://wvgazette.com/ap/ApTopStories/200908100115
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Nuclear Reactors, Materials and Waste Sector
7. August 11, Reuters – (New York) Entergy sees NY Indian Point 3 reactor back
soon. Entergy Corp planned to restart the 1,025-megawatt Unit 3 at the Indian Point
nuclear power station in New York later this week, after it shut on Monday during a
thunderstorm, the company said in a release Tuesday. The company said a lightning
strike in the vicinity of the Buchanan switchyard located across the street from the plant
likely caused an electrical disturbance that shut the unit. The switchyard connects the
plant to the power grid. The plant shut as designed with no damage to equipment, no
release of radioactivity and no threat to workers or the public, the company said.
Source:
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSN1150187920
090811
8. August 11, Environmental Protection – (National) NRC to webcast meeting on
lowlevel waste disposal problems. The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission is
asking hospitals, universities, and others who use radioactive materials for research to
explain how they are affected by limited access to low-level waste disposal facilities. If
important research has been affected or stopped because disposal is limited, NRC wants
to know and factor that into future decisions, according to its announcement of an
October 7 public meeting on this topic that appeared in the Federal Register. The
meeting will take place at NRC’s Rockville, Maryland, headquarters, and the public
will be able to participate via a Webcast. NRC’s public Web site will provide Webcast
and meeting details starting in late September. Comments may be submitted until
October 20.
Source: http://eponline.com/articles/2009/08/11/nrc-to-webcast-meeting-on-lowlevelwaste-disposal-problems.aspx
9. August 10, MarketWatch – (International) Japan earthquake forces shutdown of
nuclear plants. An earthquake Tuesday morning in Japan prompted an emergency
shutdown of two nuclear reactors in Shizuoka prefecture, southwest of Tokyo, the
Kyodo news agency reported. It cited Chubu Electric Power Co. as saying operations at
the facilities were suspended automatically, and the radioactive level at one of the
reactors “temporarily went up, although there was no radioactive leakage.”
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/japan-earthquake-forces-shutdown-ofnuclear-plants-2009-08-10
10. August 8, Associated Press – (Alabama) TVA plan for Ala. nuclear plant drops to 1
reactor. The Tennessee Valley Authority has reduced its plans for a potentially fourunit nuclear plant in northeast Alabama down to one reactor. The federal utility said
Friday that it is preparing a supplemental environmental impact statement to consider a
single nuclear unit for its Bellefonte site near Scottsboro, Alabama. TVA officials say
that single unit might be one of the two advanced reactors for which it has already
applied for a combined construction and operating license. Or it might be one of the
two unfinished reactors that have been mothballed at the site for 35 years.
Source:
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http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5j8LDqnaahUlZ8nJmKO1cjeK0
NF_QD99U91381
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Critical Manufacturing Sector
11. August 11, Reliable Plant – (Pennsylvania) OSHA fines Pennsylvania manufacturer
for crane hazards. The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health
Administration (OSHA) has cited Schuylkill Products Inc. in Cressona, Pennsylvania,
for alleged workplace safety and health violations, proposing $65,800 in penalties.
OSHA initiated an investigation on March 4 in response to a complaint. As a result of
the investigation, the company received citations for one willful violation with a
$56,000 penalty and two serious violations, with a $9,800 penalty. Investigators issued
the willful citation after finding cranes being loaded beyond their rated load capacity
during normal operations. OSHA defines a willful violation as one committed with
plain indifference to, or intentional disregard for, employee safety and health. The
serious violations were cited for overhead cranes that were not equipped with devices
that would prevent the automatic restart of the crane’s motor in the event of a power
failure, and for failing to perform annual crane inspections. A serious citation is issued
when there is substantial probability that death or serious physical harm could result
and the employer knew, or should have known, of the hazard. “The employer regularly
lifted 60 to 107 tons of precast concrete beams with cranes ill-equipped to handle this
kind of load, exposing workers to a variety of hazards,” said the area director of
OSHA’s Wilkes-Barre office. Schuylkill Products Inc. is a precast concrete
manufacturer that employs about 125 workers.
