Emergency Plan - Grand Strand Water and Sewer Authority

BASIC PLAN
1. BASIC PLAN
1.1. INTRODUCTION
It is the desire and intent of GSWSA to be adequately prepared for and ready to respond to any emergency
situation that could impact our employees, customers, facilities, surrounding communities, and the
environment.
This plan establishes the core procedures by which GSWSA will coordinate all planning, preparation,
response, and recovery activities. It also establishes how GSWSA will coordinate with others during an event
including county, state, and federal agencies.
This plan adopts and uses the “Functional Approach” recommended by the Federal Emergency Management
Agency (FEMA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Both Horry County and the State of South
Carolina use this approach in their Emergency Operations Plans and will minimize confusion in the event we
have to work with or through these agencies in a major emergency or disaster.
With this “Functional Approach”, major areas of responsibility that could potentially be necessary during an
emergency incident are identified separately and each “Function” is tasked with specific duties and
responsibilities. During an emergency, a person or department is assigned responsibility for a particular
“Function”. This “assignment” process is greatly streamlined because the major duties and responsibilities of
that “Function” have been pre-defined.
This plan is divided into five (5) major sections. Section 1 is the Basic Plan which provides a general
overview of how GSWSA will plan for and respond to all emergencies. Section 2 defines the specific ISF
(Incident Support Functions), and outlines each function’s major responsibilities. Section 3 provides specific
planning and response guidance for specific types of emergencies. Section 4 contains Action Forms which
includes forms, checklists, etc. to be used as a job aid during the incident. Section 5 is the Appendix which
contains a variety of reference materials.
1.2. MISSION and PRIORITIES
1.2.1. MISSION
During “normal operations”, GSWSA’s Mission is:
To provide water and wastewater services to protect public health and the environment,
promotes economic development and enhance each customer’s quality of life.
For “emergency operations”, that broad Mission is broken down into five (5) Mission Objectives, and
prioritized in the following order.
1. Maintain sufficient potable water supply
2. Maintain sufficient water supply for fire protection
3. Provide adequate wastewater services to meet basic human and public health needs
4. Restore services to regulatory requirements
5. Control operating costs
1.2.2. PRIORITIES
The following incident priorities have been adopted from nationally recognized Incident Command
Systems (ICS). Additional explanation and examples have been provided to better illustrate how
these priorities apply to GSWSA.