spotlight
on
Security
Annual MWEA
Conference
June 24-27, 2007
MWEA IS AN AFFILIATE OF THE
WATER ENVIRONMENT FEDERATION (WEF)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
VISION:
The Mission (Aim) of the Michigan Water Environment
Association is to be the recognized authority on and
advocate for preserving, restoring and enhancing
Michigan’s water resources.
MWEA Matters Editor-in-Chief
Dave C. Vago, P.E.
President,
Wade Trim Operations Services, Inc.
TO CONTACT THE MWEA:
Questions or comments regarding this magazine can
be directed to:
MWEA
P.O. Box 397
Bath, Michigan 48808
Phone: 517-641-7377
Fax: 517-641-7388
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.mi-wea.org
Copyright© 2007
Volume 3, Number 1 - SPRING 2007
FEATURES
15
2007 Joint Expo Recap.. .............................................................................. 25
Dan Wolz Clean WAter Education Fund Update.................................... 26
MWEA Annual Conference 2007............................................................
Spotlight on Security:
30
Protecting the Nations’ water supply from attack............................. 34
Ensuring the Security of Wastewater Infrastructure.. .....................
36
Testimony of G. Tracy Mehan, III............................................................... 40
Revisiting the Rouge, Part 1.....................................................................
Michigan Water Environment Association
Statements of fact and opinion expressed are those of
the authors and MWEA assumes no responsibility for
the content, nor do they represent official policy of the
Association.
MWEA in no way endorses the products or services of
their advertisers. Advertisements are included as an
educational service to our members and are reviewed
by the editor before publication to ensure their
relevance to the water environment and the objectives
of the Association.
Membership application available online at
www.mi-wea.org
DEPARTMENTS
4
committee news......................................................................................... 8
Meet the MWEA Staff.............................................................................. 10
MWEA key member profile..................................................................... 12
News in Brief .......................................................................................... 28
PROFESSIONAL DIRECTORY........................................................................ 43
ADVERTISER’S INDEX.................................................................................. 46
president’s message.................................................................................
Managing Editor: Cole Kelman
Layout & Design: Andrea Ardiles
Sales Manager: Linda Johnson
Phone: 866-985-9780
Fax: 866-985-9799
Email: [email protected]
www.kelman.ca
15
34
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
my view
- MWEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Much has been happening in the
Michigan water environment Association
Executive Director
FRED Cowles
President - MWEA
Senior Engineer
Fishbeck Thompson Carr & Huber
[email protected]
The Personnel Committee has appointed
our Director of Operations, Mr. Jerry
Harte, as our Executive Director. Along
with the change in title, comes an increase
in responsibility and authority. One of
the first tasks Jerry intends to undertake
is to reorganize the MWEA office. He
is trying to find the correct balance
between specialization for efficiency and
generalization for reliability.
In making the recommendation for
appointment to the Personnel Committee,
I observed that Jerry has “grown into the
job”. He started with MWEA as the Training
Coordinator in 2003. As MWEA’s activities
kept increasing, we kept asking Jerry to do
more and more. He has shouldered those
additional responsibilities with enthusiasm
and vigor. Now Jerry is the personification
of MWEA. It is time we recognize the
outstanding job Jerry has done for us and ask
him to do even more.
In recognizing the MWEA has become
dependent on having an office and office
staff, the Personnel Committee is looking into
a compensation package for the Executive
Director. No decisions were made as of this
writing, but we agreed that we need to have
a package that would attract a well qualified
candidate if or when our relationship with
Jerry were to end. To that end we are looking
into modifying the compensation package to
include a retirement/severance element.
Lansing Goes Green
The City of Lansing mayor has joined
over 400 mayors from across the nation in
signing the US Mayor’s Climate Protection
Agreement. By signing the agreement Mayor
Verg Bernero agreed to meet or exceed the
Kyoto Protocol targets within the city’s
operation by:
• Creating an action plan for reducing
global warming emissions,
• Adopting land-use policies to reduce
sprawl, preserve open space, and create
a walkable urban community,
• Promoting sustainable
transportation options,
• Increasing use of clean,
alternative energy,
• Making energy efficiency a priority
through building code improvements,
retrofitting city facilities, and urging
employees to conserve energy,
• Purchasing only Energy Star equipment
for city use,
• Practicing sustainable building
practices using the US Green Building
Council’s LEED program,
• Increasing fuel efficiency of municipal
fleet vehicles,
• Evaluating opportunities to increase
pump efficiency in water and
wastewater systems,
• Increasing recycling rates in
city operations,
• Maintaining healthy urban forests, and
• Helping educate the public about
reducing global warming pollution.
“The City of Lansing has a financial
and moral imperative to conserve energy
and to lead the way in the adoption of
alternative energy policies and practices,”
said Mayor Bernero. “In partnership
with the Board of Water and Light and
Michigan State University, we will become
a model for industrial cities across the
nation in reducing energy consumption
and using renewable energy to improve
our environment.”
Grand Rapids Receives
Biosolids Environmental
Management System Certification
The MWEA Board of Directors adopted a
resolution (see inset) honoring the City of
Grand Rapids for achieving certification
from the National Biosolids Partnership
Continued on page 5
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
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my view
- MWEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
Continued from page 4
on their Biosolids EMS program. The
City of Grand Rapids and its employees
deserve the honor. Corky Overmyer,
Grand Rapids Environmental Director,
was the inspiration for and chair of the
MWEA Environmental Management
System Committee. At his urging MWEA
was the first member association of the
Water Environment Federation to join the
National Biosolids Partnership (NBP).
Under the NBP program professional
assistance and framework documents
were provided to seven Michigan facilities
(Grand Rapids, Wyoming, Kalamazoo,
Battle Creek, Lansing, Wixom, and
South Huron Valley) and several others
nationwide. Through the diligent effort
of the Grand Rapids EMS team of Mike
Lunn, Gary Dekock, Randall Fisher,
and Kathie Kuzawa, Grand Rapids is
the first facility in Michigan to receive
certification. Congratulations to Grand
Rapids and the team!
Dan Wolz Clean Water
Education Award Winner
I had the privilege to present the first
Dan Wolz Clean Water Education Award
to Ms. Mary Lindow at the Michigan
Science Teachers Association conference
in Grand Rapids on March 16. Ms. Lindow
is a charming and dedicated science
teacher from Battle Creek Public Schools.
Part of the award is a trip to WEFTeach
in San Diego in October. WEFTeach is
an intensive full-day teacher’s training
program on the water environment offered
at the WEF annual conference. It shows
innovative ways to engage youth in real life
water problems and solutions.
Funding for the award comes from
contributions made to the Dan Wolz
Memorial Fund. Dan was one of the
most dedicated MWEA members who
believed deeply that educating our youth
about clean water was our best chance of
preserving our water resources. He felt
that integrating a serious message with
humor was the best way to do that. After
Dan’s untimely passing, a number of Dan’s
colleagues set up the fund. A number of
fund raising activities have been successful
enough for us to be able to make an award
this year. See the article on page 26 for
more information on the fund and how you
can contribute. Steve Aiken and Mary Jane
Robinson deserve special recognition for
their efforts.
MI-AWWA MOU
The Michigan Section of the American
Waterworks Association (MI-AWWA) and
MWEA have frequently worked together
on a variety of issues relating to both
the drinking water supply industry and
the clean water industry. We have been
sponsoring the Joint Expo annually for
16 years. Many other formal and informal
activities are jointly held. Occasionally
disagreements have arisen over the
management and financials of these joint
activities. While the vast majority of these
joint activities have no controversy, the
MWEA and MI-AWWA officials felt that
a formal Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) would both reduce any controversies
and encourage even more cooperation. To
that end an MOU was drafted and signed
by the chair and secretary-treasurer of MIAWWA and the president and secretarytreasurer of MWEA. A copy will be made
available upon request.
Nominations
The chair of the Nominations Committee,
Bill Gramlich, presented the board with an
excellent slate of candidates for Board of
Directors positions:
Vice President
– Larry Woodard,
Secretary-Treasurer
– Todd Wibright,
Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
– Dave Vago,
Assistant Secretary-Treasurer
– Bob Scheuerman, and
Membership Director
– Steve Aiken.
Constitution & ByLaws Committee
I have asked that the Constitution &
ByLaws Committee review the Board of
Directors structure with an eye towards
reducing the size of the board. Several
people with intimate knowledge of the
association’s functioning have suggested
such a review. No conclusions have been
reached as yet, but reducing the 13 member
board from 9 to 12 positions should be
considered. No changes to the Constitution
are proposed for 2007 so any changes
would be more than a year away. Anyone
wishing to express an opinion on this
subject is welcome to do so, either to me or
Tad Slawecki, chair of the Constitution &
ByLaws Committee.
MWEA Website: www.mi-wea.org
The MWEA website has improved greatly
over this past year, but not half as much as
I would have liked. There are numerous
detailed reasons for the slow progress, but
for the purpose here, let it suffice to say
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
my view
that we are still working on it. Please visit
the website and provide me or the MWEA
office with your comments, criticisms, and
suggestions for improvement.
MWEA Seminars and Training
The Wastewater Administrators Workshop
attendance was up nearly 50% (96) from
recent years and was a BIG success. The
Lagoon Seminar was another big success
with attendance over 100. The Biosolids:
Formulas for Success was a two day event
with 88 in attendance. These are examples
of the synergy that is MWEA. Our mission
is to assist our members through education,
networking, and personal and professional
development to serve the public interest.
Our seminars accomplish this while at the
same time generating the revenue needed
to fund other activities that cannot generate
revenue. The seminars do much more than
just provide information to attendees.
Planning and conducting a seminar
provides opportunities for members to
grow personally and professionally. The
committee meetings for planning seminars
are networking opportunities and they
are fun – like-minded people working
together to accomplish good things. If you
have not done so already, become active on
a committee relating to a subject area of
interest to you. You will have opportunities
for growth that are largely not available
to you “on the job”. Leadership skills are
developed through action, not wishful
thinking. Join a committee; call the
association office for more information.
- MWEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
willing to take difficult actions today so
our great grandchildren can have a better
tomorrow. I think we need to identify and
disseminate information about the scientific,
technical and management approaches
to treatment processes, plant design, and
utility operations that can contribute to the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions. We
can work with other organizations to find
ways to reduce emissions created by our
use of energy. We can be and should be
leaders in our communities on reducing
non-renewable energy use and mitigating
climate change.
If you would like to express your opinion
to the Board of Directors on this or any
other issue, please send me an email letting
me know what you think and why. I will be
more than happy to share your insights with
the Board.
Resolution on Climate Change
I presented the Board of Directors a
draft Resolution on Climate Change at
their March meeting. The Board chose
not to adopt the resolution as written,
but I am hopeful that with a few changes
one will be adopted in May. I have been
convinced for some time that human
activities are having a negative influence
on the atmosphere and therefore changes
to the climate are unavoidable. Only the
magnitude of those changes is in doubt, and,
of course, our willingness to deal with the
issue. The members of this association see
themselves as the true environmentalists:
those that work everyday to protect our
water resources. I think it is time for us,
as an association and as individuals, to
stand up and be counted among those
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
committee news
MWEA Watershed
Hosts Important Forum
By Laura Gruzwalski
Staff Environmental Analyst, Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.
Biosolids Committee’s
Annual Conference
a success
By Stephen J. Mahoney, CPAg,
Resource Analyst
Michigan Department of Agriculture,
Environmental Steardship Division
T
(above) Bill Stone, HRC, Watershed Committee
Chair, John McCulloch, Oakland County Drain
Commissioner, Dave Drullinger, DEQ, and
Tom Frazier, Michigan Township Association
O
n February 27, the MWEA Watershed
Committee hosted an open forum
for Phase I and II General Storm Water
permitees at Constitution Hall in Lansing.
Over 70 people were in attendance to
participate in discussions involving: Storm
Water Financing updates, and the status of
the General Storm Water Permits which are
under revision as the existing permits expire
early next year. The discussion included
MDEQ options for including monitoring
and TMDL limit requirements in the new
permits. A highlight of the meeting was
a discussion of the Kalamazoo/Comstock
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Townships vs. MDEQ Case. Tom Frazier
from Michigan Townships Association
(MTA) presented information on the case
and John McCullough, Oakland County
Drain Commissioner, discussed the impacts
of the case on watershed planning efforts
and other non-Township permitees.
The next Watershed Committee meeting
will be held May 22 in Southeast Michigan
and will include tours of BMPs. If you
wish to join the Watershed Committee,
please contact Bill Stone, Watershed
Committee Chair, at: (248) 454-6326 or
email: [email protected].
he MWEA Biosolids Committee
held it’s Annual Conference in
Battle Creek, February 28-March 1,
2007. Over 100 attendees enjoyed the
conference tours of The Post Cereal
Company, the Battle Creek WWTP,
and Endres Processing. After a
delightful reception and a Texas
BBQ dinner, a comedian entertained
the audience.
During the opening ceremonies Ken
Langmesser the “Baron of Biosolids”
crowned his successor in Dr. Lee Jacobs
of MSU.
The general session presentations
dealt with topics from the Biosolids
program in Michigan: MDEQ updates,
US EPA delegation, News from the
field and overview, biosolids marketing
and students & young professionals.
Our guest speaker, Diane Gilbert Jones
from the City of Los Angeles, California
spoke on their biosolids program
and the issues and challenges they
have faced.
committee news
Wastewater
Administrators Committee
By Kevin W. Chandler, Wastewater Administrators Committee Chairman
T
The afternoon breakout sessions
included presentations on the challenges
of landfilling biosolids, biosolids and
landfill gas recovery, energy from digester
gas, ATAD, Egg shaped digesters, Lime
Island Reclamation, and Pharmaceuticals
in Biosolids.
A special thanks to all of the sponsors
and vendors for making this conference
a success:
• Merrell Brothers, Inc.,
• Tetra Tech, Inc.,
• KAR Labs,
• J.G.M. Valve Corp.,
• A&L Great Lakes Laboratories,
• Synagro,
• BioTech Agronomics,
• C2AE,
• Hamlett Environmental Technologies,
• Ashbrook Simon-Hartley,
• Black & Veatch,
• Malcolm Pirnie, Inc.,
• Waterworks System,
• Big Fish Environmental,
• Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.,
• Solberg, Knowles & Associates,
• FTC&H,
• DuBois-Cooper,
and participants for making this another
successful experience.
he annual Wastewater Administrators
Workshop was held on January 18-19,
2007 at the Bavarian Inn in Frankenmuth.
The attendance was wonderful and, once
again, the workshop was a great success.
We had 98 attendees and eleven sponsors.
As usual, we began on Thursday with
lunch and ended the workshop on Friday
with lunch. The Thursday topics included
several presentations on septage, an
interactive presentation on the MDEQ’s
E-DMR system, vulnerability assessments
and emergency response plans at WWTPs
and wrapped up the afternoon with a
program on funding sewer rates. Following
another great Bavarian chicken dinner
and an uplifting presentation by Jerry
Harte on communications, thanks to our
sponsors, we enjoyed some beverages
and great networking. On Friday, the
presentations included a briefing and great
demonstration (thanks to Myron Erickson)
on the personal protective equipment
that is required for employees working in
“hot” electrical panels. Also presentations
were made on the sustainability of land
application in Michigan and Mike Worm
provided an update from the MDEQ. The
Friday morning presentations wrapped
up with some very informative technology
updates from our vendors.
On behalf of the committee, we would
like to express a special thanks and our
sincere appreciation to our sponsors:
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Webb Chemical
Malcolm Pirnie
DuBios-Cooper Associates
Wade Trim Operation Services
Environmental Sales Inc
Peterson & matz Inc
Tetra Tech
Kendall Electric
Black & Veatch
Waterworks Systems & Equipment
Hubbell Roth & Clark
The Wastewater Administrators
Committee has already begun the planning
for next year’s conference. A tremendous
amount of work goes into planning and
coordinating this great workshop. I would
like to personally thank each and every one
of the committee members (Tim Lynch,
Jimmy Spangler, Brian Ross, Eric Schiebold,
George Freiberg, Jeannette Best, Dave Vago,
Dave VerHoef, & Corky Overmyer) for their
hard work and dedication to the success of
the 2007 workshop. Please contact any of
the committee members or me if you have
any suggestions for topics for next year’s
workshop or preferences on the site. The
committee is strongly considering Traverse
City as the site for the 2008 Workshop.
Also, during the next few months, we are
going to focus on expanding the committee
and recruiting some new committee
members. Please contact any one of us if
you are interested in participating in this
dynamic committee.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
Meet the MWEA Staff
New Staff Member Joins the MWEA Team
Rick Banker
Administrative Assistant
P
rimary Responsibilities: Accounting
and banking functions, assisting with
seminar and conference administration,
assisting with membership services.