Source:
http://www.reliableplant.com/article.aspx?articleid=19373&pagetitle=OSHA+fines+Pe
nnsylvania+manufacturer+for+crane+hazards
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Defense Industrial Base Sector
12. August 11, Aviation Week – (National) U.S. Navy pushes back first flight on
UCAS. The U.S. Navy has pushed the first flight of its Unmanned Combat Air System
(UCAS) out several weeks so it can examine anomalies that arose during recently
completed proof-load testing. The Navy UCAS program manager said the anomalies
discovered will require a second look, but he stressed they do not yet seem to require a
redesign. “This is fairly normal for a new design,” he said August 10 on the flight
demonstration day of the Association for Unmanned Vehicle Systems International
(AUVSI) show. “I’m not too worried about it.” He said although first flight has been
pushed from mid-November to later in that month and possibly into December, he does
not anticipate a cost overrun. “We’re tracking pretty well. In any program you budget
for a certain matter of [issues],” he said. He said the Navy laid out an aggressive
program schedule with an eye to keeping costs down. “That’s why our pace is
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continuously running,” he said. “We said we would fly in late 2009 back in 2007 and
we’re right on that line.” He attributed the proof-load testing anomalies to the
composites used on the airframe. Aluminum or metal construction would have been
“legacy aircraft technology,” he said. “We wanted to take a look at what composites
bring to the table for a carrier-based aircraft.” When composites are placed on a proofload fixture, however, he said the materials’ behavior may be different than anticipated.
The system’s control surfaces and edges are built from composites. Those will be
removed from the test fixture and run through proof-load testing again independently.
Source:
http://www.aviationweek.com/aw/generic/story.jsp?id=news/UCAS081109A.xml&hea
dline=U.S. Navy Pushes Back First Flight On UCAS&channel=defense
13. August 9, Knoxville News Sentinel – (Tennessee) Are steroids a problem in nuclear
weapons complex? The government is taking a closer look at steroid use in the nuclear
weapons complex because of recent incidents involving security guards in Oak Ridge.
Two guards quit and two others were fired at the Y-12 nuclear weapons plant after
testing positive for anabolic steroids. A spokesman for the National Nuclear Security
Administration in Washington said the federal agency is reviewing the requirements for
random steroid testing as a result of the Oak Ridge incidents. “Currently, random
steroid testing is not part of the corporate employee screening process for contractors
operating across the (nuclear weapons) enterprise,” he said. “However, tests can be
conducted where there is probable cause or if warranted by specific occurrences. The
Department is reviewing the random testing requirements as a result of this recent
incident.” Oak Ridge has become ground zero for the steroid issue. The union
(International Guards Union of America) is contesting the two firings because the
guards claimed they did not use anabolic steroids. Wackenhut Services, the security
contractor in Oak Ridge, has acknowledged that some legal supplements can cause the
positive tests, but said it is the individual’s responsibility to monitor what goes into
their bodies. The union president in Oak Ridge said security police officers were never
given a definitive drug policy and only received a “generic list” of banned substances.
A spokeswoman for Wackenhut Services Inc. in Oak Ridge said a couple of weeks ago
that Wackenhut had stepped up its drug testing in light of the positive tests for steroids.
She said that company had put into effect a “random/random” test protocol whereby a
random sampling of the random samples – taken for evaluation of Schedule I and II
drugs, such as cocaine and marijuana – would be set aside and tested specifically for
steroids. Some observers have suggested that the Oak Ridge testing may have opened
up a big can of worms for the Department of Energy because of the use of
performance-enhancing supplements among security guards, who must pass rigorous
physical tests in order to keep them jobs.
Source:
http://blogs.knoxnews.com/munger/2009/08/are_steroids_a_problem_in_nucl.html
[Return to top]
Banking and Finance Sector
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14. August 10, Bloomberg – (New York) Ex-Credit Suisse brokers lied on rates, Tzolov
says. A former Credit Suisse Group AG broker and his colleague “juiced up the rates”
in sales pitches to clients, promising interest rates on federally backed student loans
that were higher than the actual rates at the time, the broker testified in his colleague’s
trial. “If the interest rate at the time was 4.92 or 4.93, I would add four or five points on
top of it and show it to a prospective client to entice them to consider the product,” the
broker testified today in Brooklyn, New York, under questioning by an assistant U.S.
attorney. The broker and his colleague were charged in 2008 with falsely telling clients
they were investing in federally guaranteed student loans that were a safe alternative to
money-market funds or bank deposits. In fact they invested in riskier securities paying
higher commissions, the government said. Testimony in the colleague’s trial before a
U.S. district judge began July 23, the day after the broker pleaded guilty to conspiracy,
wire fraud and securities fraud. He awaits sentencing. The colleague is charged with
one count each of conspiracy, securities fraud and wire fraud. The former brokers were
not concerned that a client might discover the disparity after the purchase, the broker
testified. “Rates are always changing, and we could always say that rates came down,”
he said.
Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=adv1BV.yv9P4
15. August 10, New York Times – (Texas) Bank will allow customers to deposit checks
by iPhone. The Internet has taken a lot of the paperwork out of banking, but there is no
avoiding paper when someone gives you a check. Now one bank wants to let customers
deposit checks immediately — through their phones. USAA, a privately held bank and
insurance company, plans to update its iPhone application this week to introduce the
check deposit feature, which requires a customer to photograph both sides of the check
with the phone’s camera. “We’re essentially taking an image of the check, and once
you hit the send button, that image is going into our deposit-taking system as any other
check would,” said a USAA executive vice president. Customers will not have to mail
the check to the bank later; the deposit will be handled entirely electronically, and the
bank suggests voiding the check and filing or discarding it. But to reduce the potential
for fraud, only customers who are eligible for credit and have some type of insurance
through USAA will be permitted to use the deposit feature. The vice president said that
about 60 percent of the bank’s customers qualify. USAA may seem like an unlikely
innovator in mobile banking. It ranks in size just below the top 20 banks in the United
States, and serves mostly military personnel, though many of its products are available
to anyone. But with just one branch, in San Antonio, and customers deployed all over
the world, the company has been aggressively developing an anytime, anywhere
banking strategy. Three years ago, it introduced the option of depositing a check from
home using a scanner. That laid the groundwork for the phone deposit feature, which
USAA plans to offer on other phones this year.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/10/technology/10check.html?_r=2
16. August 10, Associated Press – (National) Feds allege Mo. funeral scheme could cost
$600M. An executive of a defunct funeral contract company is facing federal fraud
charges in an alleged scheme to loot hundreds of millions of dollars from customers’
prepaid funeral accounts. Attorneys for the executive said on August 10 that he will
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plead not guilty at an August 12 arraignment in federal court in St. Louis. The
executive was president and chief financial officer of National Prearranged Services
Inc. and a director of two of its affiliated life insurance companies, all of which
collapsed financially last year. The indictment unsealed on August 7 alleges a decadelong scheme in which officials at National Prearranged Services altered documents to
change the terms and beneficiaries of their customers’ prepaid funeral contracts. The
St. Louis-based company is accused of using various financial transactions — often
involving its Austin, Texas-based affiliates, Lincoln Memorial Life and Memorial
Service Life — to siphon money from customers’ accounts. It then sent reports to
funeral homes showing false account balances, the indictment said. The pre-purchase of
caskets, burial vaults and funerals has become a regular and important part of business
for many funeral homes. Customers who buy a funeral package valued at $5,000, for
example, are guaranteed to receive the same services even if the price has increased to
$8,500 by the time of death. Under such arrangements, money for a prepaid funeral
generally is placed in a trust account that bears interest. The collapse of National
Prearranged Services and its affiliated insurance companies resulted in more than $600
million worth of losses on prepaid funeral accounts. States’ insurance guarantee funds
are covering the original face value of the contracts, but not the inflation-adjusted cost
of the funerals themselves. That has left funeral homes on the hook for the rest of their
costs. The executive is among 45 defendants named in a civil racketeering, fraud and
fiduciary negligence lawsuit filed on August 6 in federal court in St. Louis against
officials of National Prearranged Services, its insurance affiliates and various banks,
law firms, auditors and investment advisers connected to the consortium of companies.
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gpeAnIP_Wg_yvHDrQGon2F
M9WB_AD9A09BUO0
17. August 10, WEAU 13 Eau Claire – (Wisconsin) Text messaging scam hits cell phones
during weekend. Police are warning people about a text messaging scam that hit cell
phones recently. La Crosse Police say cell phone customers got a message that shows
their credit card was deactivated. Officers say it also directs them to call a phone
number to reactivate their credit card. Banks and credit unions in the area heard from
customers asking if the message was legitimate. Police say it appears to be a phishing
scam, aimed at getting personal and banking information.
Source: http://www.weau.com/home/headlines/52887822.html
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Transportation Sector
18. August 11, Agence France-Presse – (International) China says separatists threatened
Afghan flight. China refused an Afghan airliner permission to land after intelligence
indicated a possible threat from separatists seeking independence for the restive
western region of Xinjiang, an official Communist Party newspaper said Tuesday. The
Global Times said authorities in Xinjiang received a report August 9 that a Kam Air
flight that evening to Urumqi, the regional capital, could “possibly be threatened” by a
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group or groups seeking independence for the region, known as East Turkestan by the
separatists. Following takeoff, separate officials in Urumqi received further information
claiming a bomb was on board, prompting them to refuse permission for it to land, the
newspaper said, citing an unidentified regional official. The flight — the private
airline’s first on its new route from Kabul to Urumqi — was diverted to Kandahar in
southern Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s counterterrorism chief, said there was no bomb on
the plane.
