Metcalf substation incident : the disappearing elephant
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On the morning of the 16th of April 2013 the PG&E Metcalf Transmission Substation in San Jose, Calif. was attacked and temporarily put out of service as were fiber-optic cables owned by AT&T and LEVEL 3 Communications. See article at https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/metcalf-substation-incident-disappearing-elephant-chuck-petras?published=t
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Metcalf substation incident : the disappearing elephant
- 1. Metcalf Substation Incident The Disappearing Elephant Chuck Petras
- 2. Gabriel: Have you ever heard of Harry Houdini? Well he wasn't like today's magicians who are only interested in television ratings. He was an artist. He could make an elephant disappear in the middle of a theater filled with people, and do you know how he did that? Misdirection. Stanley: What the f*** are you talking about? Gabriel: Misdirection. What the eyes see and the ears hear, the mind believes. Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0244244/quotes?item=qt0320356
- 3. The Incident (16 Apr 2013) • 500kv/230kv substation located south of San Jose • Unknown perpetrators shot at transformers and breakers • 116 impact points on 22 pieces of equipment • Lost 52,000 gallons of transformer oil • 10 of 11 transformers were struck • Unusually well informed attackers • Two fiber lines cut before the attack • Telecom vaults were resealed, garbage spread to draw attention away • Left the scene minutes before law enforce arrived • Targeted only the ‘hot’ transformers (one was down for maintenance) • Nearby Generating station was on outage Source: https://midwestreliability.org/MRODocuments/NERC%20CIPC%20Report%20to%20the%20Board%2006.27.2013.pdf
- 5. The Narrative "The underground [fiber optic] cables, protected by manhole covers, were cut shortly before 1:30 a.m. in two locations along Monterey Highway, Smith said. Some of the cables, comprised of bundled fiber optic cords, were cut near Monterey Highway and Coyote Ranch Road, AT&T spokesman George Ross said. ... A short time after the [L3 Communications fiber optic] cables were cut, around 1:45 a.m., the sheriff’s office and San Jose police received reports of gunfire in the area of Monterey Highway and Blanchard Road, sheriff’s spokesman Deputy Kurtis Stenderup said. ... Two hours later, PG&E contacted the sheriff’s office to report a problem at the utility’s nearby substation in the 100 block of Metcalf Road. ... which is located near both a public gun range and the sheriff’s shooting range. All of the incidents occurred within a half-mile radius of each other, Smith said." Source: http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2013/04/16/gunshots-cause-oil-spill-at-san-jose-pge-substation/
- 6. Timeline • 12:58 a.m. AT&T fiber-optic telecommunications cables were cut not far from U.S. Highway 101 just outside south San Jose. • 1:07 a.m. Some customers of Level 3 Communications, an Internet service provider, lost service. Cables in its vault near the Metcalf substation were also cut. • 1:31 a.m. A surveillance camera pointed along a chain-link fence around the substation recorded a streak of light that investigators from the Santa Clara County Sheriff's office think was a signal from a waved flashlight. It was followed by the muzzle flash of rifles and sparks from bullets hitting the fence. • 1:37 a.m. PG&E confirms received an alarm from motion sensors at the substation, possibly from bullets grazing the fence. • 1:41 a.m. San Jose Sheriff's department received a 911 call about gunfire, sent by an engineer at a nearby power plant that still had phone service. • 1:45 a.m. The first bank of transformers, riddled with bullet holes and having leaked 52,000 gallons of oil, overheated - at which time PG&E's control center about 90 miles north received an equipment-failure alarm. • 1:50 a.m. Another apparent flashlight signal, caught on film, marked the end of the attack. More than 100 shell casings of the sort ejected by AK-47s were later found at the site. • 1:51 a.m. Law-enforcement officers arrived, but found everything quiet. Unable to get past the locked fence and seeing nothing suspicious, they left. • 3:15 a.m. A PG&E worker arrives to survey the damage. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metcalf_sniper_attack
- 8. Source: Google Earth Pro
- 9. Damage (Substation) • 500kV Yard: 10 transformers • 230kV Yard: 7 transformers • 115kV Yard: 6 circuit breakers • Total of 52,000 gallons of oil • Mineral oil • $15.4 million in restoration costs • 27 days to restore substation Source: http://www.ksg.harvard.edu/hepg/Papers/2014/Sandoval_HEPGJune2014.pdf
- 11. Damage (Telecom vaults) • AT&T Communications Fiber-Optic Cables Cut • Six fiber-optic cables cut • Took approx. 24 hours to return to service (needed to install new cable to work around the affected area) • LEVEL 3 Communications Fiber-Optic Cables Cut • One fiber-optic cable cut(?) • Took approx. 10 hours to return to service Sources: https:///corp.sonic.net/status/2013/04/16/fusionflexlink-outage-in-the-santa-cruz-area ftp://ftp2.cpuc.ca.gov/PG&E20150130ResponseToA1312012Ruling/2014/02/SB_GT&S_0641100.pdf
- 12. Damage (Telecom vaults) Source: http://www.norscan.com/_uploads/images/IMG_2845.jpg NOTE: Representative (not Metcalf)
- 15. The Neighborhood Source: Google Earth Pro
- 16. The Neighborhood Source: Google Earth Pro
- 17. The Neighborhood Source: Google Earth Pro
Editor's Notes
- Source: http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304851104579359141941621778