This sounds an awfully lot like the infamous "NERC Drill".

********************************************************************************* From usia.gov

03 August 1999

U.S. Water Facilities Undertake Two Weeks of Y2K Testing

(EPA and other associations coordinate effort) (590) By Lisa Marie Kowalski USIA Staff Writer

Washington -- Drinking water and wastewater facilities across the United States are conducting Y2K test and contingency planning exercises designed to gauge their level of preparedness for computer and operational problems at year's end.

These utilities, like businesses and agencies around the world, are trying to protect themselves from being infected by the "millennium bug," which refers to the possibility that might misread the date of the new millennium when it rolls over from 1999 to 2000. This may result in computer malfunctions, the production of erroneous results, the distribution of bad data or complete system shutdowns.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has randomly selected 10 drinking water and 10 wastewater plants to participate in the testing. During the two weeks of testing from July 26 to August 6, called the Y2K Readiness Weeks, the facilities are attempting to prepare themselves for any disruptions.

Throughout the Y2K Readiness Weeks, the facilities will test pump and valve operations, fire alarms, safety features, and all manual operations in case it becomes necessary to operate them due to computer malfunctions. The degree of testing is to be determined by the individual water facility Y2K coordinator in cooperation with the EPA.

The EPA has coordinated these two weeks as part of its Y2K alertness initiative. The testing is a partnership effort between the EPA and other associations involved in providing water and sewage services, such as the American Water Works Association, the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies and the Water Environment Federation.

The Y2K readiness effort is designed to increase awareness of Y2K testing, contingency planning and public communication by drinking water and wastewater utilities. In conducting these tests, and achieving positive results, environmental and utility officials are hoping to show the public that Y2K problems shouldn't cause undue concern. Once the tests have been completed. the lessons learned will be shared with other utilities and also the public. The participants are encouraged to publicize their Y2K results in local newspapers and the trade press. In addition, all the lessons learned will be posted on the Web sites of the participating associations.

The EPA is also planning to confirm the results and regional awareness with a press advisory on their Web site, which would emphasize the benefits of Y2K testing, contingency planning and what lessons were learned.

John Koskinen, chairman of the President's Y2K Council, has been encouraging testing of all public utilities. In the water industry, the facilities are encouraged to devise contingency plans in case disruption does occur.

The EPA is promoting participation in the Y2K Water Readiness Weeks "for only those utilities that have been diligent in their Y2K preparation activities and have carefully prepared their facilities for testing in accordance with the EPA Y2K Enforcement Policy." This policy was adopted in November 1998 "to encourage prompt testing of computer-related equipment to ensure that environmental compliance is not impaired by the Y2K computer bug."

Within the policy, the EPA states its intent "to waive 100 percent of the civil penalties that might otherwise apply, and to recommend against criminal prosecution for environment violations caused during specific tests that are designed to identify and eliminate Y2K-related malfunctions."

The EPA is expecting that as a result of the tests, the water utilities in the United States will be prepared "to operate normally on January 1, 2000, providing safe drinking water and clean water at that time."

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), August 04, 1999

Answers

They're testing TEN out of how many facilities??? And which TEN???

The EPA is promoting participation in the Y2K Water Readiness Weeks "for only those utilities that have been diligent in their Y2K preparation activities and have carefully prepared their facilities for testing in accordance with the EPA Y2K Enforcement Policy."

I repeat, what a bunch of crap.

R.

-- Roland (nottelling@nowhere.com), August 04, 1999.

What struck me as odd about this, other than it's another blatant manipulation of the press, is that this press release (which is intended for foreign newspapers) is dated Aug.3, while the testing began July 26. There's been no mention anywhere I know of in this country that this bogus test was being conducted.

It's as if they were so scared of this rigged and bogus "test" that they didn't even dare mention it until it was almost over. Hmmmm...

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 04, 1999.

Certain testing problems cant easily be swept under the carpet. The poster child of Y2K testing screw ups may well be the spill of 3-4 million gallons of sewage at Van Nuys. I expect that the Van Nuys (PR) disaster was a wake-up call to the EPA which didnt have that kind of malfunction in mind when it issued its Enforcement Policy. Its not like drinking water or wastewater treatment plants are part of a grid, so I am hopeful that the goal of this test is to establish testing procedures since clearly there is a lot still to be learned.

-- Brooks (brooksbie@hotmail.com), August 04, 1999.

Brooks

The goal of this test is to have a successful test for PR purposes. They admit it.

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 04, 1999.

Two problems here -

There are some 20,000-odd water "systems" in the US - obviously, many cities will have several plants in each system. Every plant - water treatment, water pumping, sewage disposal, and sewage transfer - will have been built at different times, by ifferent bidders and designers, using different sources for controls, pumps, and power supplies/regulators. Every plant will have customized control systems.

Therefore - each plant is subject to different Y2K-related failures. (They all, obviously, will fail absolutely on loss of power for more than a few hours.) Even testing 20 plants is only a snapshot, and can't be used to predict what will fail elsewhere.

___

Two. The twenty selected were (as stated) deliberately selected from those that were finished and had declared themselves compliant. If the job was done right, there should be NO failures, right?

So, how can you predict what will fail in the rest of the plants across the nation if only twenty are tested - after being fixed - when most city and county water systems DO NOT have plans in place to identify and correct y2k problems?

Wouldn't it make more sense to run 100 "tests" on plants that WERE NOT compliant?

But - I forget - that would tend to expose problems, wouldn't it?

-- Robert A. Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), August 04, 1999.

The degree of testing is to be determined by the individual water facility Y2K coordinator in cooperation with the EPA.

Focus on that statement. They are only going to test those parts of the water systems that the local guy decides. The EPA is there to cooperate and give its blessing.

This is such a farce. I can't wait for the lamestream press to declare that the nation's water and sewage systems are "Y2K Ready!!"

-- Dog Gone (layinglow@rollover.now), August 04, 1999.

( www.tasc.dot.gov/Y2K/ )

Only 90 (count 'em!) Federal Days to the ROLL!!! And our H2O utility is promising to be done, DONE by Christmas, leaving a WHOLE WEEK for testing! ROTFLMAO!!!

By the way, if you think private industry has more time, yeah, it does...It doesn't get Columbus Day off. But Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are private holidays as well!!

-- K. Stevens (kstevens@It's ALL going away in January.com), August 04, 1999.