Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) Wide Area Demonstration (WAD)
Citation:
Archer, J., T. Boe, A. Busher, M. Worth Calfee, P. Lemieux, K. McConkey, L. Oudejans, M. Pirhalla, S. Serre, E. Silvestri-Niemer, AND J. Wood. Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) Wide Area Demonstration (WAD). U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, DC, EPA/600/R-23/159, 2023.
Impact/Purpose:
Bacillus anthracis, the causative agent of inhalation anthrax, is one of the most highly studied biological threat agents. Significant gaps remain related to the remediation of a wide area following such biological release. This extends to the remediation of critical assets owned and operated by federal partners such as U.S. Coast Guard (USCG). This report describes the outcomes from the Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR)’s Wide Area Demonstration (WAD). The AnCOR WAD was a field-scale biological remediation study with the primary purpose to operationally test and evaluate options for decontamination, sampling, data management, and waste management for areas impacted by a wide area biological agent release near/in a USCG station or urban environment. A non-pathogenic organism, Bacillus atrophaeus var. globigii (Bg), was used as the surrogate in this study. Local, tribal, state, and federal responders can benefit from this research with new information and tools, assessed at the field scale, to ensure community resilience to a wide area biological release that threatens public health and welfare.
Description:
Report on the Wide Area Demonstration (WAD) under the Analysis for Coastal Operational Resiliency (AnCOR) project. The AnCOR WAD was conducted from May 2 through May 27, 2022. The test venue was located at Fort A.P. Hill (FAPH), Bowling Green, VA. All work will was conducted at FAPH’s Urban Warfare Training Center (UWTC). The project utilized a biosafety level 1 (BSL-1) non-pathogenic spore simulant, Bacillus atrophaeus var. globigii (Bg), a common surrogate for Bacillus anthracis (Ba). A multi-story building located in the urban area and the surrounding outdoor area served as the test bed. Exterior surfaces including cinder block, concrete, glass, metal, asphalt, gravel, grass, ground litter, and trees were also included in this field-level remediation study. All testing was in an outdoor environment.