Improving the Nation's Water Security Opportunities for Research (2007) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 9-18
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From page 9... ...
This report provides a review of the progress of the NHSRC's water security2 research and technical support activities and makes recommendations for strengthening the research program. In this introductory chapter, the scope of security threats to water and wastewater systems, the role of science and technology in countering terrorism, and the EPA's role in drinking water and wastewater security research are discussed.
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From page 10... ...
The consequences of security threats involve potential mortality, injury, or sickness; economic losses; extended periods of service interruption; and a loss of public confidence in the safety and quality of drinking water supplies -- a major concern even without a serious public health consequence. Flushing a drinking water distribution system in response to intentional chemical contamination could transport contaminants to the wastewater system and, unless removed by wastewater treatment, into receiving waters; thus, large-scale environmental impacts could also result from water security events.
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From page 11... ...
No technology can eliminate all vulnerabilities, but prudent application of current knowledge and future research advances in science and technology remains a wise investment. ROLE OF EPA IN WATER SECURITY Several federal legislative acts and presidential directives to protect the nation's critical infrastructures against terrorism set out the role of the EPA in coordinating the security of the nation's water systems (see Box 1-1)
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From page 12... ...
Its mission is to: · perform research and development to identify, understand, and solve current and future environmental problems; · provide responsive technical support to the EPA's mission; · integrate the work of the ORD's scientific partners (other agencies, nations, private-sector organizations, and academia) ; and · provide leadership in addressing emerging environmental issues and in advancing the science and technology of risk assessment and risk management.4 The ORD's NHSRC houses the Water Infrastructure Protection Division, which conducts applied research on ways to protect from, mitigate, respond to, and recover from malicious events on water and wastewater systems.
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From page 13... ...
To achieve this broad goal, the EPA organized the Action Plan and its research projects around the following seven specific issues: 1. protecting drinking water systems from physical and cyber attacks; 2.
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, and · HSPD-10: Biodefense for the 21st Century.a In 1995, the United States Policy on Counterterrorism required all fed eral agencies to plan for terrorist attacks and designated the EPA to provide environmental response support. In 1998, President Clinton in PDD 63 identified water as one of the nation's critical infrastructures, and the EPA was assigned responsibility as the lead agency for coordinating efforts to protect water from intentional attacks.
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From page 15... ...
The EPA was also tasked to facilitate the evaluation of vulnerabilities of water systems and to encourage risk management strategies to prevent or mitigate the effects of attacks against critical water infrastructure. HSPD-9 includes the following tasks for the EPA: · develop surveillance and monitoring systems for early detection of dangerous agents; · develop a national laboratory network for water quality; · enhance intelligence capabilities regarding threats, delivery systems, and methods that could be directed against the water sector; · create a new capacity to enhance detection and characterization of an attack; and · expand the development of countermeasures against the intentional introduction or natural occurrence of catastrophic diseases through research on detection methods, prevention technologies, agent characterization, and dose-response relationships for high-consequence agents in the water sup ply.
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From page 16... ...
protecting wastewater treatment and collection systems. The NRC organized a panel of experts and published A Review of the EPA Water Security Research and Technical Support Action Plan (NRC, 2004)
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provide a readily accessible cadre of experience, knowledge, and expertise to advise EPA in support of efforts to maintain safety of the nation's water supplies and wastewater systems; 2. review progress by the EPA on its water security activities, including the Water Security Research and Technical Support Action Plan; 3.
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From page 18... ...
The committee was also unable to review in detail some of the EPA's ongoing water security work, such as the Water Sentinel program, because sensitive but unclassified security information could not be protected within NRC operating procedures under Section 15 of the Federal Advisory Committee Act. The committee issued a letter report in November 2005, highlighting immediate opportunities for water security research in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina (NRC, 2005; see Appendix A)
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