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USEPA Training Fosters Collaboration
Author(s) -
Lamb Patricia,
Zabec Myra
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
journal ‐ american water works association
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.466
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1551-8833
pISSN - 0003-150X
DOI - 10.1002/j.1551-8833.2008.tb09631.x
Subject(s) - homeland security , hazardous waste , training (meteorology) , agency (philosophy) , terrorism , emergency response , event (particle physics) , engineering , work (physics) , aeronautics , environmental planning , political science , waste management , law , environmental science , sociology , medical emergency , geography , medicine , mechanical engineering , social science , physics , quantum mechanics , meteorology
In early 2004, Charlotte‐Mecklenburg (North Carolina) Utilities (CMU) reached out to local and federal officials to create a one‐of‐a‐kind training event for CMU staff and the Charlotte Fire Department (CFD) Hazardous Materials (hazmat) Response Team. Although the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has developed and presented training on policies and procedures for water contamination event response, there was a gap in practical training for field response activities during a hazardous contamination event or a terrorist act. The original intent of the project was to train the CFD hazmat team and CMU staff in working at crime scenes, to train the hazmat team in water sampling, and to train affected CMU staff in recognizing when the hazmat team should be called in to conduct sampling. This article discusses how the original idea was expanded to include training for the USEPA's national counterterrorism evidence response team (NCERT). The initiative resulted in an extraordinary collaboration between USEPA's newly formed Homeland Security Division, CFD, Mecklenburg County Emergency Management, Charlotte‐Mecklenburg Police Department's special weapons and tactics team, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and CMU, providing educational and professional networking opportunities for all.