OT a quick terrorism question

Anytime there is an alert or reason to suspect terrorist activity, the local police camp out at the reservoir to prevent destruction of facilities and/or contamination of the water supply. So what is the expected contaminate? Is it even possible to contaminate large bodies of water or is this just another exaggeration?

C
Reply to
CROQ
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If I were a real terrorist I would raid the police camp at the reservoir and throw the bodies into the water. Just think of the effect on people believing they are drinking the bodily fluids of a casulty.

That's why I do not think there are any real terrorists in this country, there is so much thay could be doing with so little.

Reply to
Nick Hull

It is possible. Web search "Ricin", "LSD" but depending on the size of the reservoir, and the amount of times a day its changed/replenished..is pretty unlikely any thing below a tanker load will have a wide ranging effect.

Now if one stole a large tanker of industrial soap or other water soluable chemical and dumped it in a small reservoir...yes, it could make individuals sick. Ill not tell you how it easily could be done in actuality however.

However..its possible to "contaminate" a water supply with a half pint of the stuff. Simply spritz some on the inside of a few dozen drums and leave them near the supply with a note, and a few phone calls to the local news stations etc. The pychological damage to the public will be very very bad. Its a great pschy war tecnique that has worked many times. Product tampering is another example of how a single sample will cause millions of items to be removed and destroyed

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

I'd be thinking that the reservoir is already contaminated with used coffee and donuts.

Reply to
Tom Gardner

Well my keyboard is contaminated with donuts now. lol

C
Reply to
CROQ

There are ways to dose the outgoing water at an appropriate rate, rather than just tipping it in. This is the more scary scenario.

Reply to
Ian Stirling

It's a stupid waste of time. Easier for a terrorist to rent a house, disable the antibackflow at the meter, and back-pump the line without ever being noticed.

Koz

CROQ wrote:

Reply to
Koz

No one around here drinks the tap water anyhow.

ff

Reply to
ff

A very small container of Anaerobic bacteria could if added to a water supply not at the lake but at the pumping or testing station could do nasty things, as could thyphus etc .

Reply to
The Rifleman

IMO, Ian's scenario is the most likely to succeed of the ones mentioned. At the resevoir end, the volume of water as well as any testing done in treatment would make that the least likely. At the pump/treatment plant, security would be a big factor in whether or not that's the viable option. After it leaves the plant and is somewhere in the distribution system is where a saboteur would have privacy, time, and best chance of the agent being unnoticed, until too late.

I have to say I think it's probably most easy and effective to blow the main viaducts with explosives. Look what's been done with human and vehicle bombs, not to mention RPG's. A fairly well-planned operation could bring a city/cities down quick. Think how tough it was to get water to significant numbers of people in the wake of the hurricane. Try that on the LA area in the summertime.

What else can we come up with?

Capn

Reply to
capn

Yup..and that is where I said I would not discuss any further... Lots of ways to accomplish this besides the reservoir.....

Gunner

The methodology of the left has always been:

  1. Lie
  2. Repeat the lie as many times as possible
  3. Have as many people repeat the lie as often as possible
  4. Eventually, the uninformed believe the lie
  5. The lie will then be made into some form oflaw
  6. Then everyone must conform to the lie
Reply to
Gunner

The capn wrote: I have to say I think it's probably most easy and effective to blow the main viaducts with explosives. Look what's been done with human and vehicle bombs, not to mention RPG's. A fairly well-planned operation could bring a city/cities down quick. Think how tough it was to get water to significant numbers of people in the wake of the hurricane. Try that on the LA area in...

Yea, I've always thought the terrorists were kinda dumb for going after people at all. A thousand little hornet stings, screwing up everyday life, would be a lot more terroristic than some of the suicide things they do. Would be a lot safer for them too....he who fights and runs away....

On the note of the viaduct...we have some major water pipes in the NW that woudl be incredibly easy targets. 36"+ in diameter and going up and down steep hills (and exposed in places, not underground). Most are quite old and are tarred and wrapped wooden things. Without much nasty explosive, you could blow one at the bottom of a steep hill and the amount of water and the pressure do some real damage. A couple of years ago, one broke in just such a place...washed out a section of road, took a couple of days to replace..just a thorn in the side. With little coordination, you could really make things a pain for the public.

