A Review of the EPA Water Security Research and Technical Support Action Plan Parts I and II (2004) / Chapter Skim
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3 Review of Identified Water Security Research Needs
3 Review of Identified Water Security Research Needs
Pages 25-50
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From page 25... ...
Considerably less information is presented in the Action Plan regarding threats to the nation's wastewater infrastructure, making it difficult to assess the adequacy of the proposed research. The significantly greater text and research focused on drinking water within the Action Plan is likely a reflection of the report's authors' expertise as well as the perception of drinking water supply systems as more vulnerable targets of a potential terrorist attack with more direct human health consequences in comparison to wastewater treatment plants.
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From page 26... ...
An updated identification and prioritization of physical threats to drinking water infrastructure, including an improved understanding of the vulnerability of water systems to cyber threats and improved means to assess these vuinerabilities.
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From page 27... ...
associated with various countermeasures; and development of programs to assist implementing organizations (including water utilities) in communicating with the public, customers, rate regulators, and local elected and appointed officials regarding the value of water, increased water system security, and increased rate structures to create the necessary financial resources to implement such countermeasures.
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From page 28... ...
recommends the following rewritten needles: · An updated icientification and prioritization of physical threats to and vuinerabilities of drinking water infrastructure, taking into account the substantial information gained from the vulnerability assessments of the nation s larger water systems and on other vulnerability and consequence assessments of water systems and their cyber infrastructure, along with improved means to assess these vuInerabilities.
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From page 29... ...
d) Methods and means to securely maintain and, when appropriate, transmit information on contaminants and threat scenarios applicable to drinking water supplies and systems.
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From page 30... ...
. Also, this approach would prevent the consideration of current threat scenarios from constraining the list of water security contaminants.
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From page 31... ...
· An assessment of threat scenarios which could result in harmful exposure of the public or utility personnel to drinking water contaminants. A contaminant database for consultation by approved individuals and organizations that describes critically important information on contaminants with the potential to harm drinking water supplies and systems.
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From page 32... ...
The integrated prevention and response plan should invoke appropriate action from within the analytical play book when a disease outbreak of unknown origin is detected. In other words, the play book should include protocols for water quality sampling to determine whether drinking water is a potential vector of a disease outbreak.
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From page 33... ...
New analytical methodologies will need to be accompanied by adequate protocols for sampling, analytical performance, and quality assurance, as described in the Action Plan. The document also highlights considerations that should be given to safety, sample transport, and integration with other activities issues which may also be addressed by the analytical play book.
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From page 34... ...
These factors should be considered in the Action Plan. The EPA may want to include the use of dedicated water sampling devices as part of an overall water quality monitoring plan where the devices could function as a nonspecif~c early warning system.
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From page 35... ...
Recommendations In conclusion, the panel recommends the following rewritten needs: A "play book" for sampling and analytical response to contaminant threats and attacks on water supplies and systems, including protocols for identifying "unknown" contaminants, that will serve as a vita] component of an overall integrated guidance plan.
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From page 36... ...
Depending on where a contaminant is introduced, this may involve mitigation within a drinking water treatment plant, within the distribution system, or at points downstream. Any materials, including water, that cannot be successfully treated to meet water quality or other standards will have to be disposed of properly.
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From page 37... ...
The Action Plan notes that existing models can be overlaid with geographic information system (GIS) and public health data and recommends the development of an interface module to allow overlapping of health data, consumer complaints, GIS, and SCADA data with current hydraulic models for data collection and manipulation in close to real time.
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From page 38... ...
. This is consistent with the notion in section 3.2 of developing a short list of possible threat scenarios that explicitly consider certain exposure routes.
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From page 39... ...
The main goad appears to be to develop a research plan that would provide the means for the EPA to say with confidence when a water system or supply is no longer contaminated and when it can be again used for limited or unlimited beneficial purposes, including as a source of drinking water. This need represents an additional play book, like that mentioned in section 3.3.a for monitoring and in 3.6.ci, which identifies the need for a risk assessment/risk management framework for identifying the impact of decontamination and treatment options and the subsequent risk assessment response.
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From page 40... ...
development. Improved understanding and documentation of the environmental fate of contaminants in source waters, within drinking water systems, and once they are released, focusing first on a literature review and then on either the identification of generic physical and chemical parameters that are predictive of contaminant behavior in water supply systems or on a small set of fate and transport paradigms for common threat scenarios.
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From page 41... ...
In addition, identification and enumeration of technologies for providing emergency potable water supply would also be valuable, probably in the form of a database. To what degree, for example, are military resources available to handle the task of water supply during large-scale interruption?
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From page 42... ...
Recommendations In conclusion, the pane! suggests the following rewording of the identified needs: Assessment of water supply alternatives for different types of drinking water systems in the United States (reflective of effects of size, type of supply, system design, and type of distribution system)
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From page 43... ...
b) A health surveillance network to help public health officials and water utility operators rapidly identify and control a disease outbreak or other public health emergency associated with contaminated drinking water.
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From page 44... ...
, especially for intentional contamination events that are investigated in the context of a potential crime. In recent years, several active disease surveillance systems have been initiated at the local and state level for the improved detection of both foodborne and waterborne outbreaks.
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From page 45... ...
. The Office of Ground Water and Drinking Water/Office of Science and Technology also has a functioning Health Advisory Program for non-regulated contaminants that includes short-term exposure scenarios.
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From page 46... ...
Although the Action Plan recognizes that on-scene decision makers will require the support of a risk assessment/risk management protocol and it emphasizes the utility of table-top exercises, no information is provided on possible frameworks for use cluring contamination events or threat scenarios. This need requires considerably more thought from the EPA authors, and it should be put in the appropriate context, since it represents another component of the overall response guidance mentioned in Chapter 2, section 3.3.a, and section 3.4.a7.
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From page 47... ...
, and of the acute and chronic public health effects from contaminants in drinking water supplies anci systems, which should focus on generic models for different large classes of agents. A health surveillance network to rapidly identify and help control a disease outbreak or other public health emergency associated with contaminated drinking water.
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From page 48... ...
Enhanced prevention and response planning methods, including emergency response, contingency planning, and risk communication protocols and guidance for systems of varying sizes. Methods and means to securely maintain and, when appropriate, transmit information on contaminants and threat scenarios applicable to wastewater systems.
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From page 49... ...
Emergency relocation or treatment may be especially useful where wastewater discharge is a major contributor to groundwater recharge or where it impacts a nearby surface water intake for drinking water supplies. The degree to which deliberately introduced contaminants pass through a wastewater treatment plant and either into the effluent or the sludge needs to be reviewed.
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From page 50... ...
Enhanced prevention and response planning methods, including emergency response, contingency planning, and risk communication protocols and guidance for wastewater systems of varying types (size, geographic location, design)
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