'What do we do?' Sandwich engineering firm brings expertise to EPA with $10M contract

On Cape Cod, water is recognized as a precious resource, and many organizations, institutions and businesses have spent a lot of time working toward its protection. So, it should come as no wonder that one of them — Horsley Witten Group — is now lending all of that expertise toward protecting public water resources for the entire nation.

The Sandwich-based environmental consulting firm, which specializes in sustainable and resilient design solutions, was just awarded a five-year contract with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency valued at up to $10 million.

It's the fourth time the federal government has reached out to the Cape Cod company for its know-how with handling issues related to ensuring the integrity of public water resources — a high honor for a very competitive contract, according to Thomas Noble, Horsley Witten senior project manager and principal.

"Water resources are a hugely important topic on Cape Cod. From environmental water quality to drinking water quality, the Cape is really attuned," Noble said. "I think it's awesome that this small business from Cape Cod is helping the country."

Cape Cod, specifically, faces challenges that include surface water quality in ponds significantly degraded by surrounding development and also widespread use of on-site septic systems that release nitrogen to groundwater, which can eventually degrade water quality, according to the 2019 Cape Cod Regional Policy Plan. Due to climate change, also, the Cape's 586 miles of vulnerable, tidal shoreline is at risk due to flooding and erosion, according to the plan.

What is the new contract?

The new contract, Noble explained, "is really aimed at supporting drinking water and wastewater utilities, preparing for disasters and emergencies such that they can prepare and recover better."

Working with the EPA’s Water Infrastructure and Cyber Resilience Division, Horsley Witten will develop, implement and support programs to protect national water resources in the event of natural disasters and man-made incidents, as well as the effects of climate change.

The specifics of the work, Noble said, is "fairly technical," and includes conducting risk assessments and leading "a host" of other activities like emergency response training workshops and webinars on resiliency topics.

"We'll find guest speakers for those. We will also find some utilities that have been through, say, a hurricane and get them to speak about their experience and what they learned," he said.

The work will involve designing and running exercises of disaster or emergency scenarios with utilities, "for example, we'd say a category 5hurricane is going to land in two days, what do we do?"

"A lot of times those exercises provide a lot of information for people to update their emergency response plans," Noble said.

Cybersecurity is connected to the nation's water resources

One of the top concerns Horsley Witten will address is "the cybersecurity end of things" when it comes to national water resources.

"Because so much is controlled by computers now in utility operations, the thought would be they (cyber terrorists) would get into the system, and maybe change different points like how much treatment might go in," he said.

An important aspect of the work will be coming up with ways to protect information and identifying ideas on cleaning up contamination of community drinking water systems.

Beyond that type of "manmade" hazard, Noble said the work also addresses escalating climate change outcomes that can affect water resources, such as flooding, extreme storms or hot weather causing damage to systems, and sea-level rise.

Additionally, the company will continue guiding utilities through creation of emergency response plans, which are required to be updated every five years.

"We produce a lot of the guidance materials EPA puts out, like what should go into a plan, and how to do risk assessment," Noble said.

What is Horsley Witten's background?

Horsley Witten, incorporated in 1988, has more than 70 staff members in engineering, science, design, planning, remediation, training, and customer support, according to the website. Headquartered in Sandwich, there are also offices in Boston, Exeter, New Hampshire and Providence, Rhode Island.

Previously, Horsley Witten worked with the EPA in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, when the federal agency mandated activity to protect the nation’s drinking water supplies against terrorists.

In 2022, Horsley Witten received an EPA award for "Outstanding Accomplishments by a Small Business Contractor" for its customer support, technical adaptiveness, and responsiveness during the COVID-19 pandemic. Staff, Noble said, "had to learn Teams and Zoom overnight."

"Because we could pivot, we were still able to continue to support (the EPA) in that resiliency mission, which was really important during COVID," he said.

In order to offer its expertise to the security of water resources, Noble said, the company recognizes "we need to be resilient ourselves."

“We look forward to continuing our longstanding and productive partnership with the U.S. EPA to help safeguard the nation’s drinking water supplies and wastewater treatment facilities,” he said.

Heather McCarron writes about climate change, environment, energy, science and the natural world, in addition to news and features in Barnstable and Brewster. Reach her at hmccarron@capecodonline.com, or follow her on X @HMcCarron_CCT

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: In $10M contract, Horsley Witten to help utilities prep for disasters