Rick started with MWEA this past
January. He becomes the second retired
MDEQ staffer to join our squad. He will
be working about 20 hours per week for
us, mostly in the areas of accounting and
banking. His history with state employment
goes back to 1984 and the DNR and he
also had more than 10 years of service with
the Department of Public Health before
eventually retiring from the Water Bureau.
10
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Rick has been married to his wife,
Wendy, for 34 years. They have twin
daughters who are married, as well as two
granddaughters – ages 2 and 3. Rick’s
hobbies include golf, tennis, biking, music
and following some of the local high
school athletic teams.
Rick has been a quick study learning
his job responsibilities and has been a
great fit with the other staff members.
His naturally friendly manner and desire
to solve people’s problems will make
Rick a great asset to the office and to the
MWEA membership.
•
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www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
11
MWEA key member profile
Tad Slawecki
T
ad has served on the MWEA Board
of Directors for five years, four as
Secretary/Treasurer and one as Assistant
Secretary/Treasurer. As he and many of the
past Secretary/Treasurers will attest, this is
one of the most difficult and taxing positions
on the Board. In addition to wrestling with
the associations’ finances, the position
also includes being Chair of the Personnel
Committee and therefore the person
responsible for overseeing the paid staff. It
also brings the overall responsibility for the
Annual Conference. Throw in responsibilities
for Audit and Budget, and Constitution and
Bylaws and it is easy to see why whoever
takes on these massive tasks deserves the
undying thanks from everyone connected
with MWEA.
Tad has handled these responsibilities
admirably, exhibiting both superior financial
skills and a level temperament that lends
Tad Slawecki
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MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
itself well for handling such important issues.
The MWEA paid staff are grateful for Tad’s
guiding hand and patient leadership. He will
be sorely missed at the office.
Tad has over 20 years of professional experience in the water industry and has worked
and managed dozens of projects involving the
development and application of environmental computer models. At LTI, he currently
directs integration of state-of-the-art water
quality models with GIS to take advantage of
the implicit spatial context and added precision of geographical information. His current
projects include the characterization of water
bodies and watersheds through data collection, analysis, modeling and visualization;
development of GIS-based and other software
to support water resource decision-making.
In collaboration with his colleagues at
LTI, Tad has dramatically widened his
efforts to give back to his profession through
active leadership in the Water Environment
Federation as well as MWEA. He has been a
member since 1998 and has served as chair
and vice-chair of the MWEA Watershed
Committee as well as Assistant Secretary/
Treasurer and Secretary/Treasurer of MWEA.
He is currently Vice Chair of the WEF
Watershed Management Committee.
He has provided extensive assistance
to the water industry through his service
on WEF committees and in the MWEA.
His willingness to take on increasing
responsibility with MWEA and selflessly
invest his own time and energy above and
beyond his duties were recognized when Tad
was awarded the prestigious WEF Arthur
Sidney Bedell Award in 200(5 or 6?).
Tad is a 5-S member and has received
the James Rumsey Award. He has a
B.S. from the University of Michigan in
Computer Engineering.
He and his wife, Kirsten Carr, have been
married for 10 years and have two children,
Tiernan (7) and Keelin (5). His hobbies are
reading science fiction and enjoying the
great outdoors.
We will surely miss Tad, as he is leaving
the Board of Directors in June of this year.
MWEA has flourished under Tad’s leadership.
He has most assuredly left a prominent and
positive mark on this grateful organization.
MWEA key member profile
Carol Injasoulian
C
Carol Injasoulian
Lab Manager/Industrial
Pre-Treatment Coordinator
Bay City Wastewater Treatment Plant
arol has been a Lab Manager at the
Bay City WWTP since November
1999. Recently, Carol was also named
Industrial Pre-Treatment coordinator.
Her job responsibilities include Quality
Assurance and Quality Control of all
analytical testing. She is also responsible
for ensuring that permit requirements are
being met.
Prior to working for the Bay City
WWTP she was a contractor for
Kelly Scientific in Midland where she
was a Pharmaceutical, Plastics, and
Ceramics Research Analyst at the Dow
Chemical Company.
Carol has been an active MWEA and
WEF member since May 2000. She has
served on the Lab Practice Committee
since 2000. She enjoys serving on this
committee because of the technical
knowledge she gains by talking with
others in the industry. In 2006 she
became the Lab Practice Committee
Chair and she has spearheaded the
revival of the annual Lab Practice
Seminar. That significant event is taking
place on May 1 this year at the Eagle Eye
Conference Center in East Lansing.
She was the coordinator for the
Operations Challenge event in 2006
and regularly attends both the Annual
Conference and the Scholarship
Golf Outing.
She also has been a member of the America
Chemical Society since November 1999.
Carol is a Major in the Army Reserve
currently serving as Military Police. She
was deployed to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba
in 2003-2004. Important note:
Carol is currently preparing to be
deployed May 5th to “the sand box” in
support of Operation Iraqi Freedom for 12
to 15 months.
Carol has been married to her
husband Eric for what she claims to be
nine wonderful years (we bet he would
agree). She has a stepson named Devin.
Carol’s hobbies include traveling with
her husband, golfing and fixing up their
100 year-old house in Bay City. She also
considers the military one of her hobbies
because she loves it so much.
We know that all of you will join us in
keeping Carol in our thoughts and prayers
as her family and friends await her safe
return from Iraq.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
13
14
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
MWEA
Annual
Conference
2007
BOyne Highlands
Harbor Springs, MI
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MWEA PRESIDENT’S MESSAGE
82nd Annual Conference Invitation
F R E D COW L E S
P r e s i d e nt - M W E A
It is time to plan your attendance at the 82nd Annual Conference of the
Michigan Water Environment Association. Please take a few moments
to fill out your forms or requisitions or whatever needs to be attended
to so you will be able to come to Michigan’s greatest conference
on our cherished water environment. As you peruse this brochure,
also think about others that should not miss out on this educational
and networking experience. Perhaps you have been thinking about
succession planning as a result of last years’ conference. Now is the
time to ensure that those who will follow you will have the contacts and
information they need to carry on as you move on or move up.
Perhaps you are thinking about succession planning in terms of your ability
to succeed to your boss’s position when he/she moves on or moves up.
Either way this is the conference to help you to be where you want to be.
This year, the conference theme is “Return On Investment” or ROI. This
theme might seem to be in sharp contrast to last year’s conference
theme, “Water Is Life”. But to the thoughtful member, the two themes
are very complementary. The Water Is Life theme stressed the need
for thinking in terms of the impacts our actions may have on our great
grandchildren’s great grandchildren, or seven generations hence. This
year’s theme carries that thought to its practical conclusion: if we are to
protect our environment for future generations, we must think about how
our expenditures today can derive the maximum value. We need to think
about the return we get on our investments in infrastructure, both short
and long term. Our investments to protect our water environment tend
to be long term investments, whether they are treatment unit processes,
biosolids management, collection systems, or programs like stormwater
management or sourcewater protection.
The ability of our profession to demonstrate to elected officials and the
general public how our activities provide ROI will in great part determine
the success of our mission. There are so many other demands for
time, attention, and money, that we must seek ways to more effectively
communicate the importance of investing in our water environment. We
need to show how we are maximizing our Return on Investment.
Come to Boyne and encourage others to come to Boyne for new
insights about how ROI applies government services every bit as much
as it applies to private enterprise. The technical program has been
assembled by President-elect Ed Mahaney to provide you the tools to
make better investment decisions and to better communicate the value
of those investments.
With this being the year Two-Double-O-Seven, the Exhibit Committee,
under the creative leadership of Jack Rafter, has chosen a Double-O-
16
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Seven theme for Vendor Night. Make the Sunday night exhibits more
fun by coming dressed like a spy, and receive something special. The
exhibits provide an opportunity for members to get to know those who
provide products and services needed for our industry. This networking
can make your next purchase or contracting experience more efficient
and effective.
The after-hours and spouse entertainment will make the conference
more than all work. Of course the annual Sunday afternoon golf outing
on the Ross Course will start things off. The Entertainment Committee
lead by Joe Goergen, has arranged for a great variety of events,
including a spa party, kids activities, wine tasting, and exercise. The
headline Monday night event will headline Mike Ridley. Mike Ridley is
known throughout Michigan for his great live performances in popular
local taverns. This talented musician’s song parodies are always well
crafted and highlight his musicianship. His interactive music sets have
been known to be the life of the party. It is always a night to remember
when Mike Ridley is in town.
The MWEA Annual Conference is the premier event for Michigan Water
Environment professionals. It boasts an outstanding technical program.
But also features a family-friendly environment with entertainment
to make attendance fun. Working in this profession is rewarding,
but participating in MWEA activities provides a greater Return On
Investment.
See you at Boyne!
Fred E. Cowles
Fred E. Cowles, P.E.
MWEA President
Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr and Huber, Inc.
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
INVITED speakerS
REBECCA WEST
Rebecca West is the 2006-2007 V.P. of the Water
Environment Federation (WEF).
Currently the Director of Technical Services for
Spartanburg Water System and Sewer District in
Spartanburg, SC, she is responsible for a division
of 14 reclaimed water facilities and three drinking water facilities as
well as their associated collection and distribution systems, biosolids
and residuals management, and three drinking water reservoirs.
Previously, she was Operations Manager for Western Carolina
Regional Sewer Authority in Greenville, SC.
A WEF member since 1990, she has served on the Biosolids
and Residuals Management Committee, International Coordinating
Committee, Government Affairs Committee, and as chair of the
Public Education Committee.
Rebecca has been an active member of the Water Environment
Association of South Carolina (WEASC). She has served as
chairperson of WEASC as well as the South Carolina Water for
People Committee and WEASC Education, Biosolids, Laboratory
and Public Education Committees. In addition, she helped develop
a biosolids training school in South Carolina and established a state
certification program for biosolids and water residual management
operators.
She is a member of the American Water Works Association, board
member of the South Carolina Environmental Certification Board, and
member of Business and Professional Women/USA.
A recipient of WEF’s prestigious Arthur Sidney Bedell Award and
WEASC’s Select Society of Sanitary Sludge Shovelers, Rebecca is a
certified biological wastewater operator and biosolids and residuals
operator in the state of South Carolina. She received a B.S. in biology
from Wofford College in Spartanburg.
JOHN D. CHERRY
With over 20 years of service in the Michigan
Legislature as a State Representative, State
Senator and Minority Leader, Lt. Governor John
D. Cherry has received many awards and honors,
including recognition from The Detroit News as one
of Michigan’s Most Effective Legislators. He was named the 2005
Conservationist of the Year by the Michigan United Conservation
Clubs and elected as Vice-Chair of the Great Lakes Commission – the
highest ranking Michigan official in history to serve in this capacity. He
was recently elected Chair of the National Lieutenant Governor’s
Association.
He has led the Lt. Governor’s Commission on Higher Education &
Economic Growth, making a series of recommendations that brought
higher education into the larger discussion of creating and retaining
jobs in Michigan. He also serves as a gubernatorial appointee to the
Midwest Higher Education Compact.
With an early interest in politics, Cherry took a job as administrative
assistant to former State Senator Gary Corbin, later serving as political
director for the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO. Once elected to the Michigan House, he
focused on families, the quality of life in Michigan, the environment and
Michigan’s great outdoors. He has authored and co-sponsored several
Michigan laws dealing with workers’ rights, environmental protection
and conservation.
Cherry received a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from
the University of Michigan in 1973 and a Master’s degree in Public
Administration from the University of Michigan, Flint in 1984. He has
been awarded an Honorary Doctor of Laws degree from Saginaw
Valley State University and an Honorary Doctor of Public Service
degree from Central Michigan University.
Interactive edition
of M WEA Matters available online
ith print and electronic communication operating handin-hand more than ever before, we are more than happy to
advise you that MWEA Matters magazine is available online
in a highly interactive format.
A user-friendly, interactive Media Rich PDF format that includes:
Active hyper-links to all websites and e-mails contained
in the publication
Active links to the specific stories from the front cover
and contents page
Active links to advertiser websites from their ads
Please check out the interactive MWEA Matters at www.mi-wea.org
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
17
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
RICHARD BALL
State Representative Richard Ball was elected to
the Michigan House in November 2004. He has
been an elected member of the Owosso Public
School Board of Education from 1982-1991,
serving the last six years as its president. He
returned to the board of education in 1997 and continued as a
member until his resignation on January 10, 2005.
Having earned a B. S. in Optometry, a Master’s in Physiological
Optics, and a Ph.D. in Experimental Visual Psychology, in 1958
Dr. Ball joined his father’s private optometry practice in Owosso,
which was started in 1916.
In 1961, he became an associate professor in physiology
and an adjunct associate professor in osteopathic medicine at
Michigan State University. He has received numerous awards
from the Michigan Optometric Association, including the Key
Man Award, Optometrist of the Year and Lifetime Achievement
Award. He was the second person ever to receive the prestigious
Carol C. Koch Award from the American Academy of Optometry
and is one of only two optometrists in the state to be named a
Distinguished Practitioner in the National Academy of Practice
in Optometry.
He is the author or co-author of 26 published articles.
Dr. Ball also serves on the Shiawassee County Health Board
and as chair of the Vision Section for the Michigan Public
Health Association.
18
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
KATHRYN SAVOIE
Kathryn Savoie is an ecologist who has worked in the
environmental field for more than 20 years. She completed
her Ph.D. in Ecology at the University of Michigan in 1990.
Since 1994, She has worked as an Environmental
Program at the Arab Community Center for Economic
and Social Services (ACCESS) in Dearborn, MI, where she directs
community-based programs in environmental education, environmental
health research and advocacy for environmental justice.
Dr. Savoie has played a key role in several community-based participatory research projects on environmental health in Detroit. She has been
actively engaged in community efforts related to protecting environmental
quality, promoting urban revitalization, and changing policies to better
protect communities from environmental harm. She is a board member
of the Michigan Environmental Council and a founding member of Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice.
Dr. Savoie was one of 50 persons chosen to attend the first training of
The Climate Project in Nashville, in September, 2006. As a participant in
The Climate Project, she was trained by former Vice President Al Gore and
his team of scientists and educators to present her version of Mr. Gore’s
slide presentation on the global warming crisis, documented in the film and
book, An Inconvenient Truth.
After the film was released, Dr. Savoie was one of 1,000 individuals
recruited by Al Gore to actively promote the film by making presentations to
small groups and engage in discussions on the subject of global warming
and global climate change.
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
General information
Registration
All conference participants including: attendees, spouse/
guests, speakers, exhibitors, and award recipients are
required to register for the conference. Registration will run
from 5 - 8 pm.
Conference Fees
Full conference registration includes admission to all technical
sessions, vendor exhibits, annual business meeting, all
entertainment activities, awards ceremony and all other
association activities sponsored during the Conference. One
spouse/guest registration may be included on the conference
registration form.
Discounted Registration Fees­You can save on
your registration fee two ways. If you are an MWEA member,
register at the member rate by May 24, 2007. Membership is
by individual. If you are not a member, join MWEA to receive
the member rates. The second way to save is to register early
before the discount registration ends on May 24, 2007.
Refunds/Cancellations
MWEA will refund your registration fee less a $35 processing
fee per person for cancellations received in writing by June 1,
2007. No refunds will be granted after that date. Substitutions
may be made at any time (the difference between a member
and non-member price will be charged if a non-member
replaces a member).
Boyne Highlands Resort reservations are subject to a 14-day
cancellation policy. Reservation deposits will be refunded if
cancelled 14 days prior to arrival date. Reservations cancelled
less than that will forfeit the room deposit.
Questions
If you have questions please contact Connie Underhill
(MWEA) at 517‑641‑7377.
Name Badges
Name badges must be worn at all times and are required for
entrance to ALL conference sessions, meals and activities.
Golf
To participate in the Sunday golf outing you must be
pre-registered.
Payment
Checks, MasterCard and Visa will be accepted for
registration. Cash payments and on-site registration are
discouraged.
Conference Attire
The suggested conference attire is ‘business casual.’
The exception to this is the Awards Banquet, which is a
‘business formal’ function and Monday night’s outdoor
dinner, which is ‘resort casual.’ Comfortable shoes are
strongly recommended.
Hotel Accommodations
To receive the special rate, hotel reservations must be
made directly with Boyne Highlands Resort by May 23,
2007. After that date, reservations will be honored only on
a space-available basis at current room rates. Requests
after room block is filled will be placed in the next available
accommodation type with the rate changing accordingly.
