VA COVID-19 wastewater surveillance
It is a clone of this request.
| Tracking # |
22-1322 |
| Submitted | May 6, 2022 |
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Communications
From: Betsy Ladyzhets
To Whom It May Concern:
Pursuant to the Virginia Freedom of Information Act, I hereby request the following records:
1) Any applications and/or related documents submitted by the Virginia Department of Health to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Wastewater Surveillance System (NWSS) for funding to conduct COVID-19 surveillance in Virginia wastewater/sewersheds.
2) For all sewersheds/wastewater treatment plants that are conducting COVID-19 surveillance in the state, all documentation that describes the endpoint of that information, e.g. a database, and all documentation about the layout of the database’s tables and fields, and that provides the definitions of any field names, codes, and abbreviations used in the database.
The Documenting COVID-19 project, housed at MuckRock, is a nonprofit organization working on behalf of news organizations, academics and other public bodies to provide clear, timely information for public dissemination. We have recently published our findings in The New York Times, The Washington Post and other publications.
This information is in the public interest as COVID-19 remains a threat to public health. If access to the records I am requesting will take longer than the required amount of time, please contact me with information about when I might expect copies or the ability to inspect the requested records.
If you have any questions about this request, you can reach me at 860-805-4995.
The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and this request is not being made for commercial purposes.
In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or CD-ROM if not.
Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I look forward to receiving your response to this request within 5 business days, as the statute requires.
Sincerely,
Tom Nash, a citizen of Virginia, in coordination with Betsy Ladyzhets.
From: Department of Health
Virginia Department of Health
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Your first Virginia Department of Health record request (request number #22-1322) has been submitted.
It is currently unpublished and is not available for the general public to view.
Thank you for your Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request submitted to the Virginia Department of Health (VDH). This will acknowledge receipt of your FOIA request. VDH will respond to your request within the required time frame.Sincerely,
The Virginia Department of Health
As the requester, you can always see the status of your
request by signing into the Virginia Department of Health Public Records
portal here.
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click here to get started.
Once your account is activated, your request will be visible at the following link:
Request #22-1322.
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From: Department of Health
Virginia Department of Health
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Record request #22-1322 has been reopened. You can see it anytime at the link below.
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From: Department of Health
Virginia Department of Health
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A message was sent to you regarding record request #22-1322:
Dear Tom Nash,
This will acknowledge receipt of your Virginia Freedom of Information Act request dated May 9, 2022, which was received by the Virginia Department of Health (VDH) on May 9, 2022.
Because of the time required to search for and copy the records requested, it is not practically possible for VDH to respond to your request within five working days of receipt of the request. Therefore, pursuant to § 2.2-3704(B)(4) of the Code of Virginia, VDH is invoking a seven work day extension allowed by that section of the Code. VDH’s deadline for responding to your request is now May 25, 2022.
Sincerely,
Cristina Keener, VDH FOIA Analyst
Office of Communications
cristina.keener@vdh.virginia.gov
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<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Virginia Department of Health.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
From: Department of Health
May 20, 2022
Betsy Ladyzhets/Tom Nash
MuckRock News
411A Highland Ave. DEPT MR 128671
Somerville MA 02144
Dear Mr. Nash & Ms. LadyZhets:
Enclosed please find documents provided by the Virginia
Department of Health (VDH) in response to your Virginia Freedom of
Information Act request submitted to VDH dated May 9, 2022. VDH
requested and received an extension to May 25, 2022, to complete the
request.
After discussions with Ms. Ladyzhets, I understand that the
request is for the workplans and budgets submitted to the CDC for the
wastewater surveillance program and for documentation on what data is
collected, definitions, and the structure of the database. The following
enclosed documents are responsive to that request:
- BP 2-Budget-WW Surveillance E1_10 09 2020 - The budget application to
CDC for the first budget period (BP) of the wastewater surveillance project
which ended July 31, 2021. Please look at tab E1.
- BP 2 Workplan Revised 11 2020 - The workplan that was submitted to CDC
for BP - 2
- BP 3 ELC Budget - Budget in template for wastewater surveillance for
program for period August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022.
- BP 3 ELC Project Workplan - Workplan for the BP 3 project.
- BP 4 Budget-NWWS F1 Tab - proposed budget for VDH portion of the
NWWS project for the budget period August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023.
See F1 tab
- BP 4 Workplan - NWSS Activity 33-38 - Workplan for the BP 4 project.
Note NWWS workplan found in activities 33 through 38.
