Posted on 06/23/2002 3:13:06 PM PDT by Ernest_at_the_Beach
The U.S. Bureau of Reclamation has been asked by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works to study nine regional dams to assess the threat of terrorism and other risks. "It's not like we think we're a big target but you never know," said Ken Pellman, the county's public works spokesman. "We're taking precautions just in case. Why wouldn't our dams be taken out? They're there for a reason."
Big Dalton, Big Tujunga, Cogswell, Morris, Pacoima, Puddingstone, San Dimas, San Gabriel and Santa Anita dams will be studied at the request of county officials. Santa Fe Dam in Irwindale will not be in the study because it is run by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Pellman said.
With the exception of Big Tujunga and Pacoima, all of the sites are in the East San Gabriel Valley, most in the foothills above Monrovia, Azusa and Glendora.
"I think the threat assessment is great, and I hope they get a precise professional with a military background and somebody that knows about the Middle East," said Gary Elrod, operator of the San Dimas Dam in San Dimas Canyon. "History and time shows that during war, dams have always been targets."
Prompted by a federal government report that noted possible terrorist targets, the study, expected not to cost more than $42,000, will identify vulnerabilities in the dams that could pose a threat.
"We're not responding to any particular threat we've been given," Pellman said. "We're trying to find out what could possibly be a problem in the future."
Officials want to find out how to improve security around the sites.
"We're going to do everything we can to make the dams as secure as possible," Pellman said. "It could be simple things, it doesn't have to be anything really grand."
There have been other changes at area dams since Sept. 11. Officials no longer give tours, and locks have been changed.
But Elrod said at the San Dimas Dam, which is dry, anyone in a car can drive alongside the facility. He also said because it's too expensive to dig a new well to serve those who live on site, nobody will be on the grounds around-the-clock beginning in a few months.
Part of the study will try to determine how many people would be affected should a dam disaster occur.
The city of Azusa, downstream from some of the dams, addresses that concern in its emergency plan, said Mayor Cristina Madrid, adding that residents remember how severe floods affected the area in the 1930s and 1970s.
"That's really the legacy of Azusa, that we're right here within the flood plain," Madrid said. "We're glad that (the dams are) being assessed."
Pellman said it's hoped the county Public Works Department will receive the study results in six months to nine months.
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(OK, somebody had to say it) <|:)~
What did I leave out? Stolen ambulances?
With the exception of Big Tujunga and Pacoima, all of the sites are in the East San Gabriel Valley, most in the foothills above Monrovia, Azusa and Glendora.
Right clever of those left coasties to provide the terrorists with a handy list of targets -- complete with their locations... Here in TX we call that "being eat up with the 'dumba$$'"!
TXnMA (no longer!!!)
Yes, that and the bag of some powder they were dumping into the water somewhere during that sequence.
I think it was good enough to earn the $42,000, though.
I take it you finally made it back? Feels good, doesn't it? I don't know how you lived through it for twenty years. I could barely survive two! Welcome home!
It is a local call for me!
I loved the South Korean approach (79 - 80, TDY 81 - 82, several times after that) - when a boat approached the shoreline - gosh, gee - they shot first!
Stationed at Kunsan AB - Yellow Sea, spitting distance from the runways. The ROK did not f**k around. Several F-4's (world famous Fighter-Bomber, mostly bomber) left fully loaded and came back empty. Funny thing was that the flying time to the range did not match. Gee, wonder where they dropped the ordinance?
The US could stand to learn a lesson or two.
LVM
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