Mr. HORN. Thank you. Before we call on the Administrator for the State of Wisconsin Department of Public Health, I want to put on the record that I have an excellent paper here by the Commissioner of the Department of Public Works of Milwaukee, Mariano Schifalacqua. It is the best I have seen in a number of hearings around America and it has to do with water quality. That is a very important thing and has a major part in the health situation. When I was in Europe a few months ago, four terrorists were caught attempting to taint Rome's supply of water. Thankfully, they got them in time. Otherwise, the whole population of Rome would have been poisoned. So I would like to have Mariano lay it out for us. It is a marvelous paper, as far as I am concerned. STATEMENT OF MARIANO SCHIFALACQUA, COMMISSIONER OF PUBLIC WORKS, DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS, CITY OF MILWAUKEE, WI Mr. SCHIFALACQUA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I will not go into all the details that are in that statement, but there are a couple of areas that I think are important to highlight. First of all, I want to thank the members for the opportunity to address you on this critically important topic. While all aspects of public works may be required to respond in an emergency, I wish to focus on one basic but essential public service, which is the Milwaukee Water Works. The Water Works is a wholly owned and operated water utility within the primary government of the city of Milwaukee. As such, each year, the Water Works treats and distributes approximately 41 billion gallons of pure, clean Lake Michigan water to 845,000 people including the city of Milwaukee residents and 14 surrounding suburban communities. Water service in Milwaukee is accomplished by two major water treatment plants which draw water from Lake Michigan, effectively treating that water and then distributing it through numerous major pumping stations, booster stations, elevated and ground storage facility as well as over 1950 miles of water mains. Water systems in general have been identified as a vulnerable asset simply because of their large expanse and ability to reach into almost every household and street corner. A common carrier of drinking water, under the right circumstances, can potentially become a common carrier of biological, chemical or nuclear agents. Improving security effectiveness or reducing the consequences of an attack can be effective means of reducing the risk to water infrastructure and ultimately impact the public health. The city of Milwaukee has proactively been involved in this effort. In 1999, we conducted a security review of our water plant facilities primarily focused on physical deterrents. Based on those results, we identified areas requiring remedial solutions and funded those with local funds in 2000, 2001 and 2002. This assessment helped focus our efforts in defining the appropriate level of threat to large water utilities and the response required to minimize that Much of the activity has been focused on short-term physical improvements such as 24-hour around-the-clock security presence, increased use of surveillance and lighting techniques, increased access control and monitoring, strengthening barriers such as doors, alarms, locks and instituting more rigorous protocols and procedures. Other efforts focused on increased education and training, resource identification and sharing, contingency and emergency response planning with health, fire, police, State and Federal agencies. Many of these same activities have been ongoing concurrently in other public and private sectors; however, those sectors do not share in the same level of accessibility that a water supply and distribution system have. We applaud Congress for the supplemental appropriation this year of $90 million to the EPA for the purpose of issuing direct grants to large water utilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and related response planning activities. Milwaukee is scheduled to receive a share of that appropriation at a time when this need is the greatest. Continued direct support at the local level is required in order for all water utilities to move from the initial short-term response and assessment into the development, research, implementation and construction of the recommendations derived from those assessments. There are many avenues available to accomplish this. While some work has already commenced, the issues are complex and cover many different groups, agencies, jurisdictions and levels. The Federal Government needs to continue to work to ensure that effective and efficient response, resources and support is directly available to agencies on the local, municipal and county levels as first responders to those potential threats and events. Thank you and I would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have. Mr. HORN. I thank you and we will now have the Administrator for the Department of Public Health, State of Wisconsin, John D. Chapin. We are glad to have you here. Commissioner of Public Works, Department of Public Works, Congress of the United States, House of Representatives, Committee on Government Reform, July 1, 2002 Milwaukee, Wisconsin Good morning, my name is Mariano Schifalacqua and I am the Commissioner of Public Works for the City of Milwaukee. I first, wish to thank members of the Subcommittee on Goverment Efficiency, Financial Management and Intergovernmental Relations for the opportunity to address you on the critical and important issue of preparations for potential terrorist attacks. It is vital that local govemmental jurisdictions and agencies blend cooperatively with available State and Federal resources to enhance and support the coordinated response that will be required to any potential threat or action. Your attendance in Milwaukee this morning, to hear from local officials, demonstrates the cooperation and commitment required of the Federal government in order to effectively carry out and implement the vital role we play on the local level as first responders to any such event. As a matter of background, the City of Milwaukee, Department of Public Works encompasses the traditional elements of a municipal public works