[SoftTalker]

if it's using the query and "where" clause to get data from the live environment to set up the "dry run" environment, it's not exactly a "dry run."

A poorly formed query or WHERE conditions can put a potentially disabling load on a database server.

[westonOG]

You are correct. But if someone ran that DML in production it would have the same effect but worse. I am thinking of ways to reduce this issue in the future. I have not settled on a solution just yet.