Please do not send the hotel registration form to MWEA.
Babysitting services available through the front desk.
Check in/Checkout
Check in time at Boyne Highlands Resort is 6:00 p.m. Check
out time is 12:00 p.m.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
19
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MWEA Annual Conference 2007 Technical Program
Sunday, JUNE 24
3:45 PM
Socializing and Networking
11:00 AM
Afternoon-Evening
Evening
Golf - Shotgun start
Registration 5:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Reception-Exhibits
Afternoon Session C - Maintenance
Moderator: Dave Vago
1:00 PM
Optimizing O&M Manuals
through participative development
Tom DeLaura, Westin Engineering
1:30 PM
Workforce Analysis and Planning
Tom DeLaura, Westin Engineering
2:00 PM First Step for a comprehensive
Asset Management Program
Jess Neff, Malcolm Pirnie
2:30 PM
2:45 PM
Break
Monday, June 25
Morning Session A (plenary)
Moderator: Fred Cowles
8:30 AM
Welcome
Fred Cowles, MWEA President
8:45 AM
WEF Greeting
Rebecca West, 2006‑2007 WEF Vice President,
Spartansburg (SC) Water System and Sewer District
9:30 AM
KEYNOTE
Lt. Governor John D. Cherry (invited)
10:15 AM
Break
10:30 AM
Speaker - 85th District Representative Richard Ball
11:00 AM
Annual Business Meeting and Election of Officers
12:00 PM
Lunch
Afternoon Session B - Collection Systems
Identifying Peak flow rates from
differential flow metering
Keith McCormack, Hubbell, Roth & Clark
How to prevent a SCADA system Mid-Life Crisis
Ed Hogan, Westin Engineering
3:15 PM
Demystifying Asset Management
Dave Vago/David Mason, Wade Trim
3:45 PM
Odor & Corrosion Control Master Plan
Adrien Comeau, Stantec
Socializing and Networking
5:30 PM
7:30 PM
Outdoor Reception and Cookout
Entertainment
Moderator: Keith McCormack
1:00 PM
SSO Control Alternatives
James Brescol, Tetra Tech
1:30 PM
Oversize relief sewers control SSO’s
in the city of Farmington Hills
Steve Kalinowski, Wade Trim
2:00 PM City of East Lansing CSO control
Tom Maxwell, Hubbell, Roth & Clark
2:30 PM
Break
2:45 PM
Total Residual Chlorine Mixing Zone
and plume definition
Mike Waring, Hubbell, Roth & Clark
3:15 PM
20
Community Wet Weather Database
Management with Website Access
Chris Rybak, Stantec
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Tuesday, June 26
Morning Session D - Finance
Moderator: Todd Wibright
8:30 AM
Can We Afford It?
John Mastracchio/Amy Santos, Malcolm Pirnie
9:00 AM
Funding Wastewater Projects
Jim Hegarty, Prein and Newhof
9:30 AM
Asset and Energy Management
Mike Wehrenberg, Kendall Electric
10:00 AM
10:15 AM
Break
MWEA Members Combine
Talents for Village of Kingsley WWTP
Steve Williams/Reg Hamilton, Gosling Czubak
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
10:45 AM
Rate Setting
Victor Cooperwasser, Tetra Tech
11:15 AM
Implementation of Biological
Nutrient Removal at Okotoks WWTP
Ish Naik, Stantec
Morning Session E - Residuals & Effluents
3:45 PM
Afternoon Session G - Watershed
Moderator: Bill Stone
1:00 PM
City of Lansing use of
bio‑retention in an ultra‑urban setting
Anne Thomas, Tetra Tech
1:30 PM
Wetland Restoration as a Watershed
Management Tool
Scott Bell/Cathy Whiting, LimnoTech
Anaerobic Digester Rehabilitation
Brad Lowry/Dan Miller, Jones and Henry
2:00 PM Engaging Staff during design of
residuals handling improvements
Nicole Spieles, Greely Hansen
Identifying sites for BMP
implementation and Retrofitting
Scott Bell, LimnoTech
2:30 PM
Break
2:45 PM
Improving flood control facility to meet TMDL
Ed Kluitenberg, CDM
3:15 PM
Sylvan Glen Golf Course
Donald Beagle, Hubbell, Roth & Clark
3:45 PM
Bulking Capacity of watershed stakeholders
Chuck Hersey, SEMCOG
Moderator: Dan LeVeque
8:30 AM
9:00 AM
9:30 AM
How to Develop the best
Bio-solids Management Program
Tom Albaugh/Peter Daukss, Tetra Tech
10:00 AM Break
10:15 AM A Comparison of Traditional
Mechanical Sludge Thickening
Chandresh Acharya, Stantec
10:45 AM
Surface vs. Groundwater discharge for WWTPs
Paul Romano, Jones Henry
11:15 AM
A Fluidized bed incinerator
system permitting and startup
Peter Daukss, Tetra Tech
Afternoon Session F - Process
Moderator: Steve Aiken
1:00 PM
Feasibility of Ultraviolet Disinfection
of WWTP Final (blended) effluent
Khalil Atasi, Wade Trim
Get the fume hood out of your lab
Doug Coates, Gosling Czubaak
Socializing and Networking
6:00 PM
7:00 PM
Awards Reception and 5S Induction
Awards Banquet
Wednesday, June 27
Morning Session L - Roundup
Moderator: Ed Mahaney
1:30 PM
Sampling variability and quantum mechanics
Jim Scisson, URS Corp
8:30 AM
News from the Field
Steve Aiken
2:00 PM Implementation of best
practices for final clarification
Peter Daukss, Tetra Tech
9:30 AM
Roundtable Infrastructure the Triple Bottom Line
“social, financial, environmental”
10:15 AM
Break
2:30 PM
Break
10:30 AM
2:45 PM
Nutrient Removal
Sam Jeyannayagam, Malcolm Pirnie
Kathryn Savoie Presents Vice President Al Gore's
"An Inconvenient Truth"
11:30 AM Q&A
3:15 PM
An Overview of Factors
Favoring MBR Retrofit at Oxford
Olav Natvik, Stantec
11:45 AM
Closing Remarks
12:00 PM
BoD meeting
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
21
MWEA ANNUAL CONFERENCE
MWEA ENTERTAINMENT & SPOUSE ACTIVITIES
Sunday, June 24
11:00 am
Boyne Golf - Ross Course - Shotgun start
Monday, June 25
6:30 am
5k-Any Way
Meet in main lobby - Matt Saganski
8:00 am - 2:00 pm
Spa Party
Olympic Room
- Sally Wachter
by appointment
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Outdoor Activities/Games
for kids to enjoy with a Parent
Meet in Registration area.
Nicole Spieles
3:00 pm - 4:30 pm
Tuesday, June 26
Exercise -hike/walking
kids & spouses – Keri Saganski
1:00 pm - 3:00 pm
Outdoor Activities/Games
for kids to enjoy with a Parent
Meet in Registration area.
Nicole Spieles coordinator
9:00 am
Wine Tasting
Olympic Room – Ish Naik
Wine Raffle - Daily
Monday and Tuesday chair lift 4:30 pm - 6:00 pm
WITH GUEST HOST
ED MAHANEY
AND FEATURED ARTIST
MIKE RIDLEY
8 -10 pm
You don’t want to miss the two “commercial
interruptions”. There will be diverse audiencebased jokes, music and more entertainment. You
could even win a prize for that joke that make your
kids groan or the song you sing just perfectly in
the shower.
Hijinxs and hilarity will ensue!
FOLLOW THE CAST TO AN
AFTERGLOW PARTY @ SLOPESIDE LOUNGE
22
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
how to get to: boyne highlands
600 Highland Drive • Harbor Springs, Michigan 49740 • Tel: 231.526.3000
Using Indian River Exit off of I-75 North
(Exit 310)
After the exit, turn left onto M‑68 and head over I‑75. Follow the
signs for M‑68, which becomes 27 for a short while. There will
be a quick left and then a right. Stay on M‑68 until it reaches US
31 (Alanson), 10 miles. From Alanson turn right and follow US 31
north for 3 miles until you reach Brutus Rd. Turn left at Brutus Rd.
and continue for 6 miles until the stop sign at Pleasantview Rd.
Turn left at Pleasantview Rd and continue for 2 miles, watching for
Teddy Griffin’s Road House on the right. Turn right at Teddy’s onto
Highland Rd. The entrance will be less than a mile down on the
right.
