PIC: Main entrance wall crumbles, security responds as car crashes at Easterly plant

Image credit Alexander Malloy, Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District

Security officers responded to an early Thursday morning crash at our Easterly plant today where a driver careened off the road, demolishing our main gate welcome sign.

Paramedics took the driver to the hospital following the accident and his condition is not known at this time. There were no other injuries on site, according to Officers Alexander Malloy and Jason Kern's accident report.

The report described that the vehicle crossed through the intersection of East 140th Street and Lake Shore Boulevard before crashing into the plant's main front wall about 5:00 a.m., not far from the guard house a few hundred feet away. The officers tended to the driver until paramedics arrived and extracted him from the vehicle for medical attention.

We'd like to thank Officers Malloy and Kern for responding to the incident and we wish the driver a full recovery.

NEWS: Sewer District, Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office collaborate on regional firing range

Southerly Wastewater Treatment Center, Cuyahoga Heights

Yesterday, the Board of Trustees for the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District approved a resolution allowing the Cuyahoga County Sheriff’s Office to develop and operate a Regional Law Enforcement Firing Range and Training Facility on Sewer District property. This is a 30-year lease agreement.

NEWS: Arrest made following suspicious call to Sewer District

Authorities determined the call was placed by an employee of a company working on the Renewable Energy Facility project at our Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant.

Today, the Cuyahoga Heights Police Department arrested Joshua Petro. The arrest stems from a suspicious call made to the Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District's Southerly Wastewater Treatment Plant on Monday, October 22, 2012. Another unnamed Sewer District plant was mentioned in the call, as well. Charges are pending.

Yesterday, at 6:48am, a security officer at Southerly received a phone call allegedly from Petro who indicated that "something would happen at the Southerly Plant and your other plant." The exact type of action to be taken against the plants was not defined in the phone call, nor was the "other plant" identity—Westerly or Easterly—clear.

"Our first concern was to assure that employees, contractors, vendors and visitors were safe," stated Julius Ciaccia, Sewer District Executive Director. "We were able to determine early on in the investigation that safety was not jeopardized."

TECH: Are water utilities a target for hackers?

Photo by Getty Images courtesy bbc.co.uk

Earlier this month, an Illinois water utility confirmed it was the victim of an apparent cyber attack which led to the failure of one of its pumps. While Chicago's ABC affiliate reports that Federal authorities had not yet confirmed the details, the utility said foreign hackers gained control of the equipment using its computer system's remote access.  

UPDATE 2011 12/1: The DHS and FBI reported this evening that they have found no evidence of hacking.

UPDATE 2011 12/2: Wired ran a very detailed account of the "comedy of errors" that led to the original report.

It could be the first example of a cyber attack on a public utility, according to WLS-TV, but Northeast Ohio Regional Sewer District officials are well aware that it would not be the last.

"This is an identified vulnerability nationally," said Jim Davidson, Safety and Security Manager, "not only for the water sector but for most of critical infrastructure including chemical, energy and transportation."

Many utilities, including the Sewer District, use a Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) system to manage controls such as regulators and pumps remotely. That automation does not come without risks, according to Director of Information Technology Humberto Sanchez, and the Sewer District constantly reviews safety measures to protect its assets, employees, and the public.

"We conduct security assessments to validate how effective our security configurations and procedures are," Sanchez said, "because hackers and viruses have grown more sophisticated."

Davidson said both the hardware and the management of it are critical to maintain proper security. "Our physical security steps include installing and maintaining firewalls and screening networks for viruses. Procedurally, we restrict remote access and protect critical data through backups and storage in safe places."

There are other measures—some of which have been in place for years—by which the Sewer District further protects its system and infrastructure from "accidental impact or malicious intent," according to Plant Automation Engineer Scott Sander.

"It's an ongoing and growing responsibility," Sanchez added.