Small City, Big Risk
By Tara Fehr
WASHINGTON, Dec. 15 – Bulletproof vests for canines and trailers for transporting lawn mowers may not be what most Americans expect from homeland security.
While Connecticut may have passed on buying the vests (Ohio did not) and the trailers (Texas bought them) with money earmarked for security needs, the state’s safety in a post 9/11 world remains a challenge.
New London does not have as many people as other cities that are considered at high risk, such as New York City, but it does have some of the highest risks, particularly in its infrastructure and its transportation routes.
The city has a major submarine base and a nuclear power plant nearby. It has a deepwater port facility. Close to two million people use the Long Island Sound ferries every year, and there are major rail stations for Amtrak and Metro-North Railroad. Freight traffic flows through New London by rail and along Interstate 95, which goes right through the middle of the city.
“The folks that allocate money, whether it’s to the state or local government, have not done the best job they can do in determining where the risks are and allocating money appropriately,” said Richard Brown, New London’s city manager. “I’m not convinced that the allocation formula that was developed at the federal level in the first place was appropriate.”
Federal funds for preparing for future terrorist attacks comes from the Department of Homeland Security, which was created in 2002 after the Sept. 11 attacks. The government allocates money to the states, which in turn allocate the funds to municipalities. In the past, grant money was based on population, but there is a new effort to include risk assessment in the decision-making process.
The federal government disburses its general homeland security grant to each state based on a package of requests submitted by the state’s homeland security administrator that addresses where the risk, threat and need is present in the state.
Federal officials would not give details of the assessment process because of national security reasons, but Clark Ervin, the department’s former inspector general, said it is not defined. He said the department needed a comprehensive nationwide assessment checklist that would be applied uniformly.
The department of has not made its allocations for 2006, but every state can make a case for needing money, Ervin said.
“We’re optimistic that because we’re so close to New York and Boston and because of the level of transportation services that we have in the state that we’ll be able to get additional funding,” said Wayne Sanford, deputy commissioner of Emergency Management and Homeland Security in Connecticut.
Connecticut will also receive a share of regional funds for its transit system. Homeland security allocates transit funds regionally because lines often run through more than one states So Connecticut, New Jersey and New York together received an estimated $37 million this year, according to the Connecticut Department of Transportation.
The federal department generally allocates money in a block grant to the states, which then disburse funds to local governments. Steven Llanes, spokesman for the federal agency, said it allocates funds based on the threat applications and then monitors the states’ spending.
Sanford said 80 percent of the state’s funds are designated for municipalities. A committee of approximately two dozen persons – including representatives of state agencies and local police, fire and emergency management departments – recommends where to distribute the rest of the money in four key areas: prevention, protection, response and recovery.
In fiscal year 2005 New London received $110,000 from the general homeland security grants and $61,838 from a separate law enforcement terrorism protection program, Sanford said.
New London was one of six or seven communities that received an additional $119,000 . because it was considered a more densely populated area, but Sanford said he hopes for an increased amount from the federal government for 2006, based on the added risk-based criteria.
New London is potentially at high risk, according to Ian Cuthbertson, director of the World Policy Institute, which studies globalization and national security and is part of the New School in New York City.
“New London is a good target for terror,” Cuthbertson said. “The harder it is to attack bigger areas, the more danger medium-sized cities are in because terrorists look for soft targets.”
Brown agreed about his city’s vulnerabilities. “We’re a major hub,” he said.
In protecting its railroad systems, ports and highways, New London works with multiple agencies.
Amtrak, for example, has its own police force, cooperates with other law enforcement agencies, uses canine teams and performs random ticket checks on trains.
Cliff Black, Amtrak spokesman, said he remains hopeful that Amtrak will receive more funds from Homeland Security under the risk-based formula.
The Coast Guard also hopes to benefit from the new formula as it works under a “do more with less motto,” Vanessa Looney, a Coast Guard spokeswoman said.
“We’re always asking for more resources, but then again, everybody is doing that,” said Roger Guest, a Coast Guard port security specialist in Connecticut.
Guest said that the area’s nuclear power plant and submarine base can stretch the Coast Guard’s resources. “That is why we try to partner with the locals to assist with everything we need,” he said.
Local law enforcement also assists in highway security. Federal, state and local governments make a combined effort to secure the roads, Donna Tadiello, spokeswoman for the state police, said.
As part of the Connecticut Department of Public Safety, the state police will perform commercial vehicle inspections and respond to specific threats while looking for unusual behavior.
Traffic on major local roads, particularly Interstate 95, has been a concern for some residents.
“The road system is woefully inadequate to handle the volume of traffic,” city manager Brown said. “You only have to be in this area for a little while to see how without any problems whatsoever the roads can just close down completely.”
Although Tadiello said that the state has an evacuation plan, Brown questioned how effective it can be when an accident on I-95 could close the road down in both directions for hours.
“We need money,” Brown said.
But not everyone thinks increased funds will help make for a more secure Connecticut.
“Security is going to be the kind of issue where everybody is going to say, ‘You can’t be too secure, there can’t be enough money or there can’t be too much money,’ ” said Chris Cooper, Connecticut Department of Transportation spokesman said. “Given the resources that are available, I think that everybody is reasonably sure that there is a strong level of security at our facilities.”
Ervin said he was convinced when he was a Homeland Security inspector general and remains convinced today that a 100 percent risk assessment is the only way to secure the country from terrorist threats. But he said that won’t happen until the government ranks the country’s infrastructure so that cities such as New London do not get lost between two big targets.
“Until you have that, the country is flying blind,” Ervin said.
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