-
Senate takes first step toward regulating chemical plant safety
The Senate takes a step – half a step, critics charge – toward a more meaningful safety scheme for chemical plants
-
-
Chemical plant security becomes a federal responsibility
Finally action is being taken; the Senate has approved legislation that would give DHS control of chemical plant security; but hopefully Secretary Chertoff’s idea of voluntary industry regulation isn’t on the table, otherwise we are back to square one
-
-
U.S. updates national emergency broadcast system
In 1951 President Harry Truman launched a national emergency radio broadcasting system aiming to alert Americans in the event of a Soviet nuclear attack on the U.S.; that system, thankfully, was never used, but President Bush has now ordered its upgrading so it could be used to broadcast warnings about national emergencies to Americans’ PDAs, cellular phones, Web sites, e-mail boxes, TV, and radio
-
-
Foreign companies line up to bid on Midway airport
Earlier this year the firestorm over a Dubai-based company’s plans to run operations in several U.S. ports caused many to rethink the question of foreign ownership of U.S. critical infrastructure assets; still, as the city of Chicago is getting set to lease its Midway airport, all the likely bidders are non-U.S. companies
-
-
Large Brazilian dam cracks
The tallest — and newest — dam in Brazil seriously cracks as an underground tunnel beneath it collapses
-
-
ExxonMobil Massachusetts fuel depot shut down after illegal aliens found working there
Worries about the safety of super tankers carrying oil at Boston Harbor combine with unease about illegal immigration, as more than a dozen illegal immigrants are arrested while being used at the harbor for clean-up of hazardous material (what is more, the subcontractor also violated the law requiring protective gear to be worn during such operation)
-
-
-
-
DHS release critical infrastructure protection plan
DHS has releases its much anticipated critical infrastructure and IT protection plan
-
-
CSC wins contract extensions in Australia
CSC wins extensions on key Australian critical infracture projects which may total to be more than $80 million
-
-
Report: Nuclear warheads could explode, release radiation while in transit
Nuclear warheads have to be inspected and refurbished regularly; to this, they are taken off the missiles and submarines where they are deployed and trucked to secure labs; the U.S. and British defense ministries insist that these warheads cannot explode as a result of accident to or terrorist attack on the convoys transporting them back and forth; a new U.K. Ministry of Defense study says this is not the case, and that a partial explosion (fizzle yield) and lethal release of radiation are possible during transit
-
-
House committee offers chemical plant safety bill: Qualified pre-emption, no IST
The march toward a chemical plant safety bill continues; a House committee put forth its version of the law, giving a nod to industry’s preferences by including a (qualified) federal preemption of state safety regulations and no mandatory IST
-
-
NPRA nervous about impending chemical plant safety regulation
Even as the debate continues, it is clear that some legislation to regulate safety measures at chemical plants will emerge from Congress; the chemical industry, which until last December, opposed any such legislation, is now in its fall-back position, trying to make sure that such legislation has federal preemption of state safety rules; has no mandatory IST; and that safety information companies provide the government is exempt from FOIA
-
-
Chemical plant safety: Another view
Philip Crowley of the Center for American Progress offers his views on chemical plant safety
-
-
URS to design container inspection facility at Port of L.A.
San Francisco company is heading down the PCH to build a container inspection facility on site of the former United States Customs Building on Terminal Island at the Port of Los Angeles; the project may cost upwards of $90 million
-
More headlines
The long view
From Iron Dome to Cyber Dome: Defending Israel’s Cyberspace
In response to growing attacks against its infrastructure by formidable adversaries like Iran and its proxies, Israel recently announced that they are building a ‘cyber-dome’ or a digital ‘Iron Dome’ system to protect Israel’s cyberspace to defend against online attacks.
The Case for Climate-Resilient Infrastructure
Climate change is making weather harder to predict, and creating new risks in places that never faced them before. And as hurricanes, floods, extreme heat and wildfires intensify, most infrastructure will need to be retrofitted or designed and built anew for future climate resilience.
Nationwide Flood Models Poorly Reflect Risks to Households and Properties, Study Finds
Government agencies, insurance companies and disaster planners rely on national flood risk models from the private sector that aren’t reliable at smaller levels such as neighborhoods and individual properties.
Emerging Threats to the U.S. Financial System
In early 2021, a freewheeling, freethinking group of investors on Reddit plowed their money into GameStop, a video game retailer that several big hedge funds had bet against. The stock price shot up, some people made millions—and, to the delight of those on Reddit, the hedge funds had some very bad days. Researchers saw the GameStop story as a cautionary tale. If investors on Reddit could work together to move the markets like that, what could an adversary like China do?