Tabletop Security Exercises (TTXs) at Water and Wastewater Facilities

1. Tabletop Security Exercises (TTXs) at Water and Wastewater Facilities

2. Kudos • Michigan Section - American Water Works Association (AWWA) for their long term commitment to stewardship of the water environment • The citizens of Michigan for supporting well planned emergency activities.

3. Bob Babcock Security and Emergency Response Coordinator Contact Info: 1-517-373-8566 babcockr@mi.gov State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality

4. Topics • Heroes/History • TTX’s Objectives • Emergency Planning • ERP’s • TTXs Concepts, Locations, Scenarios • TTXs Lessons Learned • Future: NIMS 700/800 compliant

5. Drinking water program • Our greatest strength is our greatest weakness

6. Hurricane Katrina

7. Tabletop Exercises at Water and Wastewater Facilities • Tabletop Exercises = TTXs

10. Heroes • Let’s

11. Heroes • Roll

12. Todd Beamer

13. “Let’s Roll!” • Nobody knows the courage, importance and impact of the sacrifices made by Todd Beamer, Jeffery Glick, and Thomas Burnett Jr. and others aboard United Airlines Flight 93, Sept 11th, 2001 • Apparently the terrorists planned to crash the plane into the U.S. Capitol or White House Todd Beamer

14. Heroes • We should know and not forget our heroes

15. Human Longevity • An unsolicited testimony from an epidemiologist indicated the main reason for the dramatic increase in human lifespan over the last 100 years is due to the improvement in the treatment of drinking water and wastewater.

16. Funding Background/History • Dept of Homeland Security grant sought and obtained in the fall of 2004 • Critical Infrastructure Protection Committee of MI Homeland Protection Board • Camp Dresser & McKee contractor • Complete 20 TTXs by 3/31/05 • Extension to 7/31/05 allowed for additional 10 TTXs

17. 6 P’s • Proper Prior Planning Prevents Poor Performance

18. What is your community’s scariest emergency?...new utility paradigm • Malevolent acts…what are they? • Malevolent: ‘wishing evil or harm to others; having or showing ill will’ • What is in the hearts and minds of people? • TERRORISM: CBERN and cyber • CBERN: chemical, biological, explosive, radiological, nuclear • Cyber: computer / systems terrorism

19. Federal Safe Drinking Water Act Bioterrorism Requirements • Vulnerability Assessments (VA) and Emergency Response Plans (ERP) • Required of public water systems with populations > 3,300

20. VA’s and ERP’s: So What!? • Collecting dust, or, improving the system • Local initiative as well as the national program need to be effecting change in order to improve the utility • CONTINUOUS CHANGE is the price of vigilance

21. Emergency Plan • Emergency: a sudden, generally unexpected occurrence or set of circumstances requiring immediate attention • Plan: a method of proceeding

22. What is an Emergency Response Plan (ERP) • An Emergency Response Plan is a process which describes actions, procedures and equipment which can prevent or significantly lessen the impact of terrorists’ attacks or other malevolent acts on the public health, safety, and supply of drinking water.

23. ERP’s: use ‘em or loose ‘em • Emergency response plans/contingency plans are only as good as they are developed and used. • TTXs provide experience that the public water and wastewater systems may find beneficial to the point of continuing the exercise process on an annual basis.

24. Exercises • Table top exercises • Put faces to names and develops local experience • Field exercises • Usually involves private stakeholder • Suggest annual exercise • ‘use it’ or ‘lose it’ concept – continuous commitment to local emergency response integrity

25. TTXs : objectives • Increase Awareness • The objective of the exercise is to bring key public water and wastewater personnel together, along with key public safety (police and fire dept) officials, at key water and wastewater treatment plants to use and evaluate the facilities’ existing emergency response plan/contingency plan for possible revisions.

26. TTX’s : Objectives [continued] • Policies and procedures would be reviewed and the facilities’ personnel and public safety (police and fire) officials would gain experience in responding to exercise scenarios and would be more comfortable working together in the event of a real incident. • The least expensive and perhaps the most effective security changes are policies and procedures – which are observed during a crisis.

27. Public Water System local emergency planning process • Public water and wastewater officials need to be a part of the community police, fire, and hospital emergency response activities associated with the local emergency planning.

