House subcommittee considers water supply protection

Washington, D.C., October 10, 2001 — The Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies (AMWA) has asked for $5 billion from Congress to protect drinking water and wastewater plants from terrorism attacks.

The association made the request Wednesday to a subcommittee of the House Environment and Public Works Committee, at the same time asking for $155 million from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for security planning, the Associated Press reported.

The hearing Wednesday was intended to discuss and plan for the security of water supplies at dams and reservoirs, wastewater treatment plants and federally owned power plants.

President Clinton in 1998 gave EPA the responsibility of guarding the nation's water supply from terrorist attack. The agency was budgeted $2.5 million to safeguard against bioterrorism this year.

The more than $100 million the association is seeking could potentially be used to assess vulnerability of water supplies and to develop an emergency response plan.