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gnBqczgQmXYgnfwSmCLoCOMpfCgD9A0JGPO0
19. August 11, Associated Press – (District of Columbia) Metro worker tests positive for
drugs after allowing train to leave yard with too many cars. An investigation into
how a Metro train was allowed to leave the yard with too many cars has revealed that
one employee was using drugs. A green line train left the Greenbelt station shortly
before 5 p.m. on July 31 with 10 cars. The transit system can only accommodate trains
with a maximum of eight cars. A passenger notified the train operator of the extra cars
about 20 minutes later. As part of the investigation, the workers responsible for
preparing the train underwent drug and alcohol testing. A Metro spokesman says one
employee tested positive for drugs. He says the worker is now in rehab and is not
currently drawing a salary.
Source: http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,538906,00.html?test=latestnews
20. August 11, New York Times – (New York) Officials demand tighter control, or even
a ban, of Hudson air traffic. A half-dozen elected officials lined up along the Hudson
River on August 10 and called for changes in how the airspace above the river is
controlled in the aftermath of the August 8 fatal collision of a plane and helicopter. One
called for banning all air traffic along the corridor if the federal authorities did not have
the technology or manpower to monitor and manage it; another called for requiring all
aircraft to have crash avoidance technology. Even the New York Mayor, a pilot and the
man in charge of safeguarding the city’s residents and its economy, said at a later news
briefing that he would welcome responsible changes in the oversight of the air corridor.
The chairwoman of the National Transportation Safety Board which is investigating the
August 8 crash, said the safety board had made dozens of recommendations to the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and the touring helicopter industry about
improving safety in unrestricted airspace and in the air tour industry, many of which
were not acted on. She cited no specific recommendations, and did not say whether any
of them might have had relevance to the crash on August 8, the cause of which is far
from determined. But she did seem to express some frustration. The FAA has neither
the equipment nor personnel to manage the traffic that flies in the unrestricted space up
to 1,100 feet above the Hudson in a way that would meaningfully limit accidents, said a
retired controller at the Kennedy International Airport tower. “The problem is the tall
buildings,” he said, saying the structures block radar signals so air traffic controllers
cannot see the aircraft to keep them separated. “These airplanes are at 400 or 500 feet,
and the buildings are getting in the way.” In addition, he and others said, there are
nowhere near enough controllers to handle the “weekend warriors,” private pilots who
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turn up on weekends all year long for a jaunt or a sightseeing trip.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/11/nyregion/11collide.html?hpw
For another story, see item 5
[Return to top]
Postal and Shipping Sector
Nothing to report
[Return to top]
Agriculture and Food Sector
21. August 11, Associated Press – (Iowa) Ag sec says Iowa’s crops still in good
shape. Despite two major storms that damaged hundreds of millions of dollars of crops,
Iowa’s corn and soybeans are still in good shape this year, the state secretary of
agriculture said Tuesday. A storm in late July battered farms in six counties in northeast
Iowa, causing $200 million in damage. Another storm on Sunday pelted five northern
Iowa counties. Damage from that storm was still being assessed, he said. Hardin
County was among the hardest hit Sunday. The governor was touring Eldora on
Tuesday. On Sunday, he issued an emergency disaster proclamation for Hardin County.
The storm hit in a band along U.S. Highway 20 in Webster, Calhoun, Hamilton, Hardin
and Grundy counties. The state secretary of agriculture said some fields were affected
while others were not. “This Eldora storm impacted maybe 5,000 or 10,000 acres. That
area up there, there were 450,000 acres hit by hail and 75,000 acres that was totally
destroyed,” he said.
Source: http://wcco.com/wireapnewsia/Iowa.assessing.crop.2.1123253.html
22. August 11, Charlotte Observer – (North Carolina) Building evacuated after chlorine
leak. Statesville, North Carolina police and fire officials evacuated a building in the
city’s downtown area briefly at midday Monday after a reported chlorine leak. Chlorine
was reported leaking about 11:30 a.m. at the Bartlett Milling animal feed building on
South Center Street. An undetermined number of people were ordered to leave. The
Statesville Fire Department said it brought the leak under control by 12:30 p.m. No
injuries were reported. The American Red Cross set up an evacuation shelter at the site
and provided food and drinks for workers and those forced to leave the building in the
90-degree-plus heat.
Source: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/breaking/story/881293.html
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Water Sector
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23. August 11, Mobile Press-Register – (Alabama) Electrical problem causes sewer spill
at Fairhope wastewater treatment plant. Early Sunday morning, a six-hour power
shutdown at the Fairhope, Alabama Public Utilities wastewater treatment plant caused
the release of about 300,000 gallons of tainted effluent into Mobile Bay. The hourslong discharge was not of raw sewage, but liquid that had been cleared of solids, oils
and grit for two days, said the city’s water and sewer superintendent. But the released
liquid did not go through the final step of treatment, ultraviolet disinfection. At about 1
a.m. August 9, a motor that turns a rotating arm in one of the treatment plant’s settling
pools burned out, he said. For reasons unknown, the motor’s burnout shut off the
plant’s main power breaker. After hours of work, the treatment plant was up and
running normally again by 7 a.m., he said. “It should have tripped one of the smaller
breakers first, but instead it tripped the main, 1,200-amp breaker,” he said. He has
asked Thompson Engineering, a firm that acts as the city’s engineer, to inspect the
treatment plant’s electrical system to determine the accident’s cause. During the
electrical shutdown, the discharge flowed along the plant’s outfall line, which ends
3,000 feet west of the Mobile Bay shoreline. The flow of liquid through the plant’s
gravity-fed system cannot be stopped without causing a massive overflow at the plant
itself.
