InfraGard Members Alliance Houston

Hazmat Fusion Center

The National Hazardous Materials Fusion Center (NHMFC) provides responders, throughout the U.S., an information sharing capability previously not available to first responders.

The NHMFC Website (www.hazmatfc.com) was demonstrated during the EPA, Region 6, HotZone Conference in Houston, Texas. The internet portal not only provides responders an opportunity to report information on HazMat incidents, but also provides a number of easy to use resources.

http://scienceray.com/physics/hazmat-fusion-center

http://www.hazmatfc.com/Pages/Home.aspx

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

Response and Restoration software and information

NOAA's Office of Response and Restoration (OR&R) protects coastal and marine resources, mitigates threats, reduces harm, and restores ecological function. The Office provides comprehensive solutions to environmental hazards caused by oil, chemicals, and marine debris.

CAMEO Chemicals is a database of hazardous chemicals that emergency responders and planners can use to get response recommendations and predict hazards.

Get a standalone version of CAMEO Chemicals that you can run from your Windows computer.

http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/index.php

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

Surveillance Detection Awareness on the Job - Virtual Roundtable event on HSIN

The Office of Infrastructure Protection’s (IP) Sector-Specific Agency Executive Management Office (SSA EMO) and Partnership and Outreach Division (POD), with assistance from the Surveillance Detection workgroup, developed a 90-minute, highly interactive and visual, virtual roundtable, designed to raise the awareness of suspicious activities and behaviors that might indicate potential surveillance activities. An invitation to the roundtable is attached. 

The target audience for this roundtable will be a full-range of employees working at critical infrastructure facilities, government agencies, governmental organizations, and private-sector owners and operators, including front-line supervisors such as security managers, facilities managers, human resource managers, compliance managers, and IT managers.

More information: http://www.infragardhouston.org/pdfs/SDA%20Virtual%20Roundtable%209-9-10%20Invite.pdf

Houston Police Dept. gets 737 airliner as training tool

Houston police now have an old jet airliner to use as a training tool that could make them the envy of big-city law enforcement agencies around the nation.

Top police brass cut a ceremonial ribbon Monday on a retired Boeing 737 that had been used as an Air Force trainer in San Antonio. It was set to be decommissioned and destined for an airplane graveyard in the Arizona desert.

Read more: http://www.star-telegram.com/2010/07/19/2344848/houston-pd-gets-737-airliner-as.html#ixzz0uKSm6Dlf

Terror defendant scoffed at JFK security

A former cargo handler on a reconnaissance mission... marveled at the lack of security for jet fuel storage tanks there, according to tapes played Tuesday at his terror trial.

The pair hoped to "cause greater destruction than in the Sept. 11 attacks," the government alleges in an indictment. The plot never got past the planning stages, authorities said. The men have pleaded not guilty.

In the tape played Tuesday, Defreitas bragged about his knowledge of Kennedy Airport and its vulnerabilities.  "For years, I've been watching them," he said of the fuel tanks.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5imyS6Rxh0dCsz_QlXiqWrCjtdtEwD9GPPLDO0

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

Houston InfraGard Chapter collaborating with DHS to gather assessment data after tropical storms

The Houston InfraGard Chapter is collaborating with the local Department of Homeland Security (DHS) office to provide critical infrastructure damage assessment after any regional disaster.  The DHS will monitor the Houston InfraGard Twitter account IMAHoustonSR for in the field updates.  The Twitter account is only available for Houston InfraGard Chapter members and vetted agencies.  All members and critical infrastructure partners are encouraged to "request to follow" the Twitter account well in advance of any incident.

Additional users will not be added 48 hours before any landfalling storm.

Please refer to our web page at: http://www.infragardhouston.org/infragardhouston/member-resources.html

Announcing Special Interest Group (SIG's) to enhance collaboration among Houston Chapter Members

The Houston InfraGard Chapter is pleased to announce the roll out of its Special Interest Group (SIG)/Sector Chief Program.  The initial sectors to be implemented are: Electric, Healthcare & Public Health, Information Technology, and Oil & Gas.  The program has been designed to facilitate focused collaboration between the FBI and the individual sectors within the Houston Chapter.  The purpose of the program is to permit regular communication within the SIG to further enhance protection of the Critical Infrastructure and Key Resources in the Houston area.

The SIG's may be based upon sector or cross-sector issues, they are essentially work-groups with a common area of interest.  Each SIG is encouraged to:

• Communicate/Collaborate with its peers
• Provide sector membership with public source information relative to each sector via the chapter blog
• Provide input to the chapter board on topics and speakers for quarterly meetings
• Provide Subject Matter Expertise as required by critical infrastructure partners
  

Each member may participate in up to two SIG's.  An example would be Information Technology and Electric, or Information Technology and Oil & Gas, or you may select only Information Technology.  Individuals that may be involved in multiple sectors have at at large sector to participate.

Sector membership registration is now available at: Special Interest Group Registration

Growing calls for rethinking Miranda rights for terrorism suspects

Attorney General Eric Holder: "I think we have to give serious consideration to at least modifying that public-safety exception [to the Miranda protections]; [the administration and congress need] to come up with a proposal that is both constitutional, but that is also relevant to our times and the threats that we now face"

Since the arrest of Faisal Shazad, a naturalized American citizen, more and more legislators and officials have raised the question of whether or not Miranda rights should be suspended for terrorism suspects.

McCain and Lieberman introduced a bill two months ago called the Enemy Belligerent Interrogation, Detention and Prosecution Act of 2010 that permits the president to detain, without trial, citizens suspected of terrorism.

http://homelandsecuritynewswire.com/growing-calls-rethinking-miranda-rights-terrorism-suspects

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

U.S. allocates $790 million for infrastructure and preparedness

DHS secretary Janet Napolitano last Thursday announced the fiscal year 2010 Preparedness Grants for nine federal programs. The programs include critical infrastructure-related grants — totaling nearly $790 million to assist state, local, and tribal governments and the private sector in strengthening preparedness for acts of terrorism, major disasters and other emergencies.

• Transit Security Grant Program (TSGP) — $253.4 million to protect critical transit infrastructure from terrorism — in addition to $150 million in transit security grants provided by the Recovery Act (1, 2), totaling $403.4 million — including:
  Freight Rail Security Grant Program (FRSGP) — $14.5 million
  Intercity Passenger Rail (Amtrak) — $20 million
  Intercity Bus Security Grant Program (IBSGP) — $11.5 million
  Port Security Grant Program (PSGP) — $288 million
  Buffer Zone Protection Program (BZPP) — $48 million
  Emergency Operations Centers (EOC) Grant Program — $57.6 million
  Interoperable Emergency Communications Grant Program (IECGP) — $48 million
  Driver’s License Security Grant Program (DLSGP) —$48 million

Submitted by: E. Charles Sterling

InfraGard Leads Four State Public/Private Full Scale Exercise Aimed at Expediting Hurricane Recovery

On Tuesday, April 6 and Wednesday, April 7, 2010, the InfraGard National Members Alliance and the Houston, Acadiana, New Orleans, and Mobile Chapters led a multi-state Full Scale Exercise in collaboration with law enforcement agencies and critical infrastructure firms from Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama.  More than 150 persons from more than 70 different public and private sector organizations participated in the Exercise.

This was one of the few crisis exercises where both members of law enforcement and critical infrastructure private sector responders have participated together.  “This is critical: too many times we plan an exercise after a crisis.  This time we are working together before a crisis takes place so we can respond more efficiently with law enforcement and private sector companies,” said Richard T. Garcia, Chairperson of the InfraGard National Members Alliance Crisis and Exercise Committee.

The InfraGard-led Exercise evaluated processes used by law enforcement agencies and critical infrastructure firms to control reentry after a hurricane and to assure that the right essential personnel are allowed reentry at the right time.  The participating law enforcement agencies included Galveston County, TX Sheriff’s Office, Galveston, TX Police Department, Lafourche Parish, LA Sheriff’s Office, Louisiana State Police, Harrison County, MS Sheriff’s Office, Gulfport, MS Police Department, and Calhoun County, AL Sheriff’s Office.  The New Orleans and House FBI Field Offices participated as observers, as did a Emergency Managers from Galveston County, Lafourche Parish, Harrison County, and Calhoun County, as well as the State of Texas and the State of Mississippi, and DHS.

In addition, representatives from private critical infrastructure firms participated, including Bunge North America, Chevron, Global Emergency Management/Global Security Associates, J. Ray McDermott, Nord-Sud Shipping, Securitas USA, Shell Oil Company, and Waste Management.  Voluntary organizations, including Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service (MCVS) and Mississippi Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD), also participated.  Key stakeholders included the Energy Security Council and the Association of Contingency Planners, the Port of South Louisiana, the Port of St. Bernard, the Port of Gulfport, and the Mississippi River Maritime Association.