The Bureau of Reclamation refuses to disclose safety details about the Jackson Lake Dam to a county official trying to verify his county is out of harm’s way. The Teton County Commissioner, Bill Paddleford, wants the information as part of the area’s emergency planning, which includes the city of Jackson. The Jackson Lake Dam is located on the Snake River and holds an estimated 275 billion gallons of water. If the dam were significantly damaged and released this water, it could wash away towns along the lower portion of the river. The dam is also only seven miles east of the Teton Fault, which geologists believe is overdue for an earthquake that could surpass a 7.0 magnitude. For these reasons, Paddleford believes it is important to verify the soundness of the dam and prepare for all contingencies during the emergency planning. The Bureau of Reclamation officials claim the dam is perfectly safe, and released a “nonsensitive” version of an engineering report to respond to concerns. However, the information does not satisfy Paddleford, who wants specific answers to safety questions. This is just one of many examples of public information being shielded under the guise of security concerns since 9/11. In many cases, the government restricts information directly related to public health and safety. In a similar example, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) removed information from its website about problems in a Montana dam. Owners of the Milltown Dam near Missoula found gaps near the foundation. The agency never notified County commissioners about the problem, and were instead notified by a county employee who found the report on FERC’s website. FERC removed the document a few days after the commissioners sent a complaint to the agency. In this case, the public can access the document at memoryhole.org. However, much of the information stripped from websites after 9/11 is no longer available in the public domain.