Defense of Trains and Rail System Infrastructure in Arizona.
Laura Gladney Tim Lant Erin Mote Rick Rager
Arizona Overview
2100 miles of track. Major rail yard in Tucson. Branch lines through Phoenix. The Union Pacific Sunset Route
Arizona’s busiest rail line. Connects Los Angeles, Tucson and El Paso. High volume of industrial cargo. Passenger Routes share lines with cargo trains.
Mining Industry dependent on rail transportation. Bottlenecks at Yuma and near Tucson.
Rail Infrastructure
Rail Lines in Arizona
Rail Infrastructure
Union Pacific Rail Lines in Arizona
Sunset Route
Rail Infrastructure
Regulation: Federal
Federal Railroad Association• Set standards for car maintenance & labor standards.
DOE/NRC/EPA• Set standards and test nuclear waste packaging.
Department of Homeland Security• Oversight of defense & response through FEMA.• Oversight of U.S. Customs
U.S. Customs• C-TPAT (Customs Trade Partnership against Terrorism)
Certification State
Only intrastate commerce and transportation!!! Clean-up.
Regulation:
Corporate Security and maintenance of all rail assets. Customs Trade Partnership Against Terrorism
Certification (C-TPAT) • Security assessment & certification
TRAMSA (Terrorism Risk Analysis and Security Management Plan)
• Security alert and response plan. Railway Alert System (RAN)
• Emergency response system and intelligence sharing. Surface Transportation Information Sharing Analysis
Center (ST-ISAC)• Protection of railroad IT systems.
Regulation
Assoc. of America
n Railroad
s
Depart-ment of Energy (DOE)
Dept. of Transpor-
tation (DOT)
Dept. of Homelan
d Security (DOH)
Railroad Industry
Federal Agency Involvement
Regulation Cont.
DOE
Nuclear Regulatory Commission
Determines the standards for transportation of nuclear waste
Department of Energy
Regulation Cont.
Department of Homeland Security
Customs- Certification and Cargo Inspection
Coast Guard-
Cargo Entry Inspection
FEMA- Coordinatio
n of Emergency Response
DOH
Regulation Cont.
FTA-Commuter
Rail Security
STC- Economic Regulation
of Railroads (replaced
ICC)
OISC - DOT
Security Agency
ITSJPO – Coordination of all DOT Agencies
FRA -Enforcement of Railroad Regulation
DOT
Department of Transportation Interagency Coordination:
Risks & Vulnerabilities
Vulnerabilities to terrorism and sabotage: Hazardous cargo moving through high
population areas.• Industrial chemicals • Nuclear waste
Critical infrastructure with high traffic. Passenger Trains.
Risks & Vulnerabilities
High frequency of train accidents. Less expensive for rail carriers to clean up
accidents than to prevent accidents.
HazMat releases from train incidents in Arizona
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Year
Number of incidents
Spill
Vapor
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
Year
Train Incidents in Arizona
Derailments Release of HazMat
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario I: HazMat. High population center. Cargo of explosive or hazardous materials.
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario I: Specifics. Phoenix, Tempe, or Tucson. Explosives on railcar or derailment. Large Blast Radius or Chemical Cloud.
PhoenixTucson
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario I: Policy recommendations. Evacuation plan for metropolitan areas. Patrols of rail lines by local police. Divert shipments around cities when possible. Training for incident response team. Oversight by Office of Homeland Security and
Arizona Department of Homeland Security.
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario II - Passenger: Amtrack train on Sunset route. High speed derailment or explosion.
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario II -Specifics: High speed = High fatalities. Rock slides or high falls.
Scenario II – Policy Recommendations: Train Marshalls. Passenger Screenings. Police check bridges and tunnels.
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario III – Take out the Bridge! Destroy Yuma Bridge with explosives. Remove rail ties near Tucson.
Yuma Bridge
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario III: No Alternate
Routes!!! Disruption of
train service in Southwest, California and Texas.
Destruction of critical infrastructure.
Terrorism & Sabotage:
Scenario III-Policy Recommendations: Place sensors on bridges to detect
tampering. Visual Inspection by local police. Closed circuit monitoring coordinated
through ST-IASC.
Terrorism & Sabotage
Scenario IV – Nuclear Catastrophe: Attack a train carrying nuclear waste.
Terrorism & Sabotage
Scenario IV: Explosives placed on waste package. Derailment will “probably” not work.
Terrorism & Sabotage
Scenario IV - Specifics: Waste containers strong enough to
withstand crush forces and sustained burn. 40 pounds of shaped high level explosives
will vaporize waste and container. 30 times fatal radiation dose from α-
radiation. Nuclear chain reaction from γ-radiation.
• Less than 4% of radioactive waste.
Terrorism & Sabotage
Scenario IV – Policy Recommendations: Be very careful with γ-radiation.
Existing Policy• TRU waste packages.• Satellite Navigation Systems.• Armed Escorts.• Dedicated Trains.• Reinforced Train cars.• Special cars that check tracks before trains.
Terrorism & Sabotage
Other Scenarios. Dirty-Bomb moving through populated area
on train. Release of biological agent on train. Computer hacking into control center. Theft of train. Multiple scenario attack.
Questions?