Source: http://blog.al.com/live/2009/08/electrical_problem_causes_sewe.html
24. August 10, Water Technology Online – (Massachusetts) E. coli in Boston suburb’s
water. Officials in Milford, Massachusetts on August 9 told residents to boil water
used for drinking and cooking after E. coli bacteria were detected in the town’s water
supply, according to local reports. The source of the contamination still is unknown,
according to an August 10 NECN.com report. The Milford Water Co., a private
company, detected the elevated levels of total coliform and E. coli bacteria last week.
The lag time between the discovery of contamination on August 5 and public
announcement has some town officials upset. A selectman told The Milford Daily
News that the timing is “unacceptable,” MyFoxBoston.com reported August 10. The
water company manager said it is the first time in his 25 years with the company that
residents were advised to boil water. An investigation is under way and chlorine levels
in the supply have been boosted.
Source: http://watertechonline.com/news.asp?N_ID=72382
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Public Health and Healthcare Sector
25. August 11, Xinhua – (International) India on verge of panic over spread of A/H1N1
flu. India is virtually in the grip of A/H1N1 flu with the virus gradually spreading
across the country and claiming its eighth victim Tuesday, a 13-year-old girl from the
western city of Pune. More than 1,000 cases of the new flu strain have been reported
across India. Pune, which accounts for five of the eight deaths nationwide, has recorded
the highest number of cases, followed by the national capital where some 228 cases
have been confirmed so far. It is also the worst affected place where a number of
schools have been shut temporarily over fears of children contracting the disease. All
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these indicate that the country is in panic, despite government’s repeated assurance that
it has enough stocks of the anti-flu drug, Tamiflu, and adequate flu testing centers, say
experts.
Source: http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-08/11/content_11864522.htm
26. August 10, Associated Press – (National) Flu planners fear ERs flooded with the
not-so-sick. Fearing swamped ERs, the government is working with worried doctors to
develop hot lines or interactive Web sites to help the flu-riddled decide when they
really need a hospital — and when to stay home. With flu season rapidly approaching,
the plans are not finished yet, and it is too soon to know how many people could access
such programs. Every winter, crowded emergency rooms are flooded with hacking
sufferers of the regular flu. When swine flu appeared last spring, ERs in New York and
other hard-hit areas had a similar surge — and most visits were by the mildly ill, not
those in real danger. More ominous, both types of flu are expected to spread widely this
fall and winter. Exactly how call centers may work or even how many has not been
finalized. In the meantime, the CDC has given states and hospitals guidelines on how to
open their own — using existing phone-banks like poison-control centers plus the
agency’s latest information on flu risk and treatment — while exploring whether the
government can create a more comprehensive system.
Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5iIrZkQG50XQd4YcdpF55gQK
HnUSgD9A08H4O0
27. August 10, WGRZ 2 Buffalo – (New York) Tri-County Hospital in Gowanda
closed. All programs and services at Tri-County Hospital in Gowanda are cancelled
until further notice because the hospital is flooded and has no power or phone service.
A spokesperson said the hospital, with assistance from Cattaraugus County EMS
officials, is in the process of evacuating about 45 patients. Most of them will be taken
to Tri-County’s Lakeshore campus in Irving until conditions improve.
Source: http://www.wgrz.com/news/local/story.aspx?storyid=69343&provider=gnews
See item 3
28. August 6, Global Security Newswire – (National) Security problems persist at U.S.
biolabs, report finds. On August 6, the Government Accountability Office (GAO)
released a report on security measures at biological defense laboratories that handle the
most lethal disease agents. The GAO faulted the “limited action” of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention to establish a consistent security strategy for the
nation’s five Biosafety Level 4 laboratories, which handle incurable disease agents
such as Ebola, the Associated Press reported after obtaining a copy of the document
before its release.”Although CDC has taken some modest steps for studying how to
improve perimeter security controls for all BSL-4 labs, CDC has not established a
detailed plan to implement our recommendation,” the report states. A CDC panel is
expected to review security vulnerabilities at the sites; congressional auditors urged the
agency to release records that would open its proceedings to public scrutiny.
