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.
Crashing the Internet.
LVM
Hey, if you'll personally transcribe last week's National Enquirer bombshell about the Smart brothers for me, you can keep my share of the one million dollars. It'll save me from having to read those long threads just to find out what's up with the "S & M sex journal" or whatever it was.
Heck, I'll give either of you half my share for a cogent, thorough summary in your own words.
Hey, that's Socks' dept.
And in all candor, I'm quite disheartened, having known you for 4 years, that you're too highbrow to have rented Austin Powers: International Man Of Mystery.
If you have good info I'lI be glad to look at via Freeper mail.
LOL!
Depends on the dams in question. There are two general approaches to building dams, which could be likened to the Great Pyramid or the World Trade Center. The former approach requires considerably more material but less critical engineering than the latter; the amount of additional material required increases greatly with height. The latter approach requires much less material, but the engineering is more critical. The material savings make the latter approach the only practical one past a certain height, but it has the disadvantage that damage to a small part of the structure(*) can destroy the whole thing.
To say a bomb could destroy some of the earthen dams would be akin to saying a bomb could destroy the Great Pyramids. Yes, bombs can destroy just about anything if they're big enough, but the size of bomb required would almost certainly be beyond what terrorists could acquire.
(*) This is not to imply the WTC centers were unreasonably weak. They withstood, for many minutes, damage and stresses far beyond anything they could have been expected to face; that they lasted as long as they did allowed many people to escape. My point was that the buildings are collapsed by damage to a relatively small percentage of their overall structure. The Great Pyramids, by contrast, would tend to be comparatively less succeptible to a global collapse caused by locallized damage (if nothing else because there isn't really anywhere for any collapsing material to fall).
Quickest way MAY be to go to that message & click on ABUSE and send a message direct to the moderator. Maybe they look at them first. ???
You flag me to a Nitz thread with dog et al. It's like waving a bottle of JD in my face.
You're one sick sonofabitch!
How obvious, thanx!
Well, it does sound good, but the way the abuse seems to build up some times I'm not sure they really do check it often. Still, it does sound good... --ggg--
Yes, the moderators read ALL abuse reports as soon as we can possibly get to them. Abuse Reports are the best way to reach us.
Maybe this other way I found would work: Webmaster@freerepublic.com
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