Homeland Security Addressed in Seminar

How can we protect our water supply from a chemical attack? Can local emergency workers head off a chemical or biological attack before it occurs? Those questions and more will be explored as the University of Cincinnati College of Engineering and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency host a graduate seminar from 1-2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 27, in Room 427, of the UC Engineering Research Center. The lecture is free and open to the public.

E. Timothy Oppelt, director of the EPA's National Homeland Security Research Center in Cincinnati, will present, "EPA Research in Support of Homeland Security." The center, located at the EPA building on Martin Luther King Drive, was formed last September to develop technologies, tools and guidance on how to respond or prevent chemical or biological attacks on buildings and the water supply. Researchers are exploring early warning systems, isolation techniques, decontamination and disposal of cleanup methods, as well as how to assess and respond to health risks related to attacks.

The environmental graduate seminars are a 40-year tradition at UC. Pasquale Scarpino, UC professor of civil and environmental engineering, says the EPA began co-sponsoring the seminars in the 1970s.

Cash parking near the Engineering Research Center is available at the Langsam Library garage and the CBA garage.