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EPA Administrator Whitman Visits Central New York, Tours Onondaga Lake, and Views Cleanup Progress; Awards Water Security Grant to Syracuse, N.Y.

Release Date: 07/08/2002
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(#02070) NEW YORK, N.Y. -- During a visit to Syracuse, N.Y., Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christie Whitman today toured Onondaga Lake, where she viewed cleanup efforts and announced the awarding of a water security grant of $115,000 to the city, part of $53 million to help large drinking water utilities across the nation assess their vulnerabilities. It is expected that approximately 400 grants will be provided to assist utilities around the nation with security planning. Whitman made the announcement following a tour of Onondaga Lakewith Congressman James Walsh. Whitman and Walsh joined U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officials and members of the Onondaga Lake Partnership to tour lake cleanup projects in the morning, and later visited the Center for Excellence in Environmental Systems, Research and Development at Syracuse University. "Over the past seven years, we have made tremendous progress in cleaning up Onondaga Lake," Whitman said after her tour of Onondaga Lake. "Due to the tireless efforts of Congressman Walsh and others, since 1989 Congress has provided more than $100 million for continued improvements to Onondaga Lake. The strong partnerships that have been forged between the people of this community and federal, state, tribal and local organizations have been key to our success. I am proud of the work EPA has done and the work we have been able to do with the community. I believe we have a model here for how community involvement works- and works well" "In addition to the important work we're doing to restore this Lake to the beautiful and vital watershed it once was, we have another important task- the protection of our nation's water supply. Shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, the EPA redoubled efforts already underway to promote security at America's 168,000 public drinking water facilities," said Whitman. "Grants like the one I am awarding today to the City of Syracuse will help ensure that the water people rely on is safe and secure." EPA also will work with states, tribes and appropriate organizations to further develop and disseminate tools and support security efforts at small and medium drinking water and wastewater systems. In response to the attacks of Sept. 11, EPA received a supplemental appropriation from Congress to improve the safety and security of the nation's water supply. The nearly $90 million is intended to reduce the vulnerability of water utilities to terrorist attacks and to help enhance their security and ability to respond to emergency situations. EPA has allocated $53 million of the supplemental for security planning at large drinking water utilities. The large water utilities serve more than 100,000 people each and provide drinking water to about half of Americans served by public water systems. Each award will be up to $115,000. Any remaining funds will be directed to other security planning needs. Development of a vulnerability assessment is the highest priority activity under this grant program, since it is the first step in understanding where a utility can be damaged by terrorist attack. Funds may also be used for development of an emergency operations plan and to design security enhancements, or a combination of these efforts. In addition to the funding discussed by Whitman today, EPA has taken numerous steps to work with utilities to protect the nation's water supply. In October, Whitman formed a Water Protection Task Force. The agency has since disseminated to America's water utilities useful information about steps they can take to protect their water sources and physical infrastructure, which includes pumping stations, treatment facilities and computer systems. In addition, EPA 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 of 2001, the effort has provided security training to thousands of drinking water utility managers. In cooperation with the FBI, 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.