Harbor Springs is the grand dame of northwest Michigan’s “Gold
Coast,” where the Midwest’s oldest families have vacationed for
generations. On the shore of Little Traverse Bay, Harbor Springs is a truly special location: protected, affluent, and sophisticated,
this is a locale small enough for privacy, yet evocative of larger
cosmopolitan venues. Excellent schools, word-class shopping and
dining, plus varied cultural activities make Harbor Springs an awardwinning community.
Using Gaylord Exit off of I-75 North (Exit 282)
Take the M-32 exit, exit #282, toward Gaylord/Alpena. Turn left
(west) onto M-32 and continue for 13 miles. Once you reach US131, turn right (north) and continue for 15 miles passing Boyne
Mountain along the way. Once in Petoskey, head straight as US-131
turns into US-31. After about 3 miles, turn left at the intersection of
US-31 and M-119. After another 3 miles on M-119, turn right (north)
at the intersection of M-119 and Pleasantview Rd. Keeping an eye
out for Teddy Griffin’s Road House on the left (3 miles), turn left at
Teddy’s onto Highland Rd. The entrance will be less than a mile
down on the right.
24
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Using Mackinaw City Exit off of I-75 South
(Exit 336)
Start by going south on I‑75 to the US‑31 exit, exit #336. Follow
US 31 South to Pellston, 14 miles. Once past the Airport and
town, turn right (west) onto Robinson Rd. Continue on Robinson
Rd. for 3 miles and turn left (south) onto Pleasantview Rd. Follow
Pleasantview Rd. south for about 5 miles while watching for
Teddy Griffin’s Road House on the right. Turn right at Teddy’s onto
Highland Rd. The entrance will be less than a mile down on the
right.
Coming from Chicago using US‑131 North
Follow I‑90 out of Chicago (towards the Indiana Toll Road). After
about 28 miles, merge onto I‑94 E via exit number 21 (towards
DETROIT). Then after about 64 miles, merge onto I‑196 N via exit
number 34 (towards HOLLAND/GD RAPIDS), 77 miles. Merge
onto US‑131 N, 91 miles. Follow US‑131 N the rest of the way
past Boyne Mountain, onto Petoskey and then Harbor Springs as
mentioned above. US‑131 will merge with MI‑66 for a short while
as you near Kalkaska but continue straight through (North).
Joint Expo Recap
Joint Expo Recap
2007 Joint Expo &
Operators’ Day
A Success!
Nearly 1300 attendees were treated to
an outstanding show of drinking water
and wastewater treatment products and
services in February at the 16th Annual
Michigan Section, AWWA and Michigan
Water Environment Association Joint
Expo and Operators’ Day. A record
number of 168 exhibitors, occupying 279
booths displayed the latest and greatest
information to the drinking water and
wastewater treatment industry. Several
prizes were given away to attendees.
Congratulations to the following winners!
Winners of Association Membership in the
Michigan Water Environment Association
• Don Popma, Synagro Central, LLC
• Dave Neil, City of Lansing
• David Munch, City of Wyoming
• Kurt M. Adams, Mt. Pleasant, MI
• Connie Hohman, Genoa Township
Free 2007 Michigan Water Environment Association Annual Conference
registration at Boyne Highlands
• Don Row, Smithfield Beef Group
• Robert Scheuerman, City of East Lansing
Mark your calendars for Joint Expo ’08 which will be held February 5 & 6, 2008, again
at the Lansing Center! Exhibitor information will be available at www.mi-water.org
beginning mid-October 2007.
Winners of an
Association
Membership
in the Michigan
Section
• Chris Ammons – City of Riverview
• James Hein – City of Corunna
• Jody James – City of Saginaw
• Tim Meyer – City of Midland
• Robert Podulka
– Northville Township
Free 2007 Michigan Section
Annual Conference registration
at Kewadin Resort
• John Holland – City of Clare
• Jon Keim – Grosse Ile Township
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
25
Dan Wolz
Fred Cowles and the first Dan
Wolz Grant winner, Mary Lindow
Fred Cowles, Bill Wolz,
Mary Lindow, Debbie Wolz,
Donna Wolz
The first of many to come pictures
of “The Brothers of the Tie”
Mary Jane Robinson pays off a
$250 prize winner at Joint Expo!
Clean Water
Education Fund
Update
The MWEA family and friends have stepped
up in a BIG way to get this project off the
ground. At the time of the submission of these
materials, $10,800 has been donated. Mary
Jane Robinson put together a very successful
and fun fundraiser for Joint Expo, and the
toilet tie sales have been brisk.
The first Dan Wolz Clean Water Education
Grant has been awarded. Mary Lindow from
Battle Creek was chosen for the award by a
panel from the Michigan Science Teachers
Association (MSTA). She will be attending
WEFTEC this coming October in San
Diego. Included in her activities will be
attending the day- long WEFteach, which is
specifically dedicated to providing curriculum
for teachers. She will also be making a
presentation at the 2008 MWEA Annual
Conference. Chris Kosmowski, MWEA Board
of Directors member, has worked with Mary
in the past and confirmed that she was indeed
a very deserving award winner. Fred Cowles
was there as MWEA President to award the
grant to Mary and he also gave a wonderful
introduction to MWEA to the 200-plus
teachers who were in attendance at the MSTA
awards banquet.
There was one more great aspect of this
event worth noting. Donna, Debbie and
Bill Wolz (Dan’s wife, youngest daughter
and brother) were all in attendance for the
awarding of the grant. They were introduced
to the audience and were welcomed with a
rousing round of applause. Debbie even won a
packet of science curriculum materials during
a post luncheon raffle.
There are a few interesting stories regarding
the toilet ties. While Jerry Harte was recently
at WEF headquarters, Bill Bertera, WEF
Executive Director bought the tie right off
Harte’s neck. When Mr. Bertera found out why
the ties were being sold he said, “I’ve got 50
bucks for one of those. I distinctly remember
meeting Dan. This crazy little man came up to
me waving his hands as he passionately spoke
about the concept of Clean Water. I didn’t
know what he was talking about, but the next
thing I knew associations were changing their
names to include the phrase, Clean Water.”
While attending the MSTA awards banquet
at their annual conference, Past MWEA
President Barry Simescu, bought the tie off
Harte’s neck. Before he could put it on, the
person sitting next to him (an assistant school
superintendent) bought the tie from him.
Barry was mailed a tie the following week.
The purchasers of the ties, the sponsoring
exhibitors from Joint Expo and the fund
contributors are listed across the bottom of
this section with gratitude.
Toilet Tie Buyers
Chuck Kronk
Bob Scheuerman
Fred Cowles ($100)
Brian Ross
Steve Washburn
Greg Burk
Myron Erickson
Mark Scott
James King
Sheila Lotre
Jack Keys ($100)
Jerry Harte
Keith McCormack
Bruce Everitt
Tom Kent
Bill Gramlich
Larry DeLong
Tom DeLaura
Christopher Boyd
Glenn Hummell
Tad Slawecki
Chuck Peterson
Jimmy Spangler
Kevin Donovan
Nancy Van Alstyne (for her husband – Dan stood up with them at their wedding)
26
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Larry Woodard
MaryJane Robinson
Ed Mahaney
Dan LeVeque
Jack Fraser
Kevin Livingston
Margarita Frommert
Jeanette Best Paul Freedman
Craig Smith
Mick Natzel
Ron Carr
David VerHoef
Bill Bertera
Barry Simescu
George Frieberg
Joint Expo Sponsors
DuBois-Cooper Associates, Inc. - $200
Environmental Sales, Inc. - $100
Tetra Tech MPS - $100
Fishbeck , Thompson, Carr and Huber - $200
Capital Consultants - $250
Pumps Plus - $100
Wade-Trim Operations Services- $100
Hamlett Environmental Technologies - $100
N.A. Water Systems - $200
Waterworks Systems & Equipment $200
Stantec Consulting, Inc. - $100
Kendall Electric - $200
Lewis Municipal Sales - $100
Fluid Process Equipment - $200
Wolverine Water Works - $200
East Jordan Iron Works - $100
Hesco - $200
Layne Christensen Company - $100
Kerr Pump and Supply - $100
Detroit Pump and Mtg. Co. - $100
Kar Laboratories - $100
Michigan Section AWWA - $200
MWEA Matters
available online
See Page 17 for details
Contributors
David Verhoef - $200
Fredrick Kemp - $50
Harry Bierig - $500
Bradley Brogren - $100
WEA Section 11 - $1,000
MWEA Local Section 7 - $500
Karen Horning - $50
Michigan Section AWWA - $1,500
THANK YOU and congratulations to all the contributors
for making a difference in this great industry to which
Dan was so dedicated.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
27
news in brief
In MemorY
By Jeanette Best, Superintendent, City of Saginaw WWTP
Jim D. Anderson passed away suddenly at
his home on January 26, 2007. He was 77
years old.
