If you thought any of this about this story, well, you were totally wrong. That's right, the terror threat doesn't actually have anything to do with the safety of the water supply. It has to do with the disinfectant used in the city's water system. Like most city water systems, the DC area uses chlorine to keep the water (mostly safe). The Army Corps of Engineers is switching from a gaseous form of chlorine to a liquid form, because transporting chlorine gas can be dangerous.
You don't say? Yes, chlorine gas can be dangerous. You don't want to be trapped in a room full of the stuff. It can suffocate you. Also, when the gas reacts with water (such as in your body), hydrochloric acid is produced and can also cause death. The gas was briefly used as a chemical agent in World War I, but its use fell out of favor because it disperses quickly and is mostly ineffective as a weapon in outside areas. Terrorists in Iraq have attempted to blow up shipments of chlorine gas, hoping to poison people. The deaths in these incidents have been caused by the explosions themselves, as the gas disperses outside.
From the Examiner piece:
Chlorine and water disinfection "may be the best thing to happen to the world" in the last 100 years, Thomas Jacobus, Washington Aqueduct general manager, told The Examiner. But the gaseous chlorine that currently is being used is potentially deadly if released; it was used in World War I as a choking agent.
"If you've got individuals or movements who want to try to use your own products againt you, if someone were to intercept a rail car, reroute it and release its contents, it could be devastating," Jacobus said.
The aqueduct provides roughly 180 million gallons of drinking water a day to about 1 million residents in the District, Arlington and Falls Church.
The switch is "absolutely a good sign" for homeland security in the nation's capital, said D.C. Councilman Phil Mendelson, chairman of the public safety committee.
But a broader fear remains: Dangerous materials are regularly transported through the District by rail, Mendelson said, and the federal government is far too secretive with that information.
Yes, in theory if someone were able to steal an entire railcar full of chlorine gas and pump it directly into the air supply of a building, it could be horrific. If someone blew up a train carrying chlorine gas, we'd probably have a costly clean-up and brief evacuations. It's not a laughing matter, but it is in absolutely no way a threat to the city's water supply. That's like saying TERROR THREAT TO YOUR CAR! Terrorists could blow up tanker trucks carrying gasoline!
Speaking of which, how about we talk about all the big gasoline trucks that drive around this city all of the time. Let's find someone who wants to be SERIOUS ON SAFETY and propose banning all gas stations within the District of Columbia. Honestly, those things provide a pretty big, high explosive target.
"When A Brita Filter Just Won't Help?" Yeah, it's true, a Brita filter will not protect you from a big bad scary cloud of chlorine gas. However, it's way off the mark. Not to mention awfully misleading. I guess I shouldn't expect more, though.
For what it's worth, the Examiner piece isn't a bad story--only the headline and front cover design are sensationalist and misleading.