Rich Kellman (2011-07-01)
WBFO Listen Now: http://www.publicbroadcasting.net/wbfo/news.newsmain/article/1/0/1822497/WBFO.News/Elma.businessman.warns.of.EMP.threat
photo courtesy Wikipedia from U.S. Army report
ELMA, NY (WBFO) – A businessman man in Elma is leading the fight against a major threat to the nation’s electrical grid. WBFO news contributor Rich Kelmman and senior correspondent for WGRZ-TV tells us about Electro Magnetic Pulse or EMP. Have you ever considered what would happen if one day all electricity just stopped. Local businessman Henry Schwartz thinks about it a lot.
“You’d get up and none of the lights would work. Your radio wouldn’t work, the car wouldn’t start, your water system would stop. Go to the food store and there wouldn’t be any. Everything that we know in the modern world would grind to a halt,” said Schwartz.
In 2008, an independent congressional commission warned that an electromagnetic pulse generated by a nuclear blast high above the earth could critically damage or destroy our electric grid.
Henry Schwartz’s business runs on electricity. He owns Steuben Foods in Elma and employs some 500 people. They manufacture and package food and medical supplies. About three years ago, he became deeply concerned about EMP and formed a not-for-profit organization called EMPact America.
“(EMP is) more of a threat than nuclear devices exploded in 10 of our cities at the same time,” he said.
Anthony Caruana is Town Supervisor of Tonawanda. “The likelihood may be rare,” said Caruana. “But we need to be prepared just in case.”
Caruana is a retired Army brigadier general. “I don’t think anybody ever believed that 9/11 could happen with airplanes going into massive buildings using our own planes and our own fuel to hit it.””A lack of imagination,” said Caruana.
In 2008 after eight years of study, the Congressional EMP Commission issued its final report, which focused on EMP as a weapon. We reach senior staff member Dr. Peter Pry in Washington and asked whether the commission considers nuclear EMP a clear and present danger.
“Yes, that’s correct. the commission did judge that it was a clear and present danger now,” said Pry.
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