Last, but not least is the need to prepare to restore facilities and make them safe for re-occupancy.

That responsibility rests with federal, state, and local environmental agencies like the EPA, Pa DEP, and to a lesser extent local health departments with environmental components.

Much work remains in defining “what is clean, for biological contamination” and how to proceed with decontaminating large public facilities like stadiums, subways, airports and hospitals.

Pittsburgh’s technical expertise and large numbers of environmental consulting firms will play an important role in developing such protocols.