Updates

EPA to Engage Emergency Preparedness Community in June 2010 Water Laboratory Alliance Security Summit

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), in collaboration with its partners in the Water Sector, is sponsoring the second Water Laboratory Alliance (WLA) Security Summit in San Francisco on June 16-17, 2010. The Water Laboratory Alliance supplies the Water Sector with an integrated network of laboratories. The WLA provides the capabilities to analyze water samples in the event of water supply contamination. EPA is interested in emergency manager, first responder, and public information officer (PIO) attendance, in addition to laboratory and water utility staff participation at this event. The Summit will actively engage a broad array of technical and leadership staff to discuss water contamination laboratory response coordination and take part in a table top exercise that practices the WLA Response Plan (WLA-RP). The exercise will be most productive with participation and feedback from a diverse set of stakeholders.

Emergency managers, first responders, and PIOs will benefit from:

  • An opportunity to network with laboratories, utilities, and partners within the federal government to explore and enhance the coordination of multi-agency response procedures to a drinking water contamination incident
  • An opportunity to assess the operational procedures currently provided in the WLA-RP and provide suggestions on ways to enhance the procedures based on experience.
  • An opportunity to learn about, and incorporate, user-friendly security-related tools and resources into their own procedures
  • Opportunities to network with other members of the Water Sector, water utility, laboratory, first responder, public information officer, and emergency response communities, among others.

Continuing Education EPA has teamed up with the Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL) to provide continuing education credit. APHL is approved as a provider of continuing education programs in the clinical laboratory sciences by the ASCLS P.A.C.E.® Program. Participants who successfully complete this program will be awarded 9.5 contact hours.

Registration Registration for the Summit is free.  Participants may register and obtain the most up to date information on the Summit Web site at https://www.thetestportal.com/wlasummit. For more information on the WLA, please see http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/watersecurity/wla.cfm.

For more information on the Summit please contact Pamela Bernard Email: bernard.pamela@epa.gov Phone: 202-564-1094