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Where the United States
stands in protecting its citizens
stands in protecting its citizens
An interactive presentation
Stories by John Yaukey, Gannett News
Service
Food and water
Water supplies generally are inefficient
targets because they dilute poisons.
It would take a hundred pounds of anthrax
spores to poison even a small municipal water system.
But some organisms work well in water. In
1993, the naturally occurring microbe Cryptosporidium killed
110 people and made 400,000 ill in Milwaukee when it leached
into the water system from cow manure.
“Crypto would make an excellent
terror agent because you would never know if it was natural or
not,’’ said Kevin Tonat, a terrorism expert now
retired from the U.S. Public Health Service. “You would
create tremendous confusion.’’
The Environmental Protection Agency would
take the lead in an attack, sharing information among water
providers, law enforcement officers and emergency response
officials. But the EPA concluded in a recent internal test that
it would have difficulty communicating quickly with small water
utilities because many lack modern computers and full-time
operators.
RED FLAG
Less than 1 percent of the food imported
into the United States is inspected, according to the
Department of Health and Human Services.
There are about 168,000 public water
systems nationwide, with 340 serving cities of 100,000 or more
residents.
Poisoning mass quantities of food would be
difficult. Spreading disease among livestock — one of the
most feared agricultural terrorism scenarios — would not.
Foot-and-mouth disease is harmless to
humans but highly contagious to animals with cloven hooves: 97
million cattle, 96 million hogs, 7 million sheep, 1.2 million
goats and 350,000 bison, according to the U.S. Department of
Agriculture. Because the American livestock industry is so
mobile, a few infections could explode, quickly forcing a mass
slaughter. What’s more, there is little security on farms
and ranches.
The USDA estimates a successful attack on
American livestock could cost $30 billion, in lost animals and
cleanup.
Many experts advocate consolidating the 12
federal agencies responsible for food safety to speed up the
recall process in the event of
“agro-terrorism,’’ but food processors are
used to the current system and oppose an overhaul.
Interactive documentary:
CLEARING THE SKIES
CLEARING THE SKIES
Interactive documentary:
A YEAR OF RECOVERY
All contents copyright 2002,
Gannett News Service
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