Water Resource Protection | SDWA Regulations: Overview & Implementation

Drinking Water Security

The events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent anthrax scare dramatically and irrevocably thrust the issue of the nation's vulnerability to terrorist attacks into the spotlight. NEIWPCC's commitment to providing a forum for separate entities to work together on common problems took on even more importance in the post 9/11 world. Just weeks after the attacks, we hosted a conference call with drinking water officials from the six New England states, EPA, and the New England Water Works Association. Participants took a hard look at how best to respond to growing public concern about terrorist threats to drinking water.

That discussion continued throughout 2002 during the quarterly meetings of NEIWPCC's Drinking Water Administrators Workgroup; the meetings allowed each state's participants to understand and learn from security efforts underway at other states and the EPA. NEIWPCC surveyed all 50 state drinking water programs to identify those that had developed emergency response plans for water suppliers. Copies of these plans were sent to workgroup members, who used the plans to compare their state's efforts with those implemented elsewhere.

In coordination with EPA New England, NEIWPCC continues to co-host bimonthly conference calls involving the state drinking water contacts.