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Protecting Drinking Water Sources with EPA's River Spill Model Webinar

About this Webinar

Originally presented February 14, 2024.

Watch the webinar.

There are over 12,000 navigable miles of inland waterways within the contiguous United States, which transport an estimated 2.3 billion tons of cargo through 41 states annually. There are also hundreds of drinking water intakes that supply drinking water to 66% of American water consumers. Spills within United States waterways can threaten safe drinking water supplies, fire protection, commerce, and critical navigation activities.

EPA collaborated with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) to develop the Riverine Spill Model. This software helps utilities decide if they should close intake, add additional treatment, or access alternative water supplies, if available, while the worst of the spill plume passes.

This webinar provides an overview of the model, describes recent additions, and discusses how ORSANCO used the software to protect Ohio's River drinking water systems following the East Palestine train derailment.

About the Presenters

James Goodrich is a Senior Science Advisor with EPA's Office of Research and Development located in Cincinnati, Ohio. He has a Ph.D. and a B.S. from the University of Cincinnati and an M.S. from Florida State University. During his career, he has managed large multidisciplinary programs relative to water infrastructure protection, small community drinking water and wastewater needs, watershed protection and restoration, source water spill modeling, and international drinking water treatment technology demonstrations. He is currently responsible for full-scale evaluations of water infrastructure decontamination, innovative emergency water treatment technology, and emergency stormwater response mitigation tools.

Sam Dinkins is a Technical Program Manager with the Ohio River Valley Water Sanitation Commission (ORSANCO) in Cincinnati, Ohio. Mr. Dinkins has spent much of his 28 years with the Commission conducting water quality monitoring and assessments for pathogens, toxics, and a host of other pollutants. In his current role, Sam has oversight responsibilities for a number of program areas including emergency response, source water protection, and several other water quality monitoring initiatives. Sam played a key role in ORSANCO's response efforts following the February 3, 2023 train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. These efforts included coordinating water sampling efforts to track the spill as it moved down the Ohio River and communicating results to water utilities, response agencies, and other key stakeholders. He holds a bachelor's degree in Biology from Thomas More University and a Master of Science in Environmental Science & Policy from Johns Hopkins University.

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Last updated on February 5, 2025
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