Hey...just remembered that Dubya's crew had hired the hollywood guys to th>

Reply to
Koz

Why bother with trying to find a viaduct, that may or may not exist, when electrical substations, are all over the place and the only thing guarding them is perhaps a 6 ft chainlink fence only a few feet away from the transformers?

A few feet to a couple of yards of chain or metal cable at 3 am could paralyze an entire city and cause economic and social chaos ...... For less than $10 worth of equipment, one could cause; no street lights, stop lights, even burglar alarms, no power for pumps to move the water, and the like.

If several are hit at the same time around the town / city, it could knock out the grid for the entire city, and maybe beyond....think about the last New York power outage......not a pretty picture.

Greg H.

Yea, I've always thought the terrorists were kinda dumb for going after people at all. A thousand little hornet stings, screwing up everyday life, would be a lot more terroristic than some of the suicide things they do. Would be a lot safer for them too....he who fights and runs away....

On the note of the viaduct...we have some major water pipes in the NW that woudl be incredibly easy targets. 36"+ in diameter and going up and down steep hills (and exposed in places, not underground). Most are quite old and are tarred and wrapped wooden things. Without much nasty explosive, you could blow one at the bottom of a steep hill and the amount of water and the pressure do some real damage. A couple of years ago, one broke in just such a place...washed out a section of road, took a couple of days to replace..just a thorn in the side. With little coordination, you could really make things a pain for the public.

Hey...just remembered that Dubya's crew had hired the hollywood guys to th A very small container of Anaerobic bacteria could if added to a water supply not at the lake but at the pumping or testing station could do

nasty

things, as could thyphus etc .

IMO, Ian's scenario is the most likely to succeed of the ones mentioned. At the resevoir end, the volume of water as well as any testing done in treatment would make that the least likely. At the pump/treatment plant, security would be a big factor in whether or not that's the viable option. After it leaves the plant and is somewhere in the distribution system is where a saboteur would have privacy, time, and best chance of the agent being unnoticed, until too late.

I have to say I think it's probably most easy and effective to blow the main viaducts with explosives. Look what's been done with human and vehicle bombs, not to mention RPG's. A fairly well-planned operation could bring a city/cities down quick. Think how tough it was to get water to significant numbers of people in the wake of the hurricane. Try that on the LA area in the summertime.

What else can we come up with?

Capn

Reply to
Greg H.

And that's why I was curious, I figured protecting the reservoir a waste of time. Now, how do you filter out Ricin or LSD? Boiling?

C
Reply to
CROQ

If ssomeone blew up a nuclear dirty bomb in a resivoir a lot of people wouldn't drink out of it.

wws

Reply to
wws

Heck, just throw a few 4-guage copper wire bolas over the fence, a few are bound to take out the HV lines. Avert your eyes...

Tim

-- "That's for the courts to decide." - Homer Simpson Website @

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Reply to
Tim Williams

Try to hit the terminals on the power factor correction caps (I.E. square box 2 terminals), the counter E.M.F. will blow 300+ feet of flames up.

Reply to
James R. Freeman

Even easier, just shoot 1 or more holes in the transformers to let the oil drain out. The transformer will then overheat and destroy itself and take a long time to replace.

Reply to
Nick Hull

And if you really want to get them going punch your holes in an older transformer that uses PCB cooling oil.

Or you could just leave First Energy manage your power grid and power generation, they seem to screw it up well enough without outside help.

Reply to
Mark

On Fri, 12 Dec 2003 02:01:12 GMT, "CROQ" wrote something ......and in reply I say!:

throw out the water

drink the water...

**************************************************** sorry remove ns from my header address to reply via email

I was frightened by the idea of a conspricacy that was causing it all. But then I was terrified that maybe there was no plan, really. Is this unpleasant mess all a mistake?

Reply to
Old Nick

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