CE208X Semester project
Attack of New York
Martin, KW
Rogers, RD
4/23/15
THIS IS AN ANTI-TERROR TRAINING EXERCISE.
Why attack a city’s
water
If we attack a cities’ water and gain control over it with ease.
Most cities don’t have a large enough supply of water to last long
enough for the water to be turned back on.
Even if they had a large supply of water the human body needs
about three liters of water a day to function properly and the
more you work the higher the water need is
On top of the water used to drink
the city would also have to worry
about how much people would
use for daily tasks like a shower,
washing dishes, washing clothes,
toilets.
Depending on the year you have
you could use anywhere from 2
to 4 gallons of water a minute
just for a shower, a bath is 36
gallons for a full tub of water.
New York's roof top water
towers only hold enough water
to last one day at best. If the
tank has an leak or a broken pipe
that water will last significantly
less.
With roof top water towers
being on almost every building.
Anyone trying to strike fear in a
certain aria can pick and chose
what buildings to hit.
The New York water supplies
over 9 million people in the
entire state including the city of
New York.
Attack on the water
delivery system
The infidel city of New York
would be a prime target for
an aqua-terrorist to strike.
The city is out dated and their
water supply is in critical need
of renovation.
New York uses a reservoir
system to provide nearly 9
million people in the city and
its surrounding aria with
about 1.4 billion gallons of
drinking water a day.
Any of the water tunnels that we hit would create a massive decrease in
the water supplied to the city and surrounding aria.
If the tunnel was collapsed it could take weeks to a month to clear the
ruble and even more time to make it structurally sound/reliable.
If they try to tunnel around the dearie it could take many months to a
year to be usable.
They have been trying to build a third tunnel into the city since 1970
and not expected to be done till around 2021 and cast about $5 billion
dollars.
Even in the city the water is
vulnerable.
Many of the building are to tall
to have water piped directly to
the building.
It gets stored in water towers
on top of the buildings.
If we hit certain water towers
we could give the allusion of a
wide spread attack but only hit
ten or twelve towers.
With more then 15,000 water towers through out New York the choice comes
down to which would do the least damage to the city but also strike the most
fear in the people.
There are only two companies that work on the water towers. If we want to
frame one of them we could avoid that one or the other.
The average tank holds about 10’000 gallons of water.
If the tank was to ever run empty it would take two or three hours to completely
fill it.
he two companies that build water towers, Isseks Brothers and Rosenwach Tank
Company, have been in business for over a century.
Isseks tanks are dark grey with an I on top, while Rosenwach has a birch cone
capped by double Rs.
With any bacteria added to the tanks would be absorbed in to the wood making the
bacteria last longer and a simple draining the tank and cleaning inside will not make it
safe to use again.
To get rid of the bacteria to make it safe to use again the entire tower would have to be
deconstructed and a new one made and filed in its place.
The problem is that a new wood water tower costs around $30,000 and can take at
least a day to assemble and fill. Not including the time to making the design for the new
tower.
After the tower has been replaced the pluming will have to be redone in the entire
building to prevent the spread or the bacteria again.
Attack on water source
If the water tunnels are
too heavily guard a second
option to affect the New
York it to hit the water at
its source.
New York uses a reservoir
system, these reservoirs
are big lakes that are open
to all sorts of bacteria and
animal life.
The problem is the trip to the city is almost 40 miles under ground and many bacteria die off
between the water reservoir and the city.
If a bacteria was introduced it would have to be strong enough to mace to the test plant and get
that water source to be shut down.
This would be as effective if not more effective in limiting the water to the city. With the water
source being turned off it could give us an opportunity to attack or do more damage to another
portion of the water system.
Attack on the
treatment plant
All of the water
coming in to the city
no mater what tunnel
or reservoir goes
through the treatment
plant before being put
in to the city.
If we took the treatment plant we could control the water flow and quality of the water
at the same time.
If we have trouble with controlling the center then we could always blow it up and keep
the people from getting any clean water to drink.
The amount of water bottles New York aria would need to last one day with out fresh
water is 4.5 million bottles. This would last one day and that many water bottles would
raise the water bottle prices around the country sky high.
Another option to blocking the tunnel is to get
three or four of these subway plugs. Many of the
tunnels are about the size of a little smaller then a
subway tunnels.
This inflatable bag could be fed in to the pipe and at
an intersection could be activated causing a
complete blockage of the tunnel.
By using multiple bags we insure the complete
stoppage of flow and control over the water .
The only down side to these is that in like collapsing
the tunnel. If these were popped they will deflate
and the flow will start up again.
The sudden rush of water might cause damage to
other parts of the tunnel but not to the point that
would reach our needs.
Subway plug is made of three layers. The base is a polyurethane bleater that holds the air on
place. The second is a Vectran liner. The third and outer most layer is made from woven
Vectran.
Originally designed by DHS(Department of Homeland Security).
It can inflate to take up a volume of 35000 gallon.
Can be inflated by water or air. Held in place by friction.
They can be remotely activated.
Vectran is 5 times stronger then steal and 10 times stronger then aluminum.
To get it in place we will find a survive station in the pipe line and insert it in. Then let it go
down stream for a bit before activating it causing it to inflate and bloke the flow. We would
also put one up stream of the access tunnel to keep it from flooding too bad.
With the Vectran bags being 5 times stronger then steal and 10 times stronger then aluminum
it would take an enormous amount of force to rupture them. The woven outer layer also adds
a layer of extra protection by making a tight shield against any penetration.
After the water is gone
After the fresh water runs out the stores will
be raided for the water bottles.
Other then the gas stations the three biggest
stores to be raided are Walmart, Sam's club,
and Target.
There are three of each in New York but all
the water in the stores won't last more then
a day or two at best.
After those days water would have to be
brought in at a rate of a tractor trailer load
per min.
Size verses population
Of all the major cities in the
united states to attack there are
plenty of other city's with more
people or could spread more
fear.
But few have the population
density, city size, and world stage
as New York.
The city of New York is small
enough to fit in any of the other
major cities.
Even internationally the best
choice for more bang for your buck
is new York. Compared to London,
New York is still a batter target.
The city of new York fits in a
quarter of the city of London but
has a larger population. There are
also a lot more venues that would
be effected by any form of aquaterism.
Water in the pipes
After the water leaves the pipes leading from
the retaining ponds the water enters the
treatment plant. Once it has left there it
enters a series of water pipes going through
out the city.
The water depending on where you are could
be anywhere from fresh to over 100 Hr’s old.
Cryptosporidium
“Crypto” is a chlorine disinfectant tolerant parasite. The parasite is
protected by a tough other shell that allows it to survive for long periods
outside of the body. In 1993, 400,000 people in Milwaukee people were
affected by Crypto with 54 dying. The purpose of crypto would not be
fatalities per se, but rather to spread fear and suspicion through mass
contamination of the water supply.
• Crypto is currently present on 90% of all dairy farms
• All Crypto outbreaks in the United States have occurred via municipal
water supplies that meet all federal and state guidelines for
purification.
• Chlorination has little to no with Crypto pathogens being exposed to 13% chlorine for up to 18 hours with no change.
Crypto’s lethality
• Crypto spores are spread through human feces, animal feces, and
contaminated water supplies
• Millions of Crypto spores can be released in a single bowel movement
• The average infection via Crypto requires only 132 specimens, proving
that one infected individual could infect hundreds of others
• Crypto infections occur more commonly in day care centers, schools,
and hospitals where large populations are in constant contact with one
another
• The fact of how readily Crypto can be spread and its strong
environmental tolerance make it the best candidate for our biological
attack on New York City
Symptoms of Crypto
• Crypto’s symptoms lend it greatly to being a biological weapon.
1. Diarrhea (up to 20 liters/day)
2. Nausea
3. Vomiting
4. Extreme abdominal cramps
5. Low grade fever
• These seemingly inconspicuous symptoms would allow us to
contaminate more of New York City’s water supply before the
government, the CDC or any organizations could catch on. The
frequent diarrhea (magnified in immuno-comprimised victims) would
lead to a greater dependence on the water system which would
exacerbate the cycle and lead to more infections before the cause is
determined.
The Infection of New York City with Crypto
• Our plan calls for a 2 pronged contamination of New Yorks water
supply with Crypto.
1. Rooftop Water Towers
2. Introduction of Crypto into the reservoir
By utilizing a dual pronged approach we hope to cause the greatest
amount of damage to the New York City water system. This will provide
us with many options with how and when we attack the city and gives us
a greater chance of success and increases the destructive nature of the
attack.
Introduction of Crypto into the Reservoirs
• Crypto can be purchased online but for our attack we generate our
own cultures in a lab. Crypto is a very hardy pathogen and can be
found in 97% of all surface water. To generate enough Crypto for an
outbreak we would need to have approximately 132 oocyts per 1,000
gallons of water. With 1.4 billion gallons travelling in to the city we
would need approximately 10,000 lbs of oocysts to infect the water
supply. This 10,000 lbs of concentrated crypto would be enough to
make it through the reservoir and have enough to make it to the water
treatment plant. These oocyst would be inserted using a tanker truck
that would pull up and dump 40,000 gallons of the crypto solution into
the reservoir.
Water Towers
• Multiple small packets (approximately 5 lbs) would be dumped in 50100 towers throughout NYC. From Brooklyn to Harlem to Long Island
the wide spread panic would be great.
• The combination assault of both an infected water supply and infected
water towers would be enough to cause widespread cases of the
disease while also making the source harder to pinpoint.
• The water towers around NYC are sparsely defended so no
countermeasures need to be taken except to be on the lookout for
surveillance items in the area.
• The goal of this attack is not necessarily to kill but to rather infect NYC’s
water supply and cause the most amount of damage as possible.
End Result
• Crypto takes 12-18 days to present after infection
• The gestation period before the epidemic presents itself would be
enough time for any assailants to make it out of the country and be in
hiding by the time the US government found out what had happened
• With the amount of oocysts introduced in to the water system there
would be enough crypto to infect millions. With crypto being self
reproducing the disease could theoretically keep reintroducing itself
for years to come
• With Crypto’s hardy characteristics it would take a long time for the it
to be eradicated
THIS IS AN ANTI-TERROR TRAINING EXERCISE.
Project division
5
4.5
4
3.5
3
Martin
2.5
Rogers
2
1.5
1
0.5
0
25%
50%
75%
100%
THIS IS AN ANTI-TERROR TRAINING EXERCISE.
Work cited
THIS IS AN ANTI-TERROR TRAINING EXERCISE.
•
http://www.water-technology.net/projects/new-york-tunnel-3/
•
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/history.shtml
•
http://www.eserc.stonybrook.edu/cen514/info/NYC/WaterSupply.html
•
http://www.nyc.gov/html/dep/html/drinking_water/wsmaps_wide.shtml
•
http://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/nutrition-and-healthy-eating/in-depth/water/art-20044256
•
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/wateruse-trends.html
•
http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html
•
http://inhabitat.com/nyc/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2013/10/New-York-City-Water-Tunnel-No-3-Size-537x359.jpg
•
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/91/New_Croton_Dam_from_below.jpg
•
http://www.themijachronicles.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/10/newyork11.jpg
•
http://www.watertowers.com/facts.html
•
http://inhabitat.com/nyc/wp-content/blogs.dir/2/files/2012/11/giant-subway-plug-537x401.jpg
•
http://laist.com/2012/06/30/map_how_many_major_us_cities_can_fi.php
•
http://www.quora.com/How-does-London-compare-to-New-York-City-when-it-comes-to-quality-of-life
•
http://www.hazenandsawyer.com/work/projects/dbp-for-nyc/
•
http://www.amny.com/real-estate/city-living/water-towers-nyc-s-misunderstood-icons-1.6982696
•
http://www.studio360.org/story/sideshow-rooftop-giants-new-york-water-towers-ronnie-farley/
•
http://www.swicofil.com/vectran.html
•
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/infrastructure/a11755/the-inflatable-35000-gallon-subway-plug-7795767/
•
http://www.studio360.org/story/sideshow-rooftop-giants-new-york-water-towers-ronnie-farley
•
http://biology.kenyon.edu/slonc/bio38/hannahs/crypto.htm#water