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WEF Announces Collaborative Effort to Provide Free Security Training and Technical Assistance for Community Water Systems
Alexandria, Va., July 10, 2003 -- The Water Environment Federation (WEF), in
partnership with The International City/County Management Association (ICMA),
and in cooperation with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (US EPA),
announces free vulnerability assessment (VA), emergency response planning (ERP)
training, and technical assistance for medium-sized community water systems (CWS).
This program will help CWSs serving between 50,000 to 99,999 people meet a
statutory requirement to conduct a VA of their facility and develop or update
their emergency response plan (ERP). To accomplish this objective, this
innovative program includes a series of hands-on workshops, webcasts, and
technical support.
"WEF is pleased to continue our relationship with EPA in providing free security
training to the nation's water and wastewater utilities, and we look forward to
partnering with the ICMA in this particular endeavor to assist the nearly 500
medium sized community water systems across the country", said WEF Executive
Director Bill Bertera.
As part of this collaborative effort, WEF will be conducting 10 two-day
workshops from August to October, 2003 (see schedule below) featuring the
Vulnerability Self-Assessment Tool (VSAT(tm)). VSAT(tm)water was developed by
the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA), in collaboration with
PA Consulting Group and SCIENTECH, Inc. specifically for medium and small sized
water utilities.
The software tool was developed with funding from EPA and adheres to the six
guidance criteria for developing a VA that was released by EPA in January 2003.
It provides a comprehensive, intuitive system for water utilities seeking to
analyze their vulnerabilities to both man-made threats and natural disasters and
is available free of charge to public entities via http://www.vsatusers.net
Utilities may send two representatives to a workshop and partial travel
scholarships are available for utilities located more than 100 miles from a
workshop site. Each participating CWS is entitled to receive up to eight hours
of free follow up technical assistance on conducting a VA or updating an ERP.
Technical assistance appointments can be scheduled by calling 1-866-372-6368.
More information on the program can be obtained by participating in an
introductory web cast offered on July 15 and 23. Additional web casts scheduled
for later in the year will focus on ERP development.
Further information and registration for the workshops, web casts, and technical
assistance are available through www.lgean.org/watersecurity/ For more details
on WEF and the VSAT(tm)water training go to www.wef.org/watersecurity or call
James K. Sullivan at 703/684-2436 or email jsullivan@wef.org.
WEF VSAT(tm)water Vulnerability Assessment and ERP Training Dates and Locations:
Philadelphia, PA - August 21-22
Sacramento, CA - September 4-5
Chicago, IL - September 11-12
Dallas, TX - September 18-19
Jacksonville, FL - September 25-26
Minneapolis, MN - October 2-3
Nashville, TN - October 9-10
Los Angeles, CA - October 16-17
Cleveland, OH - October 23-24
Spokane, WA - October 30-31
Note: All Trainings Are Free of Charge for Staff of CWS Serving 50K to 100K
people
Founded in 1928, the Water Environment Federation (WEF) is a not-for-profit
technical and educational organization with members from varied disciplines who
work toward the WEF vision of preservation and enhancement of the global water
environment. The WEF network includes water quality professionals from 79 Member
Associations in over 30 countries.