Those of us who knew him remember
him as the Superintendent of the City
of Saginaw Wastewater Treatment Plant,
where he served in that capacity for 23
years. Jim started his career as a Principal
Engineer for the City of Saginaw on
August 16, 1960. When Saginaw began
the design and upgrade of their primary
wastewater treatment plant to a secondary
treatment plant, Jim moved from the
Engineering Division to the Wastewater
Division to oversee the construction and
become the second superintendent of the
plant. Jim retired on March 20, 1992.
I worked for Jim for ten years, first as
a laboratory technician and then as the
chief chemist. In those ten years I never
really got to know him. He was from
the “old school” and had a very definite
work persona and a very different private
persona. At work he was always all business
and very professional. On his way to work
every day he drove past all of the major
wastewater pumping stations where he had
lights installed above the doors to indicate
when a station was in service. He then
arrived at the plant an hour early so that he
could make the rounds of the plant. He went
in every building and down and up every
stairway, stopping to talk to every foreman
on duty as he went; that included me as chief
chemist. He just wanted to know how things
were going and whether there was anything
he should know about. He also made some
special job assignments as he went.
Around 1980, Jim asked if I would
be interested in attending a committee
meeting of the Michigan Water Pollution
Control Association (MWPCA) Laboratory
Practices Committee. He was not insistent
but thought I might be interested. I was
honored that he offered to let me go during
working hours to attend meetings. I learned
a lot and my involvement with MWPCA
(aka MWEA) began.
Jim had a strong commitment to any
endeavor he undertook, which was evidenced
by his participation in the MWPCA. He
served as Vice President and President in
1982 and 1983. He was also a Federation
Director from 1987 through 1989. He was
awarded the William D. Hatfield Award in
1987, became a member in good standing
of the Select Society of Sanitary Sludge
Shovelers in 1990, and was given Honorary
Membership in the MWEA in 1991. Jim
also received the Water Environment
Federation Arthur Sidney Bedell Award
in 1992.
In the years that Jim and I served
on the Executive Committee of the
MWPCA we often shared a ride to
Lansing. Only then did I get to know a
little of the “other” Jim D. Anderson.
He was the most honest person I’ve ever
met, dedicated to doing the best job he
could. But he was also compassionate,
encouraging, and proud to see those he
mentored succeed. I am proud to say
I now sit in his chair at the Saginaw
Wastewater Treatment Plant as the
Superintendent. I only hope I would
make him proud too.
mark Your
Calendars!
This year’s Committee Chair Retreat
is scheduled for September 27-28
in Kalamazoo!
All Committee & Local Section
Chairs and Vice Chairs are invited
to attend.
Plan to join us for two days of
important information, hard work
(and even a lot of fun) that will help
shape the future of MWEA!
Watch for more details
in coming issues. 28
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
news in brief
Valkenburg joins
The Adventus Group
The Adventus Group is pleased to
announce that Mr. John Valkenburg
has joined the organization as a Senior
Engineer, based in our newly established
DeWitt, Michigan office. Mr. Valkenburg
has more than 20 years of relevant industry
experience - including 5 years as an
environmental chemist and over 15 years
in environmental sciences.
John has worked on a broad array of
environmental assessment, construction,
and remediation projects for both
industrial and governmental clients. His
areas of technical expertise and proficiency
include:
• Environmental Remedial Investigations
and Feasibility Analyses
• Construction document and
specification preparation
• Construction administration
A 1991 graduate of the University
of Illinois, John holds a M.Sc. in
Environmental Engineering. He is also a
licensed professional engineer in Michigan,
and certified by the Construction
Specifications Institute as both a
Construction Document Technologist
(CDT) and a Certified Construction
Specifier (CCS). He has also served as an
instructor for numerous CDT programs.
Leaving the Board of
Directors
Chuck is leaving the Board of Directors after
a four year stretch that started with Vice
President and concludes with him serving
as Past President until this year’s Annual
Conference. Chuck was MWEA President
for one year starting in June of 2005.
He has been an active member of WEF
and MWEA since 1973. He has served
as Entertainment Committee Chair,
Membership Committee Chair and has been
an inspirational leader as the Maintenance
Committee Co-Chair. Chuck has been an
integral part of numerous Maintenance
Committee seminars as both an organizer
and presenter.
Waterworks Systems and Equipment is
a manufacturers’ representative firm and
distributor for chemical feed equipment,
process treatment equipment, and odor
control and disinfection systems for both
drinking water and wastewater. Chuck
started this venture 21 years ago. Prior to
launching his business he worked at Fischer
and Porter Company for eight years and
also worked as a sales representative for
Automatic Controls in the Detroit area for
seven years.
Chuck has been married for 28 years to his
very patient and tolerant wife, Susan. They
have three children – Matt is 25, Janee is
22 and Scott is 18. In his spare time Chuck
enjoys the great outdoors, golf, tennis,
barbequing, and joke telling. Please note that
we are indicating that CHUCK enjoys his
joke telling.
Chuck claims that his greatest
accomplishment with MWEA has been
completing a successful Presidency without
being impeached! Chuck’s great wit and
insights will be sorely missed at the Board
of Directors meetings. MWEA owes Chuck
a great debt of gratitude. Please offer him
a hardy handshake and a word of thanks
the next time you see him. And then
quickly excuse yourself before he can start
telling jokes . . .
The 2008 Borchardt Conference will be
held in Ann Arbor on February 27 & 28,
2008. The Borchardt Conference is held
every three years in February and jointly
sponsored by the University of Michigan,
College of Engineering, the MWEA, the MIAWWA, and the MDEQ. As you will note
from the dates listed above, the conference
has been reduced from three days to two
days based on input provided by attendees.
It will however, remain the quality program
we have come to expect.
The planning committee has started
its efforts to provide that quality event
and is now soliciting abstracts for topics
to be presented at the conference.
Abstracts are due to the committee by
June 30, 2007 for consideration. Topics
of interest include advancements and
recent developments in the drinking
water and wastewater fields. Additional
information on topics, the form, and
submittal information is posted on the
MWEA Website.
So put the 2008 Borchardt Conference
on your calendar, get an abstract
submitted, and I hope to see you there
either as a speaker or as an attendee.
Chuck Kronk,
President,
Waterworks Systems
and Equipment
2008 BORCHARDT
CONFERENCE
Jimmy Spangler,
Borchardt Conference
Committee Member
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
29
Spotlight on Security
ENSURING THE SECURITY OF
WASTEWATER
INFRASTRUCTURE
WHAT EVERY SYSTEM NEEDS TO DO
By David C. Vago, P.E., President,
Wade Trim Operations Services, Inc., Livonia, Michigan
And David M. Mason, Senior Director Utility Services,
Infrastructure Management Group, Inc., 4733 Bethesda
Avenue, Suite 600, Bethesda, Maryland 20814
30
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Spotlight on Security
This issue of “Matters” contains a press release from WEF announcing the release of Guidelines for the
Physical Security of Wastewater/Stormwater Utilities (i) (See page 34). Anyone who has not done so already
needs to check out this important guidance. But keep in mind that before you can apply a solution you need to
define the problem. In this case you need to conduct a Vulnerability Assessment.
a
Vulnerability Assessment (VA)
is a systematic approach to
determining those areas where a facility
might be susceptible to natural or manmade disasters and examines ways to
reduce those vulnerabilities. Typically, a
wastewater facility faces threats in four
basic areas:
1. Threats to physical assets (destroy
property)
2. Threats to people (assaults with or
without weapons)
3. Threats to IT (attacks on the process
by taking control of system)
4. Threats to Records (destruction
of physical (manuals & plans) or
electronic (customer lists & billing
records) media)
In performing a VA, the team will first
define the mission of the enterprise and
review each of the four areas in order
to determine how malevolent acts or
natural events against discreet processes
or pieces of equipment might deter
or prevent altogether the enterprise
from fulfilling its mission. Once the
utility understands where and how it is
susceptible to attack, it can identify and
evaluate what if any countermeasures are
in place to prevent the attack from being
successful. In this way, vulnerability is
determined and corrective actions can
be identified. Now the Guidelines for
the Physical Security of Wastewater/
Stormwater Utilities referenced in the
press release above become a valuable
tool in the utility’s efforts to ensure
its security.
