Security for water utilities post-9/11 focus of seminars

MILL VALLEY, CA, Oct. 20, 2004 -- Sage Designs Inc. is holding a "Security Seminar for Water Utilities" in Concord, Calif., on Nov. 8 and in Ontario, Calif., on Nov. 9.

The Security Seminar for Water Utilities -- co-hosted by Sage Designs, Pure Technologies, Southwest Microwave and Stantec -- will address post-9/11 dangers to our country's water supply. The guest speakers have worked with municipal water utilities to perform vulnerability and risk assessments that were mandated by the EPA after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. These same speakers are now designing security systems utilizing the latest technology for CCTV, access control, biometrics and video surveillance.

Former Secret Service agent Ron Williams will speak on the topic, "Protecting Against Terrorism ¿ The Insider and Outsider Threat." Williams operated in two primary arenas: credit card/check fraud counterfeiting, and the Counter Assault Team (CAT) for anti-terrorism addressing threats against the President of the United States. At the time of his retirement, Williams was responsible for all advance security plans and logistics coordination for presidential, vice-presidential, and foreign heads-of-state visits to Los Angeles. He personally helped protect Presidents Ford, Reagan, Bush and Clinton, as well as such noted dignitaries as Queen Elizabeth, Yitzhak Shamir and Pope John Paul II. Williams is the recipient of numerous awards, including the U.S. Secret Service Director's Award for Special Achievement on eight occasions. His association with AFAUSS (Association of Former Agents of the United States Secret Service), ASIS (American Society of Industry Security), and ATAP (Association of Threat Assessment Professionals) to name a few, keeps him abreast of all matters involving security and threat assessment. A frequent speaker, Williams has made presentations to the ACWA, and has been called upon numerous times as an expert on terrorism by FOX News.

Water utilities security consultant John Saunders, of Enterprise Protection Associates, will speak on the topic, "Water and Wastewater Security Problems and Solutions." Saunders is a Certified Protection Professional (CPP), member of the American Society for Industrial Security International, a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and member of the Computer Security Institute. Saunders is qualified in the Risk Assessment Methodology for Water/Wastewater infrastructure (RAM-W) delivered through U.S. Government-Sandia National Laboratories, N.M. He has over twenty years experience in policing, corporate security and public safety.

As the Department of Homeland Security continues to concentrate on protecting our country's greatest assets, it's incumbent upon this industry to consider the vulnerabilities that could be exploited by terrorists at less-protected public facilities. At a similar seminar last July, seminar attendee Jack Eldridge, of Michael Baker Jr. Inc., asked his colleagues, "Who among us wants to be the Three Mile Island of water systems?" July's guest speaker, Terrorism Analyst for MSNBC and former FBI agent Rick Hahn, concluded, "The likelihood of terrorist events occurring inside the U.S. continues to increase. Being prepared is our only means of averting or mitigating disaster."

Although each seminar will showcase Security & SCADA products and services offered by the seminar hosts, the seminars are designed to be highly educational and informative, not just product demonstrations.

Sage Designs Inc. is a California SBE/WBE distributor/rep firm focused on providing SCADA, Security & Industrial Automation products, as well as educational seminars, training programs and referrals, to utility professionals seeking solutions for their SCADA, Security & IA needs.

Pure Technologies Ltd. is an international technology company, that has become a world leader in providing information and communications technology for infrastructure management and surveillance. Pure has developed a suite of complementary technologies that provide infrastructure owners with comprehensive state-of-the-art management information. Pure Technologies designs and provides continuous remote monitoring systems and technical support from its offices in Columbia, Md., Phoenix, Ariz., and Calgary, Alb., Canada.

Southwest Microwave Inc. is a leading global provider of exterior perimeter security solutions. The company produces a broad range of perimeter intrusion detection equipment, including volumetric microwave sensors, infrared sensors, state-of-the-art fence detection systems and wireless CCTV transmission systems that perform reliably in harsh environments. With over 30 years of experience, Southwest Microwave's perimeter security products are trusted across a diverse market spectrum, from critical utilities, military government and correctional applications to the transportation, industrial and communications sectors. Recognized for world-class customer support, Southwest Microwave's technical services group offers comprehensive site planning, design assistance, product training, system commissioning and tech support services.

Stantec provides professional design and consulting services in planning, engineering, architecture, interior design, landscape architecture, surveying, and project management. Continually striving to balance economic, environmental, and social responsibilities, Stantec is recognized as a world-class leader and innovator in the delivery of sustainable solutions. Stantec's 50 years of experience is now being utilized in the study of water supply risk assessment and contingency planning.

The seminars will be held from 1-5 p.m. of Nov. 8 and 9. In the morning of both days, a SCADA Seminar, co-hosted by Sage Designs and Pure Technologies, will feature two Carollo Engineers' consultants. In Concord, Tony Burgarino, Ph.D., P.E., project manager, Carollo Engineers, Walnut Creek, Calif., will speak about "Planning for a Radio Telemetry System." The Ontario Seminar will feature Gene Heyer, P.E., Control Systems Engineer, Carollo Engineers, Fountain Valley, Calif., on the topic, "Evolving SCADA Systems: Functional Integration of Security, Surveillance, GIS, Modeling, MCC and by the way, SCADA." Heyer will examine recent SCADA system applications that integrate security, video surveillance, GIS, modeling and field instrumentation into the SCADA system design. (SCADA is an acronym for Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition.)

Advanced registration is required. To register for a seminar, call 1-888-ASK-SAGE or download the Registration Form at www.SageDesignsInc.com/events. The specific seminars can be found at:
-- Security Seminar: www.sagedesignsinc.com/pdf/Sage_Security_Seminar_Reg-Nov2004.pdf.
-- SCADA Seminar: www.sagedesignsinc.com/pdf/SCADA_Seminar_Reg-Nov2004.pdf.

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