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Water Utilities Oppose Bill Mandating Use of Safer Alternative Disinfectants

Groups representing wastewater and drinking water utilities said May 7 they are opposed to a bill expected to be introduced by key Democratic senators that would require facilities to use safer methods than chlorine gas as a disinfectant.

The National Association of Clean Water Agencies (NACWA) and the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) have stated their opposition in letters to Sen. Joseph Biden (D-Del.), according to Adam Krantz, NACWA's managing director for government and public affairs.
Krantz was speaking at a panel discussion on security and preparedness at the National Clean Water Policy Forum, sponsored by NACWA and the Water Environment Federation. The forum runs through May 9.

Krantz said the forthcoming legislation would be modeled after S. 2820, a bill Biden introduced with Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and Sen. James Jeffords (I-Vt.) in May 2006 during the 109th Congress (99 DEN A-5, 05/23/06 ).

S. 2820 would have authorized $125 million a year for fiscal years 2007 through 2011 for high-risk drinking water and wastewater utilities to switch from chlorine gas to safer substances or methods already in common use, such as sodium hypochlorite or ultraviolet light. The upcoming bill would authorize $150 million, according to Krantz.

Last year, Biden's office told BNA there are about 98 facilities that store sufficient quantities of chlorine and other toxic chemicals to threaten between 100,000 and 2 million residents if the chemicals leaked.

Biden's office did not return calls seeking comment, but Krantz said Biden is planning to introduce the new bill with Boxer, who chairs the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee.

A recent Government Accountability Office report found the cost of actual and reported capital costs to convert from using chlorine gas to alternative substitutes ranged from $650,000 to more than $13 million (84 DEN A-10, 05/2/07 ).

According to GAO, the costs incurred by large wastewater utilities in switching from chlorine gas to substitutes depended mostly on the type of disinfection method chosen and the size of the facility. Other contributing factors were the use of existing infrastructure for conversion and the costs of labor, building supplies, and training, GAO said.

Concern Over Costs

The amount authorized by Biden's legislation may be insufficient to cover the costs of switching to substitutes, according to Krantz.

Krantz said the association is opposed to a "one-size-fits-all approach" mandated by Biden's legislation. Ken Kirk, NACWA's executive director, told Biden in an April 7 letter that the decision whether to switch is best left to the municipality involved.

Diane VanDe Hei, AMWA's executive director, said in an April 10 letter to Biden that the association opposes a mandatory switch to alternatives, but would support a voluntary approach.

Krantz said NACWA supports the voluntary approach offered in the Wastewater Treatment Works Security Act (S. 1353), introduced May 3 by Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.), the ranking Republican on the Environment and Public Works Committee. The legislation would not require utilities to switch chemicals, but would provide funds if they chose to do so.

Inhofe has introduced a version of this bill in previous Congresses. Spokesman Marc Morano said S. 1353 is based upon a separate GAO report released in May 2006 (92 DEN A-6, 05/12/06 ).

In that report, GAO said wastewater utilities have made significant improvements to their security in recent years, but limited funding could impede further progress.

EPA Grant Program

Inhofe's bill would authorize the Environmental Protection Agency to distribute $250 million in grants to states, municipalities, or interstate agencies that treat wastewater to assess vulnerabilities against terrorist attacks.

The Department of Homeland Security is responsible for overall infrastructure security in the United States, while EPA has the lead on drinking water and wastewater security.

Of the two bills, Krantz said the Inhofe legislation would be relegated to minority status. In contrast, he said, the Biden bill, which went nowhere last year, has "legs" this year.

By Amena H. Saiyid