van nuys, we have a problem

greenspun.com : LUSENET : TimeBomb 2000 (Y2000) : One Thread

the following is hilarious. read the last sentence first. i guess when 3 million gallons flood the streets it's kind of hard to not admit you might have a little problem.

Wednesday, July 7, 1999 Safeguards Posed for Sewage Tests By PATRICK MCGREEVY

City officials told the Los Angeles City Council on Tuesday that they are putting new safeguards in place for future year-2000 computer tests to avoid a sewage spill like the one that occurred last month in Van Nuys. Nearly 3 million gallons of raw sewage spilled into Woodley Avenue Park on June 16 after a Y2K test mistakenly closed a sewer main at the Donald C. Tillman Water Reclamation Plant. Sanitation Bureau Director Judith Wilson told the council Tuesday in a written report that her agency has learned from its mistakes and is reviewing testing protocols, computer programs and other procedures before resuming tests of the city's four sewage treatment plants. "What we learned from the Tillman event is that if there is a power outage and we switch to back-up energy power, there may be collateral issues which are not strictly Y2K-related," Wilson said in a five-page written report. A new checklist has been developed for future tests, and spotters will be assigned at critical points outside the plants to watch for potential sewage leaks, Wilson said. "We may not be able to trust our control panels in a Y2K event," she said. "We can't be flying blind. We will need personnel in the field as our eyes and ears." The bureau plans to hold a conference in late August for other sewage-treatment agencies to share greater details of lessons learned in the Tillman incident. The conference was requested by the Regional Water Quality Control Board, which recently concluded an investigation that determined the accident could have been prevented with better planning and communication. Council members said they believe the Sanitation Bureau is doing all it can to avoid a repeat of the Tillman spill. "It was a pretty thorough acknowledging and admitting that there was a glitch that caused a real problem that they were not aware of," said Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski, whose district includes the Tillman plant. She said it is important to do tests before Jan. 1, 2000, to determine in advance what might occur if computers malfunction because of problems in reading the date. "I clearly am satisfied," Miscikowski said of the report. "The bureau was willing to step up and

-- corrine l (corrine@iwaynet.net), July 13, 1999

Answers

"...we learned... that if there is a power outage and we switch to back-up energy power, there may be collateral issues which are not strictly Y2K-related..."

... and which result in a really big pile of crap.

"...acknowledging and admitting that there was a glitch that caused a real problem..."

Really? You don't say! Mighty big of you to fess up. We probably never would have noticed otherwise....

*Saracasm Mode: OFF*

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), July 13, 1999.


It's almost sad to see the catastrophe crowd continuing to babble hysterically about this incident. If Y2K was going to be one tenth as bad as you're all hoping, then there would already be 1000 incidents worse than this to get crazy about. But there aren't, so I guess you'll be worshipping a lake of sewage for another 6 months.

-- Trollyanna (r@t.com), July 13, 1999.

And they didn't realize this simple fact from day 1 of their remediation?

<< "We may not be able to trust our control panels in a Y2K event," she said. >>

Sorry - they are in a world of hurt for EVERY other system in the state if the group collectively could not "see" this affect ahead of time. This failure to understand that simple, fundemental level of failure indicates that other attempts to remediate and re-test more complex systems than sewage plants are even more likely to fail.

And this comment provides equally compelling evidence that more complex systems have NOT been tested. For example, the NM sewage plant that also spilled raw sewage into the river did so because its emergency generator had not been maintained at all before the test itself started. Could that generator have operated properly if it was needed January 01?

-- Robert A Cook, PE (Kennesaw, GA) (cook.r@csaatl.com), July 13, 1999.


Trollyanna,

No hysteria here. Just facts:

1. June 16 -- spill. 2. July 7 -- "all is well" spin-babble press conference.

More accidents aren't happening because very few meaningful tests are being conducted.

-- M.C. Hicks (mhicks@greenwich.com), July 13, 1999.


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