Source: http://gsn.nti.org/gsn/nw_20090806_6341.php
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[Return to top]
Government Facilities Sector
29. August 11, CNN – (International) Report: Six arrested in al Qaeda plot on U.S. base
in Kuwait. Kuwaiti security forces arrested six Kuwaitis linked to al Qaeda who
planned to attack a U.S. military installation, the country’s state-run news agency
reported Tuesday. The suspects had planned to bomb Camp Arifjan during the
upcoming Muslim holy month of Ramadan, Kuwaiti security sources said. The plot
also involved an attack on Kuwait’s State Security Service headquarters and other
government facilities, according to the Kuwait News Agency, which cited a statement
from the Interior Ministry. An investigation into the alleged plot linked to al Qaeda is
ongoing, the news agency reported. Two suspects confessed Tuesday that they planned
the attacks. The other four suspects will be interrogated Wednesday, the sources said.
Pentagon and U.S. military officials had no information about the reported plot on
Camp Arifjan, the forward headquarters for the U.S. Army Central Command in the
region. It is a major logistics base for the U.S. military and generally houses thousands
of American troops.
Source:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/meast/08/11/al.qaeda.plot.foiled/index.html
30. August 8, Reading Eagle – (Pennsylvania) Reading bomb squad searches car parked
near courthouse. The Reading, Pennsylvania police bomb squad responded to the 600
block of Court Street on Friday afternoon to search a vehicle in a parking garage near
the Berks County Courthouse and county services center. Police closed the sidewalk
about 5:30 and opened a vehicle at the request of the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, officials said. The bomb squad was called because
there was a fear that the vehicle might be booby-trapped, officials said. No explosives
were found. Reading police cleared the scene after about 30 minutes, and ATF agents
searched the vehicle. Police said the vehicle is owned by a man on parole who is the
subject of a federal investigation. Officials would not disclose the man’s name, age or
address, but said ATF agents and state troopers also searched a Womelsdorf property
Friday afternoon as part of the investigation. The ATF and state police did not release
any information about the investigation.
Source: http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=151701
[Return to top]
Emergency Services Sector
31. August 11, Philadelphia Inquirer – (National) Outdated 911 centers can’t handle
texting. The technology to send text messages has long been available. But the money
to upgrade 911 call centers to receive them has not. “I see this as a terrific problem,”
said Southern New Jersey’s vice president of the National Emergency Number
Association (NENA) and 911 coordinator for the Burlington County Department of
Public Safety in Westampton. “More and more people rely on text messaging. The
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younger generation is using texting more than voice,” she said. Several states, including
New Jersey, have used millions of dollars that had been dedicated to “enhanced 911
services” to plug state budget gaps or to pay for other public safety initiatives. The lack
of funds has prevented call centers in New Jersey and Pennsylvania from obtaining
upgraded computer systems and communication lines and to train 911 staffs to receive
text messages. The only center in the country with capability to directly receive text
messages began service this month in Black Hawk County, Iowa. Upgrading the
nation’s 911 operations to Internet protocol-based broadband systems could cost tens of
millions of dollars and take three years once the funds are available.
Source: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20090811_9-11_centers_lack_funds_to_handle_texting.html
32. August 11, WJHG 7 Panama City Beach – (Florida) Police respond to bomb threat at
Jackson Juvenile Offender Correction Center. On Monday, Marianna, Florida
police officers, along with the Marianna Fire Department responded to the Jackson
Juvenile Offender Correction Center (JJOCC) in reference to a bomb threat. After
arriving on scene, the JJOCC was thoroughly searched, and shortly after, an
investigation began. During that time, it was learned that one of the Juvenile Offenders
had written a note, which was found and turned over to security. The juvenile offender
will be charged with a felony count of Making a False Bomb Threat on or Against a
State Facility.
Source: http://www.wjhg.com/news/headlines/52957212.html
33. August 10, Wilmington Star News – (North Carolina) TB cases number 42 from
Brunswick jail outbreak. Brunswick County, North Carolina health officials said 42
people have tested positive for tuberculosis in connection with an outbreak at the
county jail last month. Of the 650 inmates – current and former – and jail workers
tested, only two people have had the active, contagious forms of the illness, the health
director reported to the county’s health board Monday night. There is one other person,
a former inmate, whose X-rays have come back questionable so he is being examined
to see if the bacterial infection has reached his lungs, which means the disease can be
spread to others. The health department requires those who test positive, either with
contagious or non-contagious forms of the disease to take medication for several
months to keep the potentially deadly illness under control and from spreading in the
community. So far, the health department’s response has cost more than $21,000, the
health director said.