- NWWS Data Dictionary - the most current version of the data dictionary
from CDC
- Data Template V3_1_0_20211208 - The VDH template that is used to
upload data to CDC's DCIPHER portal. Note that a data dictionary is
included on a tab.
- DCIPHERWorkFlow powerpoint - These are a few slides that describe the
data flow between utilities, the lab, VDH, and CDC. It also describes some
other data pieces that are not in the DCIPHER template.
- Training Guide - WWS REDCap Database V 1.0 - This is the documentation
for our database that is under construction. The framework is built and
data is being loaded, but it is not functional yet.
Please don't hesitate to contact myself or Rekha Singh, Wastewater
Surveillance Manager, if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Marcia
*Marcia J. Degen, Ph.D., P.E.*
Environmental Technical Services Manager
Division of Water and Wastewater Services
c/o VDH - Environmental Health
Civic Mall 2nd Floor
1502 Williamson Road, SE.
Roanoke VA 24012
Cell: 804-387-1883
Fax: 540-857-7315
From: Department of Health
May 20, 2022
Betsy Ladyzhets/Tom Nash
MuckRock News
411A Highland Ave. DEPT MR 128671
Somerville MA 02144
Dear Mr. Nash & Ms. LadyZhets:
Enclosed please find documents provided by the Virginia
Department of Health (VDH) in response to your Virginia Freedom of
Information Act request submitted to VDH dated May 9, 2022. VDH
requested and received an extension to May 25, 2022, to complete the
request.
After discussions with Ms. Ladyzhets, I understand that the
request is for the workplans and budgets submitted to the CDC for the
wastewater surveillance program and for documentation on what data is
collected, definitions, and the structure of the database. The following
enclosed documents are responsive to that request:
- BP 2-Budget-WW Surveillance E1_10 09 2020 - The budget application to
CDC for the first budget period (BP) of the wastewater surveillance project
which ended July 31, 2021. Please look at tab E1.
- BP 2 Workplan Revised 11 2020 - The workplan that was submitted to CDC
for BP - 2
- BP 3 ELC Budget - Budget in template for wastewater surveillance for
program for period August 1, 2021 through July 31, 2022.
- BP 3 ELC Project Workplan - Workplan for the BP 3 project.
- BP 4 Budget-NWWS F1 Tab - proposed budget for VDH portion of the
NWWS project for the budget period August 1, 2022 through July 31, 2023.
See F1 tab
- BP 4 Workplan - NWSS Activity 33-38 - Workplan for the BP 4 project.
Note NWWS workplan found in activities 33 through 38.
- NWWS Data Dictionary - the most current version of the data dictionary
from CDC
- Data Template V3_1_0_20211208 - The VDH template that is used to
upload data to CDC's DCIPHER portal. Note that a data dictionary is
included on a tab.
- DCIPHERWorkFlow powerpoint - These are a few slides that describe the
data flow between utilities, the lab, VDH, and CDC. It also describes some
other data pieces that are not in the DCIPHER template.
- Training Guide - WWS REDCap Database V 1.0 - This is the documentation
for our database that is under construction. The framework is built and
data is being loaded, but it is not functional yet.
Please don't hesitate to contact myself or Rekha Singh, Wastewater
Surveillance Manager, if you have further questions.
Sincerely,
Marcia
*Marcia J. Degen, Ph.D., P.E.*
Environmental Technical Services Manager
Division of Water and Wastewater Services
c/o VDH - Environmental Health
Civic Mall 2nd Floor
1502 Williamson Road, SE.
Roanoke VA 24012
Cell: 804-387-1883
Fax: 540-857-7315
From:
Hi Marcia,
Documents received! Thank you so much for your help with this request.
I'll let you know if I have any follow-up questions.
Best,
Betsy
--
*Betsy Ladyzhets*
*Senior journalism fellow* at Documenting COVID-19
<https://documentingcovid19.io/>
*Pronouns:* she/her/hers
*📬**:* betsy@muckrock.com
*☎️**:* 860-805-4995
🐦*:* @betsyladyzhets <https://twitter.com/betsyladyzhets>
From: Department of Health
Virginia Department of Health
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Record request #22-1322 has been closed. The closure reason supplied was:
All records have been released, and your request has been fulfilled
************************************************************************
<em>Questions about your request?</em> Reply to this email or sign in to contact staff at Virginia Department of Health.<br></br><em>Technical support:</em> See our <a href='https://help.nextrequest.com/knowledge/requester-resources'>help page</a>
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