Homeland Security Technologies

WEST MILFORD, NJ — Homeland Security agents and township utilities staff today are reviewing more than 15 apparent attacks on local water and sewage facilities since summer that, in some instances, shut down water service and caused sewage overflows into the street, according to the system’s staff.

The saboteurs have shut off power to water systems, opened valves meant to be kept shut and thrown a plank of wood into a sewage filtration system, according to Kelly Love, administrator for the township’s Municipal Utility Authority, which serves around 20 percent of residents.

MUA staff will meet with agents from the Department of Homeland Security on Friday to discuss the incidents, said Love.  The sabotage, which began in July, has caused residents in at least 60 homes to lose water pressure three times and resulted in numerous sewage spills, said Eric Williams, owner of Jersey Environmental Solutions, which has maintained the system since summer.

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AUSTRALIA —  Police are investigating the deliberate poisoning of two drinking water supply tanks at Marshall’s Lagoon, Forest Glen.

The highly toxic herbicide Diuron, which has serious side effects if ingested, was detected in two 5000-litre tanks on the property.  An on-site caretaker will know today whether the persistent bowel and stomach ailment that has weakened his health recently is the result of drinking water.

Detective Senior Sergeant Darren Edwards said the water had been tested through an accredited laboratory and there was no doubt that it had been contaminated.

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HINGHAM, Mass. — Authorities shutdown a water source that supplies water to three Massachusetts towns on Wednesday.

Accord Pond serves Hingham, Hull and a portion of Cohasset. It was shutdown after a resident reported seeing a man throw something into the water.

The company that takes water from the pond insists that the water is fine, but as a precaution the company shutdown service from that pond. Police continue to investigate a report of someone throwing something in the water.

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FUKUSHIMA, Japan – On March 11, 2011, Japan’s Fukushima No. 1 Nuclear Power Plant withstood shaking from the fourth largest earthquake recorded worldwide in over one hundred years. However, the 19 foot-high seawall separating the facility from potential oceanic onslaughts could not withstand the tsunami that followed. The plant flooded, electrical power to the cooling system was lost, and the reactors overheated, triggering a release of radioactive material into the environment. In the wake of the accident, there has been much discussion regarding the contamination of air, soil, food, the oceans and drinking water. Some concerns..   Read More

SOMERSET, Mass. – Residents of Somerset, Massachusetts, are being told not to drink tap water for at least a couple of days because a lawn-care company may have inadvertently tainted the town’s water supply with hydro seeding material, WFXT 25 Boston reported June 1.

The town selectman said the company, contracted by the state, was hydro seeding an area near the new Veterans Memorial Bridge when they tapped into a fire hydrant without permission, and some of the mixture of mulch and seed may have been sent into the town water supply. Residents have been told not use town water to drink, make ice, wash food, or brush teeth. Water can be used for showering and other purposes. The town is flushing the system, and the state will conduct tests to make sure the water is safe.

Emergency workers were giving out bottles of water at their headquarters on Riverside Avenue, but ran out around 8 p.m. May 31. They resumed bottled water distribution at 7 a.m.  June 1.

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