Source:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/article/20090810/ARTICLES/908109952/1018/LETT
ERS?Title=TB-cases-number-42-from-Brunswick-jail-outbreak
34. August 10, U.S. Department of Justice – (National) ICE and DOJ sign agreements to
share information on drug trafficking and organized crime. U.S. Immigration and
Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) signed two
Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) on Thursday, August 6, 2009, to foster
increased communication between participating agencies at the Organized Crime Drug
Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) Fusion Center and the International Organized
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Crime Intelligence and Operations Center (IOC-2). By becoming an active participate
in the OCDETF Fusion Center as outlined in one MOU, ICE will be adding more than
25 million records, including reports of investigation, wiretap intercept information and
financial investigative material, from its drug-related investigations and drug-related
financial investigations to the Fusion Center. ICE will also gain access to the additional
agency information available through the Fusion Center. This increased partnership
will further help in the joint fight against drug trafficking organizations by all of the
other Fusion Center agencies, including the FBI, the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration (DEA) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
(ATF).
Source: http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/August/09-crm-784.html
[Return to top]
Information Technology Sector
35. August 10, CNET News – (International) Apple working on software fix for
MacBook Pro hard drives. Owners of Apple MacBook Pro notebooks with 7200rpm
500GB hard drives have been complaining for months of clicking sounds followed by
temporary stalling. According to Apple, a fix is in the works. “We are aware of the
issue and are working on a software update,” an Apple representative told CNET News
on August 10. He gave no time frame for the release of the software update. People
have been reporting that they hear a beep from the computer shortly before the hard
drive clicks and then the computer stops responding. The computer is unresponsive for
10 seconds or so and then begins to work normally again. The hard drive issue does not
require the user to force-reboot the computer, which would cause any unsaved work to
be lost. Simply waiting out the unresponsive system apparently works every time.
There does not appear to be any specific task that triggers the hard drive to enter its
unresponsive state. Users on Apple’s support forums are reporting that it seems to be
completely random and does not matter where they are or what they are doing when it
happens. It does appear that the issue only affects the 500GB hard drives that run at
7200rpm.
Source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-10306301-37.html
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
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36. August 11, CNN – (National) Stimulus billions fund rural broadband Internet
expansion. Fast Internet access is a luxury most businesses take for granted these days,
but in remote areas of the country, the staticky crackle of a dial-up modem connection
remains a familiar sound. A $7.2 billion stimulus initiative aims to expand broadband
access and speed up the modem’s extinction. Two federal agencies, the Commerce
Department’s National Telecommunications Information Administration (NTIA) and
the Agriculture Department’s Rural Utility Service, each landed billions from the
Recovery Act to fund new broadband infrastructure projects. Applications are due this
week for the first wave of grants and loans from those programs. For entrepreneurs in
rural areas, a broadband connection can be an economic lifeline. America is now
ranked 15th in the world on broadband access, according to the Organization for
Economic Cooperation and Development. It was No. 1 in the mid-1990s.
Source:
http://money.cnn.com/2009/08/11/smallbusiness/stimulus_billions_for_rural_broadban
d.smb/index.htm?section=money_latest
37. August 11, Periscope IT – (International) Storage reliability questioned after high
profile outages. The reliability of data storage facilities and managed hosting services
has been brought into question following a series of high-profile internet outages, it has
been claimed. According to Computer World, downtime experienced by Equinix and
Primus has raised doubts about both security and reliability of such facilities and their
website monitoring services. Internet service provider Primus, which is based in
Australia, suffered several hours of downtime as a result of a sub-station fault which
prevented a back-up generator from starting. The outage followed hot on the heels of
data storage provider Equinix’s Sydney operation going down. The managing director
of earthwave, told the news provider that such outages highlight the need for regular
testing and website monitoring. “It shows they don’t have the right test procedures and
have not validated their infrastructure to work in the event of a disaster,” he added.
Recently, a denial of service attack brought down social networking website Twitter. It
is believed that similar attacks were levelled at Facebook and LiveJournal at the same
time.
Source: http://www.periscopeit.co.uk/website-monitoring-news/article/storagereliability-questioned-after-high-profile-outages/483
[Return to top]
Commercial Facilities Sector
38. August 11, Bolton News – (International) Badminton player forced to leave India
after terror threats. A Bolton, England-born badminton player competing for an
Olympic Silver medal in Hyderabad, and her teammates left India following a terrorist
threat said during the evening of August 10: “We felt unsafe from the moment we
arrived.” The English squad, due to play in the World Championships, flew back to the
United Kingdom on August 9 following reports of specific terrorist threats to the
competition. The player stated the the team arrived in India, got on the bus and police
with massive guns swooped on them. “But after we got to the hotel, and at the arena,
- 16 -
we did not see any security anywhere. We woke up and saw in the papers that there
was a terrorist threat and there was still no security,” she added. Badminton England
chief executive said: “It was a collective and unanimous decision to return and it was
purely and simply due to safety.”
