North County's nightmare scenario would be if terrorists targeted the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The plant's operator, Southern California Edison, has invested more than $80 million in security upgrades since 9/11.

But lest you sleep too comfortably, consider the sleeping illegal immigrant who on July 25 penetrated some of that security without even trying, stowing away on a freight train that carried him onto San Onofre's property.

Are we ready for another 9/11?

By: North County Times Opinion staff

Our view: Six years later, San Diego region is safer but not safe

On a beautiful, sunny September morning six years ago today, terrorists felled the twin towers, punctured the Pentagon and made martyrs of the passengers of Flight 93, killing 2,973 people in the worst terrorist attacks on American soil. Last week, in a timely reminder of a persistent threat, German authorities announced that they had busted a terrorist cell that was targeting U.S. bases.

Since the attacks now known as 9/11, metropolitan areas across the United States have been forced to reconsider their vulnerability. For better and for worse, the San Diego metropolitan region is, to borrow the military jargon, a "target-rich" environment. While we are better prepared for a terrorist attack than we were six years ago, our region is by no means immune.

North County's nightmare scenario would be if terrorists targeted the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station. The plant's operator, Southern California Edison, has invested more than $80 million in security upgrades since 9/11.

But lest you sleep too comfortably, consider the sleeping illegal immigrant who on July 25 penetrated some of that security without even trying, stowing away on a freight train that carried him onto San Onofre's property.

Earlier this year, the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission ordered nuclear power plant operators to beef up security to prevent attacks by land, sea and cyberspace. The commission opted not to require plant operators to protect against attack by air, arguing instead that such aerial assaults are up to the military to defend against. San Onofre officials say a plane crashing into the plant wouldn't cause a nuclear explosion and that the facility's earthquake preparations would help it withstand an air assault. But does it make sense that nuclear plant operators weren't required to defend against the very mode of attack used to such deadly effect six years ago?

San Onofre isn't the only nuclear threat on our borders: Experts consider the nation's ports to be the most likely entry point for an actual nuclear weapon. The Department of Homeland Security conducts random searches of containers coming into the Unified Port of San Diego and is planning a facility that will examine trucks. But a random check of ship containers once they are in the port may be too late to prevent local destruction.

The San Diego port is also set to participate next year in a pilot program to test smaller vessels for radiological and nuclear materials. It's better than nothing, certainly, but it's still woefully inadequate given the magnitude of the threat.

The region has struggled for adequate funding, despite its many military installations and tourist attractions and the world's busiest international border.

In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security took the San Diego region off the list of areas eligible to apply for Urban Area Security Initiative grants for homeland security. Intense lobbying by local leaders put San Diego back on the list earlier this year and secured $16 million in Homeland Security grants this year.

That funding is helping pay for the kind of disaster planning and preparedness that would have seemed unthinkable in a pre-9/11 world. Every 18 months, San Diego County's multi-jursidictional Office of Emergency Services conducts regional drills that test emergency response to incidents such as bioterrorism.

The office also has a program to help people prepare for terrorist attacks and other disasters, but few of us have paid it much attention. Polls show that only half of county residents say they're prepared for a disaster, whether man-made or natural. If you're in the half that hasn't prepared, please take this moment to consult the survival guide you received in the mail, or call (85 565-3490 or visit the Web site http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/docs/Fam ... rvGuid.pdf. Start preparing now to be self-sufficient for at least 72 hours.

Community Emergency Response Teams, another grass-roots effort to mobilize citizens to prepare for disasters of all sorts, have sprouted up in communities throughout North County, including Vista, Oceanside and Fallbrook. These teams have regular training sessions and give anyone interested an opportunity to help. For more information, call (85 565-3490 or visit the Web site http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/oes/communit ... lved/cert/.

Like many metropolitan areas, the San Diego region has been forced to prepare for contingencies that before 9/11 would have seemed highly unlikely. Whether it's enough is hard to tell. We hope we never find out. But let's prepare as if it could happen any day. Like on a beautiful September morning, with the sun shining bright on placid American soil.

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