Weston to Provide Vulnerability Assessments, Security Services for the Nation's Water Systems

Weston Solutions, Inc. (WESTON), a 45-year veteran in the water and wastewater infrastructure industry, mobilized quickly and is uniquely positioned to provide complete, comprehensive vulnerability assessment of the nation's drinking water supply facilities in response to a U.S. Environmental Protection Agency mandate. Nearly 400 of the nation's large public drinking water utilities (utilities serving more than 100,000 people) will receive EPA Security Planning Grants of up to $115,000.

These water utilities must conduct and complete a comprehensive vulnerability assessment of their facilities by Dec. 31, 2002, or within six months of grant award.

WESTON is trained and licensed to apply Sandia National Laboratory's Risk Assessment Methodology for Water Systems (RAM-W(SM))--the only assessment methodology recommended by the EPA.

The RAM-W technique is designed to characterize a water utility's operations and conditions, define threat parameters, identify priority facilities and critical assets (potential targets) and evaluate and improve their security.

WESTON will conduct vulnerability assessments and recommend cost-effective security and procedural improvements to protect against potential threats; develop emergency operations plans that guide immediate response actions; and design facility security and operational enhancements by developing procedures, systems, operations, and counter measures required to make critical components unattractive targets for vandalism and terrorism.

To support WESTON on this service offering, we have teamed with US Investigations Services, Inc. (USIS), a security consulting and services company with over 50 years of hands-on experience supporting government and private industry to ensure integrity of personnel and operations and security of critical assets (personnel, property and information).

Source: Weston Solutions, Inc.