Black & Veatch awarded security research contract by Water Environment Research Foundation
KANSAS CITY, Mo., July 07, 2004 -- Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction company, announced that it has been awarded a contract to advance an information technology framework for preventing wastewater treatment plant upsets by the Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF). The new WERF project will yield an integrated approach for detecting and rapidly responding to malicious attacks at wastewater treatment plants, with special emphasis on the possible introduction of chemical, biological and radioactive contaminants to plant influent.
"This project will play a critical role in our research of security issues by affording us a better understanding of the function of support systems in wastewater treatment," said WERF Project Manager Mary Strawn. "It will also provide insight on how to protect plant processes during upset conditions."
The project budget includes $175,000 from WERF as well as non-cash, in-kind contributions from Black & Veatch, Advanced Data Mining, the Charleston (South Carolina) Commissioners of Public Works, Severn Trent Services and Applied Spectrometry Associates. Co-principal investigators Andrew Shaw, a process specialist at Black & Veatch, and Nancy Love, Ph.D., an associate professor of civil and environmental engineering at Virginia Polytechnic and State University, will lead WERF Project No. 03-CTS-7S: Feasibility Testing of Support Systems to Prevent Upsets.
The research team will assess wastewater utilities' current real-time decision-making capabilities and use of computer-based support systems, evaluate available support products, and develop and test prototype decision-support framework software as well as application guidelines. The project spans many disciplines and elements - including experience-based expert systems, security assessment, on-line monitoring and other data sources - which will be integrated within a combined analysis and decision-support system framework.
About Black & Veatch
Black & Veatch Corporation is a leading global engineering, consulting and construction company specializing in infrastructure development in the fields of energy, water and information. Founded in 1915, Black & Veatch serves its clients with conceptual and preliminary engineering services, engineering design, procurement, construction, financial management, asset management, information technology, environmental, security design and consulting, and management consulting services.
The Water Sector provides innovative, technology-based solutions to utilities, governments and industries worldwide. Local project managers work with a global team of water and wastewater treatment process experts to address site-specific challenges through a broad range of consulting, study, planning, design, design-build and construction management services.
The employee-owned company has more than 90 offices worldwide. Black & Veatch is ranked on the Forbes "500 Largest Private Companies in the United States" listing for 2003. The company's Web site address is www.bv.com.
About WERF
The Water Environment Research Foundation is a not-for-profit © (3) organization that funds and managers water quality research through a diverse public-private partnership among municipal utilities, corporations, academia, industry and the U.S. government. With the support of subscribers, funding from the federal government, and partnerships with other organizations, WERF leads the way in generating timely, relevant research at a fraction of what it would cost each subscriber to individually conduct such research. The organization typically funds nearly $7 million in new projects each year. More information about WERF can be found at www.werf.org.