Experts: Infrastructure vulnerable to terrorism

BY ANTHONY M. DESTEFANO | tony.destefano@newsday.com

July 20, 2007

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While Wednesday's steam pipe explosion wasn't an act of terrorism, the incident showed how vulnerable the city's aging infrastructure could be to sabotage and even natural disaster, said experts.

Just under the nearly 6,000 miles of city streets alone are more than 5,700 miles of water mains, as well as 93,000 miles of electrical conduits and sewer lines that are also about as long as the roads.

Added to the subterranean maze are at least 6,600 miles of Con Ed gas lines, which doesn't include KeySpan conduits. More than 105 miles of Con Ed steam lines lay under Manhattan streets, the company said.

According to professor Rae Zimmerman, who specializes in the study of city infrastructure at New York University's Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, some of the city's underground infrastructure is more than 100 years old. Old cast iron water mains were laid down in the late 19th century and there was a time years ago when some sewer lines were wooden, said Zimmerman.

"They are replacing it over time; the very old stuff is gradually disappearing," said Zimmerman.

But she said that aging, fragile infrastructure generally can be more easily compromised by an act of terrorism or natural disaster.

Jack Cloonan, a former FBI terrorism expert who is now president of the security and crisis management firm Clayton Consultants of California, said that for groups like al-Qaida, urban infrastructure is a major target.

Terror groups like al-Qaida have made it a practice to try to acquire information about U.S. infrastructure because they realize the economic havoc that can be accomplished by targeting such vital components, said Cloonan.

"They can do just as much damages by hitting the infrastructure," Cloonan said. "They are very smart and it would be foolish to think they are crazy mad men."

Robert Strang, head of Investigative Management Group in Manhattan, said, "When you kind of take a look at the big picture ... you see why we become a target," adding that the aging infrastructure is a cause for concern in the security profession.

New York officials have known for years about the problem. In 1998 a report by the City Comptroller's Office stated it would take $92 billion to repair deteriorating roads, bridges, schools, water mains and other components. Billions in repairs have been made but officials privately acknowledge tens of billions are still needed.