Posted on 02/23/2002 4:42:06 AM PST by Fizzie
Feds fear Hoover Dam info nabbed in burglary
Highway office in Lakewood held sensitive data
By Hector Gutierrez, News Staff Writer
Federal authorities will try to determine whether thieves who broke into the Federal Highway Administration office in Lakewood made off with sensitive information concerning the Hoover Dam.
The FBI and the Federal Protective Service, which provides security to federal government buildings and offices, were expected to investigate the burglary. FBI Special Agent Ann Atanasio said Friday that agents were expected to start assisting in the investigation this weekend.
Lakewood police investigated the break-in at the administration's offices, 555 Zang St., west of the Denver Federal Center, on Friday morning, police spokeswoman Stacie Oulton said.
Investigators said the burglars stole an identification badge belonging to a safety engineer and computer hard drives.
She added that while processing the scene, Lakewood police learned that the thieves also may have stolen sensitive material concerning Hoover Dam.
Police said they believe the break-in probably occurred some time between 6 a.m. Thursday and 6 a.m. Friday.
Hoover Dam, completed in 1936, is one of the biggest dams in the world. The dam sits in the Black Canyon on the Nevada-Arizona border and is part of the area's Boulder Canyon Project.
The project helps control floods of the Colorado River and provides electrical power and water to customers in the southwestern United States.
It's really, really big, made of cement, and in the middle of the desert.
The dam design is fairly straightforward and they've been showing it's construction in a Discovery or Nat Geo movie for months or longer. The power cables are no big hidden secret. The turbans and generators are easily locatable.
I'm just wondering what on earth could be sensitive about Hoover. It's a huge, beautiful, well designed and presumeably well ran concrete plug. Loss of it could be devastating in terms of lost irrigation water; major flooding and wipe-outs down stream and loss of power for much of southern California. I don't know of anything secret in all of that.
Perhaps there are secret missles protecting it? That would be grand but I assume our gov has been too dumb, delusional about their own invincability and too irresponsible to set that up.
Maybe there's a secret skateboarder's meeting planning a major mass suicide wipe out???? or were they planning to skate half-way down until their paragliders opened?
Or were BILLDO and SHRILLERY secretly planning some grandstanding, attention getting swan song? Nah, they don't believe in swan songs. . . .
Maybe Jesse Jackson was secretely planning to stage a walking on water demonstration behind the dam? Maybe reality hit him upside the head in an erratic happenstance and he had to cancel.
Perhaps the park service had secretly reserved the water behind the dam for a couple of female whales to cavort in the nude--one with a galactically large ego and head and the other well . . . of obvious dimensions--Rosie and Reno.
Perhaps BILLDO had secretly planned to televise his leaping a tall dam in a single ego bound.
Maybe that artist that runs around draping things had been secretly hired to drape the dam in gay pride hot pink.
Maybe the Mafioso have a secret 24 hour a day marathon poker game in the inspection tunnels?
Maybe they uncovered a Mexican insurgents' secret plan to capture the dam and ship the water to Baja.
Maybe there's a secret Navy plan to train killer whales to mimic our Nuke submarine sounds to mess with enemy torpedos.
Maybe there's been a secret sale of the dam to Las Vegas for a new theme casino. . . . for the chronic gambler who just doesn't give a damn.
I give up, what do you think are the secrets?
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 1999
GIBBONS SUPPORTS NATIONAL MISSILE DEFENSE PROGRAM
Hoover Dam in Nevada potential target for terrorist missile attack
Washington, D.C. The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved legislation to declare as official U.S. policy a commitment to deploy a national missile defense system, according to U.S. Congressman Jim Gibbons (R-NV). Gibbons supported the measure which passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 317 to 105. Similar legislation was approved earlier this week in the Senate.
Nevada has a vested interest in this national missile defense program, said Gibbons, noting that the Hoover Dam in Nevada is one of the top five key strategic targets for terrorist missile attack. Three out of four Americans believe that, right now, the United States has the ability to defend itself from a ballistic missile attack. I think its only fair to inform them that we cannot.
Gibbons refers to an October 1998 briefing he attended in Reno, Nevada on the Nuclear Threat to Nevada and the Need for a National Missile Defense. The briefing produced data which revealed the Hoover Dam in Nevada as one of the five key strategic targets for missile attacks on the West Coast of the United States. The briefing was sponsored by the Claremont Institute and the Nevada Policy Research Institute.
The following is an excerpt from the briefing: The Hoover Dam is one of the critical targets [for terrorist missile attacks]. Most of the west is desert. Without this water system, life would be very difficult given the growth in the population.
Here, in America, we may have little or no warning of a ballistic missile attack that is launched just off shore by some terrorist or rogue nation seeking revenge, Gibbons continued. Rogue nations, such as North Korea, Iraq and Iran, have improved and accelerated their ballistic missile programs to threaten the U.S. and its allies. China already has numerous long range missiles aimed at U.S. cities. All using stolen U.S. technology.
There is no doubt that the threat is real for Nevada, added Gibbons. To protect Nevadans, it was imperative that Congress commit to the deployment of a National Missile Defense system to engage and counter this threat.
Gibbons is a member of both the House Armed Services Committee and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
Actually - it may be some of the ELF terrorists, probably now led by the enviroterrorist who used to head up the Dept of Interior under Clinton. You know, Babbitt - who went all over this country supervising the destruction of dams? He came to North Carolina and was doing his dance of joy over getting rid of some dams that were stopping the natural flow of a river or two here.
So, who knows? Islamic or Elf - either way - it could be terrorists at work. Be alert!
Thosed damned towel-heads are after the turbans! ;-)
P.S.: Sorry, but I couldn't resist.
LMAO
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