7 Caught Trespassing At Quabbin (Boston) Reservoir; Patrols Stepped Up Across State

[Pepper]

CBS Boston:

7 Caught Trespassing At Quabbin Reservoir; Patrols Stepped Up Across State

 

http://boston.cbsloc...p-across-state/

 

 

 

BELCHERTOWN (CBS) – Shortly after midnight Tuesday, seven people were caught trespassing at the Quabbin Reservoir [one of the country’s largest man-made public water supplies. Boston’s drinking water comes from the Quabbin and the Wachusett Reservoirs.]

 

State Police say the five men and two women are from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, and Singapore, and “cited their education and career interests” for being in the area. The men told police they were chemical engineers and recent college graduates.

 

[Pepper]

Quabbin Reservoir breach sparks investigation

Well Duh

[clearvision]

The Massachusetts Water Resources Authority tested the water and found nothing suspicious.

Just how do you test the water in a lake (this is not a small tank) and get a reasonable conclusion?

By the same token pretty hard to poison an entire lake without heavy equipment.

[nickydog]

Still, if I lived in the Boston area I think I'd be drinking bottled water for a while.

[Pepper]

@clearvision

 

"Even a plausible public threat has the potential to cause fear and anxiety."

 

From Water and terrorism by P. H. Gleick

http://www.pacinst.org/reports/water_terrorism.pdf

[clearvision]

Really? A guy writing about water with initials ph.?

[Pepper]

LOL, @clearvision

[SrWoodchuck]

Posted this in Coffee Shop yesterday.......linked to TheFeralIrishman.....and this was a comment at that link:

 

sykes.1May 15, 2013 at 8:26 AM

 

Quabbin is the only water supply for the City of Boston and some of its suburbs. The area is pristine (several towns were drowned to make the reservoir), and its water gets no treatment other than chlorination for bacterial disinfection. NYC's Croton Reservoir is similarly situated, its water is also minimally treated.

 

The great sanitary engineer William Sedgwick wrote, "A public supply is a public danger, and for two reasons: first, because it affects large numbers of people; and, second, because it is beyond their direct supervision and control." (Principles of Sanitary Science and the Public Health, 1914, p. 221.)

 

Almost all modern water supplies focus on infectious disease prevention and rely on source protection for chemical purity. So, a chemical attack would succeed. However, the huge volumes of water supplied to major cities means that the chemical toxicant would have to be dosed in multi-tonnage quantities. I believe Chicago consumes something like 8 billion gallons per day. A toxicant effective at 1 part per million would have to be supplied at the rate of 33.4 tons per day.And the attack would have to be conducted for several days to poison the whole distribution system. This would require a military-scale attack and occupation of the water supply system. Most sanitary engineers and security professionals. do not think such attacks are creditable.

 

This does not mean the idiot Jihadi's won't try it.

 

But small scale attacks are possible, especially if only a few neighborhoods are targeted rather than a whole city, and the whole point of terrorism is fear not death and destruction. A better target would be a shopping mall. It's much easy to pull off, and the resulting terror and economic damage would be extreme.

[Pepper]

@SrWoodchuck

I did not catch the link in Coffee Shop

but to your point, yes, it is the fear of the threat. If someone said that anthrax was in the reservoir, would you drink the water even if it were guaranteed potable?

[SrWoodchuck]

@SrWoodchuck

I did not catch the link in Coffee Shop

but to your point, yes, it is the fear of the threat. If someone said that anthrax was in the reservoir, would you drink the water even if it were guaranteed potable?

Since the thrust of the post seemed to play the Muslim aspect down, I posted briefly w/ no pic......so, no problems, @Pepper!

 

I don't drink my own tap water, as it was [at one time] supposedly contaminated at it's source by Martin Marietta [a gubmint contractor]......although I do give it to my furry children & they haven't had any symptoms......as yet.

 

To your question: I would try to buy many more 5 gallon jugs of purified water......than I already have........