The administration's commitment to
increased secrecy measures extends to the area of
"critical infrastructure information," or
CII. In layman's terms, this refers to
transportation, communications, energy, and other
systems that make modern society run. The Homeland
Security Act allows companies to make voluntary
submissions of information about critical
infrastructure to the Department of Homeland
Security. The idea is to encourage firms to share
information crucial to running and protecting those
facilities. But under the terms of the law, when a
company does this, the information is exempted from
public disclosure and cannot be used without the
submitting party's permission in any civil
proceeding, even a government enforcement action.
Some critics see this as a get-out-of-jail-free
card, allowing companies worried about potential
litigation or regulatory actions to place
troublesome information in a convenient
"homeland security" vault. "The sweep
of it is amazing," says Beryl Howell, former
general counsel to the Senate Judiciary Committee.
"Savvy businesses will be able to mark every
document handed over [to] government officials as
`CII' to ensure their confidentiality."
Companies "wanted liability exemption long
before 9/11," adds Patrice McDermott, a
lobbyist for the American Library Association, which
has a tradition of advocacy on right-to-know issues.
"Now, they've got it."
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Under the
administration's plan to implement the Homeland
Security Act, some businesses may get even more
protection. When Congress passed the law, it said
the antidisclosure provision would apply only to
information submitted to the Department of Homeland
Security. The department recently proposed extending
the provision to cover information submitted to any
federal agency. A department spokesman did not
respond to requests for comment. Business objections
were also pivotal when the Environmental Protection
Agency recently backed off a plan that would have
required some companies to disclose more about
chemical stockpiles in communities.
If the
administration's secrecy policies have helped
business, they have done little for individuals
worried about health and safety issues. The
residents of the small town of Aberdeen, Md., can
attest to that. On a chilly fall evening, some 100
people gathered at the Aberdeen firehouse to hear
the latest about a toxic substance called
perchlorate. An ingredient in rocket fuel,
perchlorate has entered the aquifer that feeds the
town's drinking-water wells. The culprit is the
nearby U.S. Army's Aberdeen Proving Ground,
where since World War I, all manner of weapons have
been tested.
Trigger finger. After word of
the perchlorate contamination broke, a coalition of
citizens began working with the Army to try to
attack the unseen plume of pollution moving through
the ground. But earlier this year, the Army
delivered Aberdeen residents a sharp blow. It began
censoring maps to eliminate features like street
names and building locations--information critical
to understanding and tracking where contamination
might have occurred or where environmental testing
was being done.
The reason? The information, the
Army says, could provide clues helpful to
terrorists. Arlen Crabb, the head of a
citizens' group, doesn't buy it.
"It's an abuse of power," says Crabb,
a 20-year Army veteran, whose well lies just a mile
and a half from the base. His coalition is suing the
Army, citing health and safety concerns.
"We're not a bunch of radicals. We've
got to have the proof. The government has to be
transparent."
"Veil of Secrecy," a 
