All News Releases By Date

EPA GIVES $1.6 MILLION TO BAY AREA WATER AGENCIES

Release Date: 8/20/2002
Contact Information: Leo Kay, Press Office, 415/947-4306

     SAN FRANCISCO   The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recently awarded $1.6 million to 14 Bay Area water purveyors to safeguard drinking water supplies against future terrorist attacks.

     The EPA awarded $115,000 grants to the following Bay Area utilities:  Alameda County Water District, Contra Costa Water District, City of Daly City, East Bay Municipal Water District, City of Hayward, Marin Municipal Water District, City of Santa Clara, Santa Clara Valley Water District, San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, City of Sunnyvale, City of Vallejo, Zone 7 Water Agency, California Water Service Company and the San Jose Water Company.

     "This funding will allow Bay Area water utilities to analyze and upgrade security measures to safeguard water supplies from potential terrorist activities," said Wayne Nastri, administrator of the EPA's Pacific Southwest Office in San Francisco.  "EPA is committed to helping ensure that the water people rely on is safe and secure."

     In response to the events of Sept. 11, the EPA has allocated $53 million from Congress to provide drinking water utilities serving 100,000 or more people grants to assess their system=s vulnerabilities, help refine emergency response plans to include terrorist activities and assist in upgrading system security. These large water utilities provide drinking water to about half of Americans served by public water systems

     Several Bay Area water agencies have formed the Bay Area Security Information Collaborative (BASIC), which trades information, establishes mutual assistance agreements and develops operational approaches that are being adopted and used throughout the country.

     In October, EPA Administrator Christie Whitman formed a Water Protection Task Force.  The agency has since disseminated to America's water utilities information about steps they can take to protect their water sources and physical infrastructure, which includes pumping stations, treatment facilities and computer systems.

     The EPA also worked with Sandia National Labs, a premier research facility on security, to develop training materials for water companies so they can conduct thorough assessments of their vulnerabilities and determine how to minimize them.  Since November, the effort has provided security training to thousands of drinking water utility managers.

     In cooperation with the FBI, the EPA also has advised local law enforcement agencies across the country of steps they can take to help watch for possible threats to water systems.  The agency also continues to work with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and others to improve  understanding of the way the chemical and biological agents of concern act in water and how to best counteract them.