28. TTX’s Concepts • Hopes and Fears • Bootstraps • Hearts and Minds • Relationships • Partnerships • Uniforms

29. Hopes and Fears • Hope that community finds doing a tabletop exercise useful and that they will do a TTX annually • Fear that community will find doing a TTX a waste of time

30. Bootstraps • No one will pull your own bootstraps up for you • You have to do it !!!!

31. Hearts and Minds • There are more people in the world. • What’s in their hearts and minds?

32. Relationships • It’s important to establish strong useful relationships BEFORE the event • You should have as many DIFFERENT ORGANIZATIONS around the table as are necessary to meet the need

33. Relationships • Water and wastewater officials need to be an active participant in their local emergency planning efforts of the LEPC – local emergency planning committee • When the incident occurs, the strength of your relationships will be tested • Put face to name and telephone number BEFORE the incident

34. Partnerships • It’s important to have as many partners at the table who understand the importance of the public water system and are useful to assisting your community water system meet its mission

35. Uniforms • Police and Fire Depts, as first responders, will need to be used in the event of a terrorist act. • Military, e.g., the Michigan Army National Guard 51st Civil Support Team, are needed in the event of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) terrorist attack.

36. Table Top Exercises (TTXs) • 30 TTXs conducted between 2/1/05 and 7/21/05 • Principally based on population • 350 attendees responsible for providing clean drinking water to 4,953,404 of the 10,000,000 people in Michigan

39. Tabletop Exercises’ Locations • 2/15/05 Wyoming • 2/16/05 Grand Rapids • 2/22/05 Muskegon • 2/24/05 Waterford • 2/25/05 Jackson • 2/28/05 Saginaw

40. TTX’s locations (cont’d) • 3/1/05 Saginaw/Midland • 3/4/05 Portage • 3/7/05 Battle Creek • 3/8/05 Traverse City • 3/10/05 Ann Arbor • 3/11/05 Kalamazoo

41. TTX’s locations (cont’d) • 3/14/05 Detroit : Lake Huron plant • 3/15/05 Detroit : Northeast • 3/17/05 Detroit : Springwells • 3/18/05 Detroit : Southwest • 3/21/05 Detroit : Waterworks Park II • 3/22/05 Detroit : wastewater treat. Plt • 3/23/05 Lansing

42. TTXs Locations (cont’d) • 3/24/05 Wayne County Metro Airport • 6/1/05 Clinton Township • 6/2/05 Dearborn • 6/7/05 Flint • 6/9/05 Livonia • 6/14/05 S. Oakland County WA • 6/16/05 Westland

43. TTX locations (cont’d) • 6/28/05 Southfield • 6/30/05 Warren • 7/14/05 Canton Township • 7/19/05 Rochester Hills

44. TTX scenario example: disgruntled employee • A disgruntled employee at the water plant has added something to the orthophosphate tank. He is upset about having to work on the 4th of July weekend.

45. TTX scenario example: bomb explosion • February 21, 8 a.m. the Township Fire Department responded to a call from a school about an explosion near the school. The initial report from the scene was the explosion was centered at the Township water treatment plant. All electric lines to the plant have been destroyed and the building has been leveled. There is a strong smell of chlorine in the air.

46. TTX scenario example: radiation contamination • March 22, one of the cleaning crew discovers two heavy canisters with radiation symbols on them. A pump with a hose is attached to the canisters which are connected to the spigot used to fill the mop buckets.

47. TTX scenario example: chemical contamination • A woman who runs a day care center calls the police that there is a lawn care company truck connected to a hydrant near the daycare center and there is no one around. She hears an engine noise from the back of the truck. Report is received on a Wednesday morning at 8 a.m.

48. TTX example scenario: bacteriologic contamination • August 25, the police receive information that a terrorist group was going to cripple the city. On August 26 citizens in the River Woods neighborhood call and complain of diarrhea, nausea and fever; some have gone to the hospital emergency room.

49. TTX scenario example: cyber terrorist attack • All SCADA charts go blank. There is electricity to the server but the computers are inoperable due to being ‘locked up’.

50. Lessons Learned • ERPs: use to train EOC, staff, PD, FD • 800 megahertz radios • Rush to flush vs isolation/containment • 51st CST • 3 advisories – not just ONE • Boil Water • Do Not Drink – Public Educated ??? • Do Not Use – Public Educated ??? • Canary / RTM • Reverse 911