04-12-2006 South Bend Raises the Bar on Environmental Compliance

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-more- Page 2. As the Environmental Compliance Specialist,Kim will work closely with the Director of Wastewater, the Environmental Services Engineer, and staff to support the establishment and use of key performance indicators (KPI); short interval controls (SIC), standards of excellence and action logs, to maintain compliance with monthly regulatory and permit requirements. She will formulate and recommend responses to regulatory issues and questions, and help to implement new tools to meet the demands of changing regulatory compliance. As a result of the City's continuing efforts to maintain high water quality and environmental responsibility, the Wastewater Treatment Plant has also received two awards. The Safety Excellence Award and Laboratory Excellence Award presented by the Indiana Water Environment Association. The Wastewater Treatment Plant has received the safety excellence award for the past nine years and the Laboratory has received the excellence award for ten consecutive years, demonstrating the leadership, dedicated work ethic and professionalism of the department employees, in providing continual safety measures for all of South Bend's residents and visitors. "These two awards are indicative of the excellent work performed by the employees of South Bend's wastewater treatment plant, in their efforts to maintain and improve the water quality of the Saint Joseph River," stated Jack Dillon, Director of Environmental Services. Members of the IWEA Safety Committee based the Indiana Water Environment Association Safety Award on inspection of the City's Wastewater Treatment Plant, using a checklist consisting of 135 possible criteria to rate the facility. Some of the criteria included hazard abatement, worker safety records,written safety programs, cleanliness of the facility, safety training programs and other items. The facility must score 92% or better to be eligible for this safety award. A score of 98.5%was the grade given to the Wastewater Treatment Plant. The Laboratory Excellence Award recognizes laboratories that demonstrate high levels of commitment to outstanding laboratory practices and accurate data reporting. Some of the categorical criteria used by the examiners in the rating system were laboratory quality control and assurance procedures, safety programs and standard operating procedures. The following staff persons are available to discuss the details of these awards: Al Greek, Dir. Of WasteWater, 277-8515 Safety Award- Mark Rzepnicki, Safety Coordinator with the Environmental Services Division, 277-8515 Laboratory Award - Paula Martinez, Chemist with the Environmental Services Laboratory Team, 277-8515