Broken Hydrants Leave D.C. Vulnerable (Rep. Tom Davis)

The April fire at the D.C. Public Library in Georgetown revealed faulty and broken hydrants in the library’s vicinity. Firefighters were forced to use hydrants located two blocks from the fire. This was a wake up call for the city and the region.

It should be a wake up call for Congress, too. While D.C. Fire Chief Dennis L. Rubin estimates that at least 10% of D.C. hydrants are broken and another 15% are in need of immediate repair, he states that 15% of the hydrants in the Capitol Hill area do not function and 18% are in need of immediate repair. If faced with a large-scale terrorist attack on the Capitol, first responders may face a malfunction at one out of every three hydrants.

The national security implications of this problem are obvious. The danger is compounded by the fact that the Fire Department, the firefighters’ union, and the Water and Sewer Authority cannot even agree on the extent of hydrant malfunction. It is our responsibility to make sure the District, as the seat of the federal government, is protected and can effectively manage the consequences of such an attack.

It is past time for Congress to take a serious look. As chairman of the Select Committee on Katrina, I learned that awful tragedies can be avoided or at least ameliorated by simple preparedness. But we need to take the initiative. I’ve renewed my request to my good friend and Chairman, Henry Waxman, for an Oversight and Government Reform Committee hearing on this issue.