operation, including refuse collection, drinking water treatment and distribution, fleet management and infrastructure design, construction and maintenance of sewer, water, street and building facilities. While all aspects of public works may be required to respond in an emergency, I wish to focus on one basic, but essential public service; which is the Milwaukee Water Works. The Water Works is a wholly owned and operated water utility within the primary government of the City of Milwaukee. As such, each year, the Water Works treats and distributes approximately 41 billion gallons of pure, clear Lake Michigan water to 845,000 people including City of Milwaukee residents and 14 2 The Federal government, through the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the State of Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources (WDNR), is responsible as the regulatory agency for defining and monitoring related standards associated with the treatment and distribution of drinking water. Milwaukee's experience however, is that those standards are not always absolute in ensuring the protection of public health. Milwaukee has therefore, adopted more stringent standards and objectives in the treatment of our drinking water to ensure quality water continues to play a basic, but vital role in the health, safety and protection of all our residents. Water service in Milwaukee is accomplished by two major water treatment plants which draw water from Lake Michigan, effectively treating that water and distributing it through numerous major pumping stations, booster stations, elevated and ground storage facilities as well as over 1,950 miles of water mains. Water systems in general, have been identified as a vulnerable asset simply because of its large expanse and ability to reach into almost every household and street corner. The water infrastructure was not built to withstand direct and intentional terrorism. A common carrier of drinking water, under the right circumstances can potentially become a common carrier of biological, chemical or nuclear agents. Improving security effectiveness or reducing the consequences of an attack can be effective means in reducing the risk to water infrastructure and ultimately, impacts to the public health. The City of Milwaukee takes the potential for disruption to this vital water system as a serious and real threat. This emphasis has been renewed in every one of over 170,000 public water systems across the nation since the tragic events of September 11th. The City of Milwaukee has proactively been involved in this effort even before that time. In 1999, we conducted a security review of our water plant facility, which primarily focused on physical deterrents. Based on those results, we identified areas requiring remedial solutions and funded those in 2000 and 2001. This process culminated in late 2001 with a more detailed analysis and assessment of our facilities and the development of a methodology of identifying the potential vulnerability of water facilities in conjunction with the American Water Works Association Research Foundation (AWWARF) and national security experts from the Sandia National Laboratory. This assessment helped focus our efforts in defining the appropriate level of threat to large water utilities and the response required to minimize that threat. The direct response by water utilities to these events has been varied. Much of the activity has been focused on short-term physical improvements such as: · 24-hour around the clock security presence. Increased use of surveillance and lighting techniques. Strengthening barriers such as doors, locks and alarms. Instituting more rigorous protocols and procedures. Other efforts focused on increased education and training, resource identification and sharing, contingency and emergency response planning with Health, Fire, Police, State and Federal agencies. Many of these same activities have been ongoing concurrently in other public and private sectors; however, those sectors do not share in the same level of accessibility that a water supply and distribution system has. Room 409, Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies 3 We applaud Congress for the supplemental appropriation this year of $90 million dollars to the EPA for the purpose of issuing direct grants to large water utilities to conduct vulnerability assessments and related response planning activities. Milwaukee is scheduled to receive a share of that appropriation at a time when this need is the greatest. Continued direct support at the local level is required in order for all water utilities to move from the initial short-term response and assessment into the development, research, implementation and construction of the recommendations derived from those assessments. Some of these immediate areas impacting the water industry include: Effective physical security deterrents and measures for existing and new water • Effective cyber related security measures for critical computer control and information Effective security deterrents and measures for distribution system related Increased research on the effects of contaminates intentionally introduced into Evaluate current design and operational standards for water treatment, storage and Evaluate public access information sharing of critical and vital water system There are many avenues available to accomplish these goals. While some work has already commenced in these areas, the issues are complex and cover many different groups, agencies, jurisdictions and levels. The Federal government, specifically your Committee, needs to continue its work to ensure that effective and efficient response, resources and support is directly available to agencies on the local municipal and county levels as first responders to these potential threats and events. We look to you for your continued cooperation and support as we move ahead to address these important and critical issues facing not only Milwaukee, but also our nations, water supply. Thank you. Room 409, Frank P. Zeidler Municipal Building, 841 N. Broadway, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53202 American Water Works Association, Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies |