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GAO Finds Assessment Costs Vary Widely To Determine Vulnerability of Sewage Plants
The cost to assess a wastewater treatment plant's vulnerability to terrorist attacks can vary widely based upon who is performing the assessment, the Government Accountability Office reported May 1.
The GAO found the cost of conducting vulnerability assessments ranges between $1,000 and $175,000.
The report, Securing Wastewater Facilities: Costs of Vulnerability Assessments, Risk Management Plans, and Alternative Disinfection Methods Vary Widely, was requested by Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. She asked GAO to assess the range of costs wastewater utilities would incur in assessing their plants' vulnerability to terrorist attacks and in switching to an alternative method instead of chlorine gas to disinfect wastewater.
GAO found the cost of actual and reported capital costs to convert from using chlorine gas to alternative substitutes, such as ultraviolet light, for disinfection at wastewater plants ranged from $650,000 to more than $13 million.
According to the report, the "wide" range in vulnerability assessment costs at wastewater utilities was related to "whether the documents were prepared in-house or contracted to third parties such as engineering firms."
In contrast, the GAO said, the costs incurred by large wastewater utilities in switching from chlorine gas to alternative substitutes depended mostly on the type of disinfection method chosen and the size of the facility. Other contributing factors GAO identified were the use of existing infrastructure for conversion, labor and building supply costs, and training costs.
Until the Sept. 11 attacks took place, wastewater utilities stored huge quantities of chlorine gas on-site. In 2004, the White House Homeland Security Council determined that a terrorist attack on an urban chemical facility that resulted in the rupture of a chlorine gas rail car could kill up to 17,500 people and hospitalize as many as 100,000 others.
Follow-Up on May 2006 Report
In May 2006, GAO reported that wastewater utilities have made significant improvements to their security in recent years, but limited funding could impede further progress. The report prompted Boxer to ask GAO to ascertain the costs incurred by wastewater treatment plants (84 DEN A-8, 05/2/06 ).
Between August 2006 and March 2007, GAO interviewed utility managers at 38 large plants that were identified in the May 2006 report as having switched to alternative disinfection methods or were planning to do so.
The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for overall infrastructure security in the United States, while the Environmental Protection Agency has the lead on drinking water and wastewater security.
In the report, GAO said EPA generally agreed with the findings.
Inhofe to Reintroduce Related Legislation
Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking Republican on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, intends to reintroduce his wastewater legislation this week and have it "promptly considered," his spokesman, Marc Morano, told BNA May 1.
Morano said Inhofe's legislation, which cleared the committee during the 108th and 109th Congresses, was based upon the recommendations made by GAO in May 2006.
Inhofe's wastewater security bill would have authorized $200 million in grants over five years to wastewater treatment plants to conduct vulnerability assessments and develop response plans in the event of a terrorist threat through partnerships with state, local, and federal authorities (85 DEN A-11, 05/3/06 ).
The bill would do this "without imposing a federal, one-size-fits all regulation," Morano added.
Adam Krantz, managing director of the National Association of Clean Water Agencies, told BNA the report would assist lawmakers in assessing the costs of imposing a wastewater security mandate.
According to Krantz, the GAO report was written after interviews with utilities that already have conducted vulnerability assessments or have switched to using chlorine substitutes.
"To me," Krantz said, "that shows utilities are already doing what they need to do."
Rather than requiring federal mandates, he added, Congress should look at providing incentives to encourage those utilities that still are lagging behind.
The GAO report, Securing Wastewater Facilities: Costs of Vulnerability Assessments, Risk Management Plans, and Alternative Disinfection Methods Vary Widely, is available at http://www.gao.gov.
By Amena H. Saiyid