Don't Drink the Water

By Laura Oppenheimer in News on Oct 22, 2007 5:20PM

First bottled water was cool and tap water was out. Then bottled water was bad (eek! pollution!) and tap water was the name of the game. And now... we say stick with beer, as some scary news has emerged about the people guarding Chicago's H2O.

Honor Guard Security was hired in December to secure several of Chicago's water filtration plans, pumping stations and other facilities. The $13 million contract was supposed to expire in 2011, but is now being re-bid because, as it turns out, some Honor Guard Security employees weren't quite pulling their weight.

"They were sleeping. They weren't where they were supposed to be. The change really was necessary to protect the integrity of the plants. It's not like guarding salt piles. This is one of the highest terrorist targets in the country," a source familiar with the situation told the Sun-Times.

And of course, this being Chicago, this isn't just a story about crappy security guards; it's a story about the ineptitude and shady nature of our city government. Honor Guard Security was the last choice of Water Management officials when the bids were being reviewed, yet they still were awarded the contract to oversee security at the various facilities. When Water Management security chief Janet Pestka voiced concern over what she saw as Honor Guard's inability to oversee security for the plants, she was reassigned. What, no whistle-blower policy?

In the meantime, Honor Guard watchmen and security guards have been replaced by city employees at the most "sensitive" sites. We're just glad that this is all coming to light; it's been way too long since there was a good scandal at Water Management.

Image via Earth Tech.