Chairman Diaz schedules discussion on water system safety

MIAMI – Miami-Dade County Commission Chairman Jose “Pepe” Diaz has scheduled a discussion about the safety of Miami-Dade County’s water systems in the wake of the recent hack and attempted contamination of the water system of a town near Tampa. The discussion will take place at the next County Commission meeting, which is set for Wednesday, Feb. 17, beginning at 9:30 a.m. at the Stephen P. Clark Center, 111 NW 1st St.

On Feb. 5, someone gained remote access to Oldsmar, Fla.’s system to release large amounts of lye into the water intended for 15,000 people in that community. It was detected and contained before the tainted water was released to customers.

Miami-Dade County Water and Sewer Department officials are confident such an attack would not be successful in Miami-Dade due to strong safeguards in place to detect any changes in chemical levels or water quality, including sensors and automated systems at treatment facilities, as well as manual readings taken by staff every two hours.

“Although I believe our Miami-Dade water system is among the most secure, I feel the recent attack on Oldsmar’s water system, while fortunately unsuccessful, calls for a discussion at our next Commission meeting to assure the public and ourselves that our water system has all the proper safeguards in place to defend against any similar attempted attack, because the health and safety of our residents is paramount,” Chairman Diaz said.