Looming Utility Threats: Terror, Cybercrime, Oil Spills

Terrorism, cybercrime, and oil spills are among the top risks for water utilities this year.

Central Arkansas Water recently presented a study on its vulnerabilities to a board of the agency's commissioners, citing these areas as a few of its chief concerns.

Under state law, the report must remain private. It aims to uncover whether the utility is ready to face major weather events and terrorist attacks. The utility delivered its last risk report in 2004, according to the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. The terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted utilities to evaluate their risks, according to the news report.

Potential threats from the oil and gas industry are another reason why such reports are important. Utility CEO Graham Rich said that it was necessary to update the report after the 2013 Exxon pipeline disaster.

"Mobil’s Pegasus pipeline burst and spilled an estimated 210,000 gallons of Canadian heavy crude oil. Experts believe it happened in part because the leaden crude from the Alberta tar sands erodes pipelines faster than the oil the U.S. is used to shipping: Bitumen is so thick, it has to be transported at higher pressures and temperatures, and it must be diluted with gas before it can flow, which can lead to violent pressure swings inside the pipeline," the New Republic reported.

The spill leaked into the primary water source for around 400,000 Arkansas residents, the Democrat-Gazette reported. "We said we have to look into updating this assessment because now we know there are new threats," Rich said, per the report.

Cybersecurity threats are another reason the report had to be updated.

"The types of threats change. As we become more sophisticated from a technology standpoint, there's a great chance of someone being able to disrupt service through what used to be a nontraditional way. And secondly, society changes. There are societal threats that are different, concerns that are different today than they were 20 or 30 years ago," Rich said, per the Democrat-Gazette.

The assessment took two years to complete. "The main thing they do is look at various risks posed to operations of a utility in fulfilling its mission — in this case, drinking water. It identifies recommendations to reduce or minimize those risks," said John Tynan, a public affairs director at the utility, per the report.