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Achievements - Conclusions - References
DEVELOPING AN ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR IMPROVED PUBLIC UTILITY PERFORMANCE
Andrew Kricun, P.E.
Deputy Executive Director
Camden County Municipal Utilities Authority
1645 Ferry Avenue
Camden, NJ 08101
and
Tom Pedersen
Camp Dresser & McKee Inc.
One Cambridge Place
Cambridge, MA 02139
ACHIEVEMENTS
Since initiation of the EMS and other optimization efforts the CCMUA has attained performance improvement in a number of areas including:
- 25% reduction in operations and maintenance costs (includes treatment plant and collection system) from $21.2 million in 1996 to $16 million in 2000
- Reduction of wet weather bypasses from the plant from 24 in 1999 to 0 in 2000
- 20% increase in tonnage of sludge removed from the plant from 46,000 tons in 1999 to 55,000 tons in 2000
- 90% reduction in verified odor complaints from 16 in 1997-1998 to 1 in 1999 and 2000
- Implementation of New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (NJDEP) approved community notification system that provides the neighboring community with 24-hour telephone access for reporting odor concerns. The hotline provides real time community input to CCMUA's EMS.
CONCLUSIONS
CCMUA's primary goal for developing its EMS was to optimize the water quality, odor control and cost control performance of its treatment plant and to create and sustain a positive environmental culture at the Delaware No. 1 WPCF. This goal is being achieved by building on the environmental awareness and competence of CCMUA staff at all levels and functions of the organization. The EMS is focused on attaining measurable improved environmental performance through more effective pollution prevention measures, a significant improvement of plant effluent quality, regulatory compliance, and improved communication with employees and neighbors.
CCMUA's EMS fosters environmental learning and supports knowledge development and transfer. The EMS enhances knowledge development and knowledge transfer within the organization through active sharing during EMS Implementation Team and Steering Committee meetings.
The EMS provides management system integration to support the attainment of CCMUA's environmental mission. The system has been developed to fit with CCMUA's culture and management structure and integrates the environmental decision elements into business management approaches. The EMS addresses CCMUA's relationship to its human and physical surroundings and how it manages that relationship. Since both the organization and its surroundings are dynamic, the EMS must also be a dynamic system that adapts continually to changing internal and external conditions.
In conclusion, the EMS is the centerpiece of the CCMUA's firm commitment to optimize the performance of its wastewater treatment plan, and to provide quality service to its ratepayers at the lowest possible cost.
REFERENCES
AMWA/AMSA (1998) Creating High Performance Business Services: A Public Sector Handbook. The Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) and Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies. Washington, DC.
GETF (2000). The Final Report - The USEPA Environmental Management System Pilot Program for Local Government Entities. Global Environment and Technology Foundation. Washington, D.C.
ISO (1996) ISO 14001 - Environmental Management Systems - Specification with Guidance for Use. Iso 14004-1996. International Organization for Standardization, Geneva, Switzerland.
USEPA (2000). Compliance-Focused Environmental Management System-Enforcement Agreement Guidance. EPA-330/9-97-002. United States Environmental Protection Agency, Office of Criminal Enforcement, Forensics and Training, National Enforcement Investigations Center. Revised January 2000.