Source:
http://www.theboltonnews.co.uk/news/4539335.Badminton_player_forced_to_leave_In
dia_after_terror_threats/
39. August 10, San Jose Mercury News – (California) Rescue team removes 24 people
stuck on Great America ride for four hours. At an amusement park called Great
America in Santa Clara, California, a roller coaster got stuck on its tracks on Monday
stranding two dozen people for an afternoon just as they began ascent to the top of the
ride. Park officials and state investigators are trying to determine why the ride
malfunctioned. The coaster stopped about 1 p.m., leaving the riders strapped in their
seats, legs dangling 80 feet in the air while firefighters hoisted basket-topped ladders to
retrieve them one by one. It took more than four hours in 95-degree heat before the last
relieved patron reached the ground. Great America shut down most of its major rides
after Invertigo went inert as a precaution. The park’s spokesman did not comment on
possible refunds for park visitors who got less than they bargained for, but he did say
all park rides are inspected each morning. However, Santa Clara Deputy Fire Chief said
the stranded roller coaster riders remained calm throughout the rescue effort, and no
medical problems were reported. Two ladder trucks — one with a basket that can
accommodate two or three people and is capable of reaching a height of 110 feet —
brought the riders down, ending the effort shortly before 6 p.m. The firefighters had a
delicate task for the riders facing backward because their seats were tilting toward the
ground and they could have fallen when their safety harnesses were released.
Source: http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_13034723
[Return to top]
National Monuments and Icons Sector
Nothing to report
[Return to top]
Dams Sector
40. August 11, Tennessean – (Tennessee) TVA will end wet ash storage. Tennessee
Valley Authority (TVA) plans to quit storing ash from its coal-fired power plants in
wet landfills, like the one that devastated an East Tennessee community when it broke
eight months ago, an official said Monday. The overhaul of ash ponds at six Tennessee
Valley Authority fossil plants, including Gallatin, would take eight years, said the vice
president of coal combustion products. The change comes as part of TVA’s efforts to
deal with coal ash in a safer and more environmentally friendly way after a spill last
December at its Kingston plant that drew national attention and could cost $1.2 billion
- 17 -
to clean up. TVA stores ash dry at some plants, and considered it in Kingston about six
years ago before ultimately deciding on a cheaper option to address problems there.
Dry storage does not eliminate all environmental and health risks. Care must be taken,
for instance, so that the ash — a waste product that contains potentially toxic materials
— does not become airborne. TVA staff will present its plan to its board next week, he
said. The planning is in advance of draft U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
regulations on coal ash that federal officials say will be released in December. The new
rules are driven largely by the TVA spill on top of a few elsewhere in previous years.
Source: http://www.tennessean.com/article/20090811/NEWS01/908110358/1/NEWS01/TVA+will+end+wet+ash+storage
41. August 10, Salt Lake Tribune – (Utah) Panel begins plotting strategy to address
canal safety. Most cities and towns do not have a clear understanding of the assets and
liabilities that come with the irrigation canals that run through them, and most canal
and ditch companies do not realize how important it is for them to be in on planning
and zoning. Educating those players is key to grappling with complex issues raised
following the July 11 collapse of the Northern&Logan Canal in Logan, a landslide that
killed a woman and her two children, a panel of experts agreed Monday. On the orders
of the incoming governor, a subcommittee of the state’s Executive Water Task Force
brainstormed for more than two hours at the Utah Farm Bureau, where lawmakers,
lawyers, state water officials, and irrigation canal company representatives analyzed
how to avert canal collapses. Some suggestions were basic, such as getting canals and
their surrounding easements recorded on county plat maps. At the other end was the
usual roadblock: money. To oversee the safety of the 6,600 miles of canals in Utah
would be more expensive than ongoing efforts to ensure dam safety, a program that
started more than 10 years ago and still suffers persistent funding woes. The group
agreed that canal safety problems exist because cities have grown up around them.
While the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has a system to evaluate hazardous canals, the
agency only looks at what could happen in the event of collapse, and only at the canals
it owns, which amount to about 5 percent of the total in the state. For the rest of the
canals, safety has been up to the shareholders and owners, with liability decisions in the
hands of judges and juries. That is why the panel on Monday chose to examine
responsibility, risk management and safety and maintenance, as well as who is going to
pay for it all, rather than who might be liable. The group seemed to agree that because
canals pose benefits and risks across the board, some kind of shared responsibility is in
order.
Source: http://www.sltrib.com/ci_13032851?source=rss
[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
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Contact DHS
To report physical infrastructure incidents or to request information, please contact the National Infrastructure
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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
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material.
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