11 October 2001
Text: EPA Sets Up Water Protection Task Force
(Task force will help improve water system security) (950)
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has established a water
protection task force to help federal, state and local officials
safeguard the nation's drinking water supply from terrorist attack.
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman, quoted in an October 5 press
release, said that while the threat of public harm from an attack on
the nation's water supply is small, the goal of the task force is to
ensure that all community drinking water utilities have access to the
best scientific and technical expertise, and "know what immediate
steps to take and to whom to turn for help."
EPA already has in place a notification system to quickly alert
authorities and water system officials to threats, potential
vulnerabilities and incidents. This type of notification went out in
the form of a Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) alert after the
September 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon in Washington, D.C. and
the World Trade Center in New York.
Should an attack on a water system be suspected, EPA can dispatch
expert emergency response personnel to the scene immediately. These
experts, located in all of EPA's ten regions across the country, are
prepared to help with monitoring, cleanup and expert advice on
contaminants.
Following is the text of the press release:
(begin text)
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Headquarters Press Release
Washington, DC
10/05/2001
WHITMAN ANNOUNCES WATER PROTECTION TASK FORCE
EPA Administrator Christie Whitman today announced the establishment
of a water protection task force at the Agency that will be charged
with helping federal, state and local partners to expand their tools
to safeguard the nation's drinking water supply from terrorist attack.
"While EPA already has a strong coordinated partnership program for
protecting our drinking water, this task force will have specific
duties to expand EPA's service to the community water systems," said
Whitman.
"The threat of public harm from an attack on our nation's water supply
is small. Our goal here is to ensure that drinking water utilities in
every community have access to the best scientific information and
technical expertise they need, and to know what immediate steps to
take and to whom to turn for help," Whitman added.
EPA already has in place a notification system to quickly share
information among drinking water providers, the law enforcement
community (local, state and federal), and emergency response
officials. This system, developed through a public/private partnership
with the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) and the
FBI, alerts authorities and water system officials to threats,
potential vulnerabilities and incidents. This type of notification
went out as an FBI alert after the attacks on the Pentagon and the
World Trade Center. EPA has given the AMWA a $600,000 grant to
continue to improve this notification system with a secure web-based
"virtual center". The Information Sharing and Analysis Center can be
accessed by all partners, including wastewater facilities.
In the unlikely event of an attack on a water system, a drinking water
utility would activate its existing emergency response plan with state
emergency officials. If needed, these plans provide for shutting down
the system, notifying the public of any emergency steps they might
need to take (for example, boiling water) and providing alternative
sources of water.
Water systems in this nation are generally self-contained. Unlike
other utilities that are interconnected across large parts of the
nation, individual water systems serve a defined area. There are about
168,000 public water systems nationwide. Should an attack be
suspected, EPA can dispatch expert emergency response personnel to the
scene immediately, as was done for the World Trade Center and the
Pentagon. These experts are located in all of EPA's ten regions and
they have considerable experience in working with local, state and
federal emergency officials and are prepared to help with monitoring,
cleanup and expert advice on contaminants.
The water protection task force will be charged with providing
immediate guidance to water systems on improving security. That
guidance was sent out today. It will revise a draft 1998
infrastructure plan while continuing to implement the existing
strategy. And it will identify potential gaps in infrastructure
protection and preparedness. Finally, it will consult with the utility
industry and the states and tribes to determine additional steps that
can be taken to increase the security of our nation's drinking water
supplies. The first report on these additional steps is due within two
weeks.
The task force will consider how EPA can support efforts by utilities
to accelerate local vulnerability assessments and mitigation actions.
The goal is to ensure that water utilities are undertaking the steps
to understand vulnerable points and to mitigate the threat from
terrorist attacks as quickly as possible. The task force will work to
speed up the availability of new advanced materials being prepared by
EPA, other federal agencies and private sector partners that will be
used in preparedness efforts.
EPA has worked closely with experts at the Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention, and U.S. Departments of Defense and Energy to better
understand the potential of biological and chemical contaminants, and
their fate and transport within drinking water. The information has
been used to develop in-depth tools to help water systems assess
vulnerabilities in their systems, determine actions that need to be
taken to guard against an attack, and enhance emergency response
plans. Beginning in a few weeks, EPA, along with the American Water
Works Association (AWWA) and the AWWA Research Foundation, will
provide training for management and employees in these advanced
approaches to drinking water systems.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
