This was in my local Paper this morning... GREAT if the FAA in my local town does not trust the Local Water company, It just got worse then i thought......... BLUE OH STILL BLUE :(

FROM LONG ISLAND NEWSDAY

For Y2K Security, FAA Drills a Well / Not taking any chances on its water supply BY: By Sylvia Adcock. STAFF WRITER EDITION: NASSAU AND SUFFOLK SECTION: News DATE: 12-21-1999 A32

Forget about the plastic gallon jugs of water. The Federal Aviation Administration isn't taking any chances. In preparation for a possible Y2K disruption to the water supply, the agency is drilling a well at its air traffic control center in Ronkonkoma. The water isn't destined for thirsty air traffic controllers. Instead, the FAA needs a generous supply of water for the chillers that keep its huge computers cool. Those computers are the ones that helptransmit data from radar sites to the screens controllers use to guide planes through the sky. The FAA says that drilling the well is not a vote of no-confidence in the Suffolk Water Authority, which supplies water to the center. "We're doing this as a precautionary measure. It has nothing to with the local water service," said spokeswoman Arlene Salac. It's one of a number of contingency plans the FAA is putting in place to prepare for possible problems. Overall, the agency doesn't expect problems. Most of the air traffic control computer systems do not use the year date in a meaningful way,said Paul Takemoto, FAA spokesman, so glitches are unlikely. The FAA has tested and retested dozens of critical systems, and has said that they came up trouble-free. The water supply issue, however, is an example of the FAA planning for problems that are totally out of its control. The well is being drilled at the center in Ronkonkoma, which handles high-altitude traffic over much of the Northeast as well as transatlantic traffic. At the TRACON air traffic control facility in Westbury, where controllers guide planes to and from New York-area airports, underground storage tanks are already in place to store an extra water supply. In any event, Michael Logrande, chairman of the Suffolk County Water Authority, said the agency would not have any problems keeping a continual supply of water to all its customers, including the FAA. "I wish they would have conferred with us, because we could have assured them that we won't have any problems. Our wells are backed up by generators," LoGrande said. "If they want to do that, fine, but we could have saved them some money."

KEYWORDS: FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION

-- BLUE (Bluefish@thepond.com), December 21, 1999

Answers

LOL! My city refused to disclose any shelter locations to me. I guess it's cause they were waiting for our airport to drill their dang well! (tongue-in-cheek)

Good find BLUE!

-- Hokie (nn@va.com), December 21, 1999.

Isnt it funny how they keep telling us not to worry but huge government orgs keep doing TEOTWAWKI preps ?.

I just ran out to King Kullen and bought 4 more of thos 2.5 gal jugs of water. I am too busy to do this filling-soda-bottle thing.

I cant wait until this thing is over.......

-- hamster (hamster@mycage.com), December 21, 1999.

This is SO funny. Cory (Hamasaki) has said REPEATEDLY that the FAA computers were "ancient, water-cooled dinosaurs", and was FLAMED by the pollies for being "inaccurate" and LYING to people; you know, FEAR-MONGERING?. Well, I guess the pollies were WRONG, huh? (Geez... Who'd 'a thunk it!)

-- Dennis (djolson@pressenter.com), December 21, 1999.

LOL too! Hope ALL them government computers aren't water cooled. I can just see it now...

"My GOD! Feel this keyboard, its burning up! Pump man, pump I say!!!"

-- wow (wow@wow.wow), December 21, 1999.

LOL wow.

so much for the Titanic analogy :-)

Mike

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-- Michael Taylor (mtdesign3@aol.com), December 21, 1999.

I just really think this is amazing.

-- lisa (lisa@work.now), December 21, 1999.