Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
have no clue as to its true economic value and to its future worth, the general
public correctly perceives drinking water as being central to the life of an
individual and of society.
Federal and state agencies have long been active in addressing these risks
and threats to water utilities through regulations, technical assistance,
research, and outreach programs. As a result, an extensive system of reg-
ulations governing maximum contaminant levels of 90 conventional con-
taminants (most established by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency),
construction and operating standards (implemented mostly by the states),
monitoring, emergency response planning, training, research, and education
have been developed to better protect the nation's drinking water supply and
receiving waters. Since the events of 9/11, the U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (USEPA) has been designated as the sector-specific agency respon-
sible for infrastructure protection activities for the nation's drinking water
system. The USEPA is utilizing its position within the water sector and work-
ing with its stakeholders to provide information to help protect the nation's
drinking water supply from terrorism or other intentional acts.
Consequences of 9/11
One consequence of the events of September 11 was the USEPA's directive to
establish a Water Protection Task Force to ensure that activities to protect and
secure the country's water supply and wastewater treatment infrastructure
are comprehensive and carried out expeditiously. Another consequence is a
heightened concern among citizens in the United States over the security of
their critical water infrastructure. The nation's water infrastructure, consist-
ing of several thousand publicly owned water treatment works, more than
100,000 pumping stations, and hundreds of thousands of miles of water dis-
tribution lines, is one of America's most valuable resources. Its treatment and
distribution/collection systems are valued at more than $2.5 trillion. Governor
Tom Ridge (Henry, 2002) pointed out the security role for public professionals:
Americans should find comfort in knowing that millions of their fellow
citizens are working every day to ensure our security at every level—fed-
eral, state, county, municipal. These are dedicated professionals who are
good at what they do. I've seen it up close, as Governor of Pennsylvania
… but there may be gaps in the system. The job of the Office of Homeland
Security will be to identify those gaps and work to close them.
Eliminating these gaps in the system has driven many water and wastewater
facilities to increase their security. Moreover, in its
Water Protection Task Force
Alert #IV: What Wastewater Utilities Can Do Now to Guard Against Terrorist and
