Re: Utility Mapping to be featured at the 2003 DPC in Tampa

["John Palmer" <nanog () adns net>]

Anyone with half the brains can figure out how to cause trouble just by driving
down the street. You don't need any maps.

Also public information tells alot about things. The Michigan PUC just finished
their study of the August 14th blackout and has issued their report. In it it has
a section that outlines the restoration procedures the DTE and ITC (the transco)
took to restore service.

In this sections, there were phrases like "then they energized the 345 KV ring bus
at substation XXX and restored service to 70% of Macomb county". So, if 
someone read this and wanted to cause trouble they would say "Hey, all I need
to do it take out substation XXX and 70% of Macomb county will be out".

If you want to find major substations, just find one and then use MapQuests
satellite photo feature to follow the parade of transmission towers to all of
the other major ones. I got bored one day and did this for about 2 hours, just for
the hell of it.  Found the Thetford and Hampton subs just by map-hopping 
on Mapquest. 

My point: Any map will not give substantially more information than is already
available to the public. One of the scarier sides of us being such an open society. 


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Sean Donelan" <sean () donelan com>
To: <nanog () merit edu>
Sent: Thursday, November 06, 2003 07:18
Subject: Utility Mapping to be featured at the 2003 DPC in Tampa


> Remember how the government got upset a graduate student generated
> maps of underground utilities, and there were suggestions that his project
> be classified.
>
> Or was the real problem was he had figure out how to do it cheaply, and
> wasn't planning to sell the information for large sums of money?
>
>
>
> Utility Mapping to be featured at the 2003 DPC
>
> Burnsville, MN (November 5, 2003) - Underground utility mapping will be
> one of the features of the program for the 2003 Damage Prevention
> Conference and Exposition (DPC) to be held December 3-5 at the Tampa
> Convention Center in Tampa, FL.  Accurate maps of underground facility
> locations are still difficult to obtain in many parts of the nation, but
> you can find solutions at the 2003 DPC!
>
> Historically, manual record keeping of locations of underground energy,
> water and communications systems has been inadequate, and consequences
> continue to surface as facility owners work to maintain and protect their
> systems. New technologies and systems are coming on-line to upgrade the
> map records of these vital underground delivery systems. These include
> computerized mapping systems, geospatial information databases, and use
> of global positioning satellites (GPS) to accumulate field data on
> existing utilities.
>
> [...]
> The exhibit hall will feature a mapping and technology pavilion with
> vendors showcasing a wide array of products from GIS, GPS, AM, FM, One
> Call Ticket Management Systems and much, much more! A sampling of the
> 2003 Mapping & Technology Pavilion exhibitors include:
> [...]