EPA WSD Offers Three Different Decon Opportunities

March 26, 2018 Bridget O'Grady
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For Water Utilities – May 7:

EPA’s Water Security Division will be conducting a half-day Workshop on the Decontamination Preparedness and Assessment Strategy for Water Utilities on May 7 at the at the EPA’s Research Triangle Park Campus, North Carolina. The workshop will focus on understanding the three phases of remediation (Characterization, Decontamination and Clearance) prior to a contamination event. The workshop includes interactive discussions that examine the simulated effect of a chemical release at drinking water and wastewater utilities of a fictitious community.

At the end of the workshop, participants will:

  • Understand and become familiar with the steps of the remediation process.
  • Identify utility-specific actions to be taken prior to an incident.
  • Understand and know where to locate other resources and tools that may be helpful to prepare for and respond to an incident.
  • Be aware of public health and environmental safety considerations that apply to each phase of remediation.

For States and Water Utilities – May 7:

EPA’s Office of Research and Development (ORD) will be conducting a panel discussion after the above workshop to introduce a State/Local Engagement Plan focusing on management of emergency contamination incidents regardless of cause. ORD is seeking feedback from state and local organizations, water utilities, and authorities on how best to optimize interactions.

For both the Workshop and Panel discussion, participants must RSVP by April 20 at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2018-epa-international-decontamination-conference-water-utility-workshop-tickets-44158809187

For questions about this workshop, please contact Marissa Lynch at lynch.marissa@epa.gov. For more information about the panel discussion, please contact plotkin.viktoriya@epa.gov.

For States, Utilities and Researchers – May 8-10

EPA’s Office of Research and Development’s National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) will be hosting their 10th International Conference on Decontamination Research and Development held at the EPA’s Research Triangle Park Campus, North Carolina, May 8-10. The conference is designed to facilitate presentation, discussion, and further collaboration on research and development focused on an all-hazards approach to cleaning up contaminated buildings (both interior and exterior), infrastructure, and other areas/materials. The conference continues to focus strongly on matters involving CBR threat agents, but also includes all hazard elements.

Topics for this conference include:

  • New chemical, biological, and radiological (CBR) detection and decontamination research data or field activities and large scale demonstrations related to the detection and decontamination of biological (including agricultural threat agents and biotoxins), chemical, and radiological threat agents in indoor (in facilities) or outdoor areas/materials;
  • Cross-cutting topics related to restoration, including: clean-up levels/risk assessment, exposure assessment, sampling/analysis of threat agents, fate/transport/containment, material compatibility with decontamination processes, tool and guidance development, waste management of threat agent-contaminated materials, water/wastewater decontamination, and systems approach to response and regulatory issues;
  • Regional, state, and local initiatives highlighting local priorities, challenges, and science and technology developments related to response and recovery efforts from intentional or accidental environmental incidents; and
  • Special topics: new to this year’s conference is the introduction of a special topics category. These topics will address emerging issues as identified by the conference committee. This year’s special topics are:
    • Emerging threats: work addressing emerging threats (e.g., fentanyl, drug lab cleanup, etc.);
    • Recent disaster response: examples of work supporting large-scale natural disaster response efforts;
    • Research to response: best practices for bridging the gap between R&D and field operations; and
    • All Hazards Remediation (non-CBR): remediation efforts related to a variety of disasters/incidents outside of core homeland security responsibilities

Participant attending the decontamination workshop on May 7 are welcome to attend the 2018 EPA International Decontamination Research and Development Conference. Participants can register for the conference at this link: https://www.epa.gov/homeland-security-research/2018-epa-international-decontamination-research-and-development

For questions about the conference, please contact Susan Blaine at 703-225-2471 or EPA_Decon@icf.com

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