Underground Construction - June 2021 - 8

NEWSLINE LATEST INDUSTRY DEVELOPMENTS
Ex-Iowa Wastewater Plant
Supervisor Sentenced
for Tampering
A former Iowa wastewater treatment plant offi cial
has been sentenced to three months in federal
prison for manipulating water sample test results
to ensure plant discharges into the Missouri River
met federal requirements.
Jay Niday, 63, was sentenced in U.S. District
Court in Sioux City and was also ordered to
pay $8,500 in fi nes and court costs, federal
prosecutors said. Niday, who pleaded guilty in
October to charges of conspiracy and falsifying
or providing inaccurate information, was the
second former plant offi cial to be charged. Patrick
Schwarte, a shift supervisor, pleaded guilty
in January 2019 to the same two charges and
was sentenced to two years of probation.
Prosecutors said Niday and Schwarte
instructed other plant operators to raise chlorine
levels added to wastewater on days that E. coli
samples were taken. The elevated chlorine level
would produce test samples showing plant
discharges met federal limits for levels of fecal
coliform and E. coli. Once the samples were
taken, chlorine added to the city's wastewater
was reduced to levels unlikely to disinfect
discharged water enough to meet those limits.
Niday told state investigators that administering
the smaller levels of chlorine saved the city at least
$100,000 in one year.
Idaho Eyes Sewer,
Water, Broadband with
Federal Rescue Money
Idaho will receive $1.1 billion in the latest round of
coronavirus relief money in two separate payments,
the U.S. Treasury Department announced last
month, with state offi cials saying the money could
be used to substantially bolster the state's water,
sewer and broadband infrastructure.
The $350 billion program is part of President
Rural Kansas Water System Hacking Highlights Risks
A former Kansas utility worker has been charged with remotely tampering with a public water system's
cleaning procedures, highlighting the diffi culty smaller utilities face in protecting against hackers.
Wyatt Travnichek, 22, was charged with remotely accessing the Post Rock Rural Water District's
systems in March 2019, about two months after he quit his job with the utility. He's accused of
shutting down the facility's cleaning and disinfecting procedures.
When he worked for the utility, he would monitor the water plant remotely by logging into its
computer system, the Kansas City Star reports.
The federal indictment says Travnichek used a smart phone to commit the off ense. Post Rock
utility offi cials declined to provide further details. Travnichek's attorney, a federal public defender,
didn't respond to the Star's request for comment.
No centralized database of hacker attacks on utilities exists, but a 2016 report from the
federal Department of Energy said the Department of Homeland Security responded to 25 water
cybersecurity incidents in 2015.
The Florida city of Oldsmar, population 15,000, reported in February that a hacker attempted
to poison its water supply by remotely accessing its system and changing chemical levels. An
employee was able to quickly reverse the hacker's actions.
Small utilities such as Post Rock may not have the resources to hire dedicated information
technology staff . Commonly their employees juggle multiple roles, including cybersecurity.
" As far as cities having an IT person, I just don't know of any our size, " said Bill Shroyer, assistant
city administrator in Sabetha, in northern Kansas, and president of the Kansas Rural Water
Association. " And if we did have an IT person, they better know how to repair pot holes, fi x water
leaks, pick up snow and everything else that we do. "
Security experts say the Post Rock case could be as simple as offi cials failing to revoke Travnichek's
electronic access after he quit. The indictment doesn't specify how he accessed the system.
8 JUNE 2021 | UCONonline.com
Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion relief package that became
law in March. In addition to the money coming to
the state, Idaho's nine largest cities will get a total
of $124 million, while 190 cities with populations
of typically less than 50,000 will get $108 million.
Counties will get another $314 million. The
distribution is based on population.
Alex Adams, Republican Gov. Brad Little's
budget chief, said the federal program allows
the money to be allocated by December 2024,
with the projects complete by the end of 2026.
Adams said the governor's offi ce sought the
longer window.
" That's a huge benefi t for a rural state like ours
where it's going to take years for some of these
large sewer, water and broadband projects to
come to fruition, " Adams said.
Of the $350 billion total, state governments
and the District of Columbia will receive
$195.3 billion. That's broken down to $500
million each for $25.5 billion. The remaining
$170 billion is being divided with various factors
in play. Idaho is getting about $594 million,
accounting for the $1.1 billion coming to state
government. California state government is
getting $27 billion.
Also, of the $350 billion, counties are

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Underground Construction - June 2021

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