So what are the steps needed to
prepare an effective VA?
Facility Management
Operations & Maintenance
Security (Police/Fire)
Emergency Response (City and
County)
• Municipal Management
• Legal
Not everyone will attend every meeting,
but each will provide important input.
Once the team is in place, USEPA
guidance provides a seven-step approach.
IDENTIFY THE TEAM
3. Threat Analysis –
Identification and Prioritization
of adverse consequences
(Criticality)
An effective VA team will bring
together all available expertise needed
to identify and prioritize critical
equipment, systems and operations
as well as to protect them. The team
also needs the expertise to prioritize
the budgetary demands of enhanced
security versus other needs in the
community. A typical team may
include representatives from:
•
•
•
•
1. Characterization
of the facility
This goes beyond the mere issue of
size of facility and the nature of the
treatment process. The team, using an
existing map of the facility or one that it
develops, should discuss issues such as
administrative staffing, the nature of its
customer base and who its most critical
customers are. Using this information
the team determines its mission and
develops “mission based evaluation
criteria based on that mission.
2. Determination of critical
assets that might be subject to
malevolent acts
In a process similar to Asset Management,
the team defines its assets and groups
them by process based on its mission.
Asset groupings are based on the four
broad categories listed above. The team
then performs side-by-side comparisons
of assets based on its mission based
evaluation criteria. This process results
in a top-to-bottom ranking of all key
assets based on the asset’s importance to
the mission.
Next the team looks at the various threats
that a piece of equipment might face,
either from man made threats or natural
disasters and the nature of the damage
that such a threat could impose on the
mission if it were successful. Criteria
will vary based on which of the four
categories (from above) the asset lies,
but will generally consider such issues
as injury to people, permanence of the
damage to equipment, damage to the
environment and community impact.
Note too that community impact must
consider not only the impact of an
incident on community confidence, but
also the financial impact (consider New
Orleans after Katrina, where the damage
to the infrastructure totally impaired the
ability to deliver service, which virtually
stopped the flow of revenue). Criticality
factors then are rated on a scale of 0.1
– 1.0 and each component or system
under consideration is given a criticality
rating based on those factors.
4.Assessment of
the likelihood
(qualitative probability)
of such malevolent acts
(Probability of Occurrence)
The probability of occurrence is rated
on a scale of 0.1 – 1.0. Normally in the
initial evaluation the team assumes a
factor of 1.0 (certain to occur within the
next year). This allows vulnerability
to be calculated based on the criticality
of the asset and the likelihood that the
threat would be successful rather than
possibly skewing the results by taking
an, “it isn’t going to happen here”
approach to every threat.
5. Evaluation of
existing countermeasures
(Probability of Success)
The methods employed to prevent a
threat from being successful can be
divided into four classes:
1) Deterrence (placing visible obstacles
and warnings in the path of an
attacker that cause him to decide to
forego the attack; fences signs and
visible video surveillance cameras
are examples);
2) Detection (placing equipment in
place that alerts security forces to
the presence of an attacker; intrusion
detectors on doors, motion detectors
and surveillance cameras are
examples);
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
31
Spotlight on Security
Low
Risk
Medium
Risk
High
Risk
0.01 0.06 0.11 0.16 0.21 0.26 0.31 0.36 0.41 0.46 0.51 0.56 0.61 0.66 0.71 0.76 0.81 0.86
Criticality &
Vulnerability
are both low
High criticality and
low vulnerability
or
Low criticality and
high vulnerability
Criticality &
Vulnerability
are both high
Figure 1 - Risk Spectrum
3) Delay (placing obstacles in the path of
an attacker such that the time needed
to be successful is greater than the
time needed to detect and respond);
4) Response (Security forces (usually
local police) get to the scene and
stop the attack). This process yields
an evaluation of how effectively
the facility can resist an attack (the
probability of effectiveness, Pe),
which is assigned a value between
0.1 and 0.9). This in turn allows the
team to compute the likelihood that
an attack will be successful (1-Pe).
6. Analysis of current risk
The various factors can now be plugged
into a mathematical equation that yields a
value for the current risk to which an asset
is exposed.
R = Pa * (1 – Pe) * C
Where:
R = Risk
Pa = Probability of Occurrence (Ranges
from 0.1 (unlikely) to 1.0 (certain), but
use 1.0)
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MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
(ii)
Pe = Probability of Effectiveness Ranges
from 0.1 (total destruction likely) to 0.9
(virtually certain to survive)
C = Criticality Factor Ranges
from 0.1 (minor disruption) to 0.9
(loss of life, etc.)
When computed this way, the values
for Risk will range from 0.01 to 0.85.
If the Risk value is acceptable to the
team, then the analysis for that asset is
complete. If it is not acceptable, then the
team proceeds to Step 7. Figure 1 shows a
risk spectrum based on this equation and
divides the results into low, medium and
high risk. Assets that fall into the “High”
range will need to be analyzed further to
see if and how the risk can be reduced
(reduce criticality and/or vulnerability).
Assets that fall into the “Low” range
will normally be considered acceptable.
When assets fall into the “Medium” range
the team will have to engage in further
analysis in order to determine whether
or not corrective action will be taken.
This discussion will involve facility
management and may involve municipal
management (to consider this versus
other budget priorities) and possibly legal
(to resolve questions of liability).
Spotlight on Security
“Once the utility
understands where
and how it is
susceptible to attack,
it can identify and
evaluate what if any
countermeasures are
in place to prevent
the attack from being
successful.”
7. Prioritized plan
for risk reduction
The team analyzes the risk with a focus on
reducing criticality, adding more effective
countermeasures or both (steps 3 – 5).
The impact of this analysis is evaluated
using the risk equation (step 6) to see if
risk has been reduced to an acceptable
level. If not, the process returns to step 3.
It is h ere that the Guidelines for
the Physical Security of Wastewater/
Stormwater Utilities will prove to be a
valuable tool. The guidance provides
breakdowns by system of preferred
security measures. This allows the team
to make informed, effective selections
and to conduct an appropriate benefit-tocost analysis.
Once completed, the Vulnerability
Assessment and all supporting
documentation should be placed in a
secure file that is accessible on a “needsto-know” basis. VA’s are not the subject of
public meetings and are not shared with
the public. The VA should be re-visited
a minimum of once per year in order to
determine the status of recommended
improvements and to determine if any
changed conditions warrant re-evaluation.
Finally, the USEPA has identified
“14 STEPS TO SUCCESS” of any
security program. (iii)
1. Make an explicit and visible
commitment of the senior leadership
to security.
2. Promote security awareness throughout
the organization.
3. Assess vulnerabilities and periodically
review and update vulnerability
assessments to reflect changes in
potential threats and vulnerabilities.
4. Identify security priorities and, on an
annual basis, identify the resources
dedicated to security programs and
planned security improvements, if any.
5. Identify managers and employees who
are responsible for security and establish
security expectations for all staff.
6. Establish physical and procedural
controls to restrict access to utility
infrastructure to only those conducting
authorized, official business and to
detect unauthorized physical intrusions.
7. Employ protocols for detection of
contamination consistent with the
recognized limitations in current
contaminant detection, monitoring, and
surveillance technology.
8. Define security-sensitive information,
establish physical and procedural
controls to restrict access to securitysensitive information as appropriate.
9. Incorporate security considerations
into decisions about acquisition, repair,
major maintenance, and replacement of
physical infrastructure.
10.Monitor available threat-level
information; escalate security
procedures in response to
relevant threats.
11.Incorporate security considerations
into emergency response and
recovery plans, test and review
plans regularly, and update plans as
necessary.
12.Develop and implement strategies
for regular, ongoing security related
communications with employees,
response organizations, and
customers.
13.Forge reliable and collaborative
partnerships with communities,
managers of critical interdependent
infrastructure, and response
organizations.
14.Develop utility-specific measures of
security activities and achievements,
and self assess against these
measures to understand and
document program progress.
These guidelines were jointly
developed by the American Society
of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the
American Water Works Association
(