The Water Environment Federation (WEF), through a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), announces a new round of security training for small publicly owned treatment works (POTWs).
Since 2002, the federation has been working to train all-size water and wastewater utilities to assess and reduce vulnerabilities to man-made threats and natural disasters. Previous training programs have focused on large, medium POTWs and Train-the-Trainer sessions for state and local training and assistance providers.
These workshops utilize the VSAT™ software (Vulnerability Self Assessment Tool) and assist POTWs staff to conduct an assessment specifically designed for their circumstances. Training for each series was developed for a specific POTWs size range with a focus on the needs of those facilities but are similar and versatile enough to benefit any size facility.
The 2005 program consists of ten regional workshops (below) designed to assist small POTWs, those treating 2.5 to 5 mgd of wastewater, to conduct a vulnerability assessment (VA) of their facility and update their emergency response plan (ERP) based on that assessment:
Albany, NY - April 20-22
Columbus, OH - June 1-3
Austin, TX - June 22-24
Salt Lake City, UT - July 20-22
Charleston, SC - September 7-9
St. Louis, MO - September 21-23
Olympia, WA - October 12-14
Washington, DC (Post-WEFTEC®.05) - November 2-4
Memphis, TN - November 16-18
Santa Barbara, CA - December 13-15
Other size facilities will be eligible for the training sessions on a space available basis. Travel scholarships have also been made available to POTWs staff traveling 100 miles or more to attend the workshops. For more information and to register, visit http://www.wef.org/watersecurity/.
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 76 Member Associations in 30 countries.
Source: WEF
