MINERAL RIDGE MVSD directors increase security

The FBI asked police last week to increase security around public water supplies.
By DENISE DICK
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
MINERAL RIDGE -- Mahoning Valley Sanitary District directors have discussed increased security around the district, but they won't give details.
Walter M. Duzzny, director of Mahoning County Disaster Services and Emergency Management, attended the board meeting Wednesday to talk about security. The panel went into executive session.
The FBI asked police and sheriff's departments last week to increase security around public water supplies.
District officials have declined to discuss security at the district except to say that the appropriate measures are being taken.
What FBI wants: The FBI urged law enforcement agencies to perform additional patrols around reservoirs, review emergency response plans and develop a clear chain of command that can be followed in case of a disaster.
The FBI's request follows the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., and widespread fears of a possible chemical or biological attack including contamination of public water supplies.
The district supplies water from Meander Reservoir to about 300,000 customers in Mahoning and Trumbull counties through member cities Niles and Youngstown.
Duzzny wouldn't provide any details about steps to bolster security at the district.
"We've been concerned about the watershed and the board has been very receptive to the requests we've made," he said.
The EMA has had a plan in place to address possibilities such as a truck's flipping over while traveling over the reservoir and other disasters.
"It's just that some of the things that were on the back burner have been moved to the front burner," Duzzny said, without elaborating.
If a disaster were to occur, sheriff's departments in both counties as well as police and fire departments in nearby communities would be called.
"We've sometimes had neighbors who are adjacent to the district call when there is a suspicious vehicle," he said.