Clean Water Advocacy - Newsroom - AMSA in the News
Sewage agency releases new security software
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By James Davenport
Senior Associate
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Since Sept. 11, county officials have addressed a whole new slate of issues
related to protecting county operations and infrastructure, including wastewater
facilities, from potential terrorist attacks. To help them in their efforts, the
Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) recently released the
Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool (VSAT™) for wastewater utilities.
VSAT™ provides a comprehensive, intuitive system for wastewater utility
operators to analyze their vulnerability to both terrorist threats and natural
disasters.
VSAT™ organizes data, supports vulnerability analyses, documents the analyses
and presents complex information in an easy-to-understand format for a full
suite of utility assets including physical plant, employees, knowledge base,
information technology and customers.
This software tool includes reference libraries of both potential threats and
security countermeasures, and provides an enduring method for managing the
information generated by security vulnerability assessments.
Funded by the EPA, and in collaboration with PA Consulting Group and SCIENTECH
Inc., AMSA has made the software available to all wastewater utilities free of
charge.
Training opportunities on VSAT™ are scheduled to begin this month.
Users can also download the software at
www.VSATusers.net. This Web site will include technical support, software
upgrades for downloading as they become available, and a Web page devoted to
frequently asked questions regarding VSAT™.
AMSA is also currently in the discussion phase with EPA to develop VSAT™
software for joint public drinking water-wastewater agencies as well as for
small and medium sized drinking water agencies.
(For more information on VSAT™, visit AMSA’s Web site at
www.amsa-cleanwater.org or call
AMSA at (202) 833-2672. Information will also be available on the EPA’s water
security Web site at
www.epa.gov/safewater/security.)