As part of America’s COVID-19 emergency response, GDS has been retained to advise the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) on developing and implementing non-destructive decontamination procedures for all of their air traffic control operations across the country. GDS’s Dr. Scott Harris is serving as the FAA’s subject matter expert to evaluate disinfectants for proper EPA registration, safe application, and effects on sensitive equipment used by over 18,000 personnel to manage air travel 24 hours per day. With so much confusion and misinformation and so many misleading claims as to how to protect personnel and operations, we recognize that every workplace in America can benefit from the work being done. GDS is proud of our contribution to keeping the FAA healthy and mission-capable.
A former U.S. EPA Federal On-Scene Coordinator, Dr. Harris was the EPA Region 6 BioWatch lead, a national sentry program for early detection of biological weapons of mass destruction (WMD) events, and served on national workgroups and Joint Terrorism Task Forces to develop best management practices (BMPs) and internal capabilities for surveillance, first response, Hotzone sampling, quarantine, decontamination and return to service. He authored Consequence Management Plans for weaponized biological agent events for all major cities and airports in Texas in coordination with the CDC and DOD. In 2015, Scott supported the USDA as a Deputy Incident Commander during their complex 2015 national response to Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the largest in Agency history. Dr. Harris received his PhD in Environmental Science, with a specialization in Disaster and Emergency Management, from Oklahoma State University and holds degrees in Public Health (M.S.) and Geology (B.S.) from Western Kentucky University.
About GDS Associates
GDS Associates is headquartered in Marietta, Georgia, with offices in Alabama, Florida, Maine, New Hampshire, Oregon, Texas, Washington and Wisconsin. Since 1986, GDS has been a multi-service engineering and consulting firm providing services to a broad range of clients associated with, or affected by, electric, natural gas, water, and wastewater utilities. Services provided include Power Supply Planning; Wholesale and Retail Rates; Regulatory and Financial; Transmission Planning and NERC/CIP Compliance; Distribution System Planning and Line Design; DSM and Energy Efficiency; Utility Distribution Services; Natural Gas; and other specialized services including renewable energy, sustainability, emerging smart infrastructure, data analytics, electrification, and DER integration. Visit www.gdsassociates.com for more information about GDS.