Department of Homeland Security: Coal Ash Site Locations Must Not Be Revealed Because of National Security
June 14th, 2009If you’re not familiar with the concept of security through obscurity, this would be a good time to learn about it.
Via: New York Times:
Senate Environment and Public Works Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) is calling on U.S. EPA to reveal the confidential locations of dozens of coal ash impoundment sites considered dangerous.
Speaking with reporters this morning, Boxer said EPA has determined that at least 44 of the hundreds of coal ash piles identified across the country pose a “high hazard,” meaning they could threaten human life if they fail — like an impoundment that collapsed at a Tennessee Valley Authority facility late last year. The agency collected the information on the locations from the utility companies that operate the ash disposal sites.
Boxer said EPA is notifying and working with first responders this week while conducting evaluations at the sites to determine whether there is an imminent threat of failure.
But Boxer said EPA told her the agency could not reveal the location of these 44 sites, due to concerns from the Department of Homeland Security and the Army Corps of Engineers about national security, a decision Boxer finds unsettling.
No doubt that a few milliseconds of processor time through the Internet would find the location of all these sites faster than the EPA’s own computer system. This is rather typical of the post-9/11 mindset of government: They attempt to keep critical information from everyone EXCEPT potential terrorists. It appears that the real criminals/terrorists in this picture are both the industrial entities that created the coal ash hazards and the bureaucrats who participate in the coverup of the danger involved.