Micheal Arendt has been on the water for a long time. He joined the US Army Corps of Engineers as a lock and dam operator after working his way up through the US Merchant Marines. The Tennessee–Tombigbee Waterway connects Tennessee and Alabama to the Gulf of Mexico.
Lock and dam operators are important parts of US transportation infrastructure and national security. The US Congress passed a law requiring work to stay with federal employees after he joined a campaign to stop the Corps of Engineers from outsourcing jobs. The Corps of Engineers plans to remotely manage 13 locks and hydroelectric dams in the southeast and replace staff with workers who control them from a central office is why Arendt is speaking out again.
Arendt is concerned that the plan will make US infrastructure and waterways less safe and more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Arendt is an officer with the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers. A remote operator couldn't help a barge passenger who fell into the water, but Arendt helped him get back to shore. Arendt isn't sure if they'll be able to see this type of thing when there's so much else going on. He uses cameras to watch dams and locks, but also walks. Remote operators won't be able to see bad weather or an emergency because they have to supervise multiple facilities at the same time.
Adding to the rolls of many others the organization already operates that way is what the Corps of Engineers plans to do. There are 29 people working at the locks and dams. Once the remote operations plan is completed, the number will be reduced to 12. The first of the project's dams came online this summer when workers began operating the Jim Woodruff hydroelectric dam and lock on the Florida– Georgia border. According to emails from the Corps of Engineers, bringing more dams online is meant to reduce labor costs. The emails said that it hopes to appease concerns about pricing from hydroelectric power customers by installing automation and upgraded systems at the centralized hub. The Corps of Engineers hasn't worked out the details of the retraining for operators.
The plan could endanger vital US transportation and energy infrastructure, as well as destroy jobs, according to the IFPTE. According to investigators, Russian government hackers should be classified as war crimes for their attacks on the Ukrainian capital. An Iranian hacker is accused of attacking a 20-foot tall dam in Westchester County, New York, in the summer of 2013.
Had the dam not been offline for repairs, the attacker would have been able to remotely operate the gate. The incident shows that cyberattacks on dams are much more than just a theoretical hazard. Arendt thinks it will be a nightmare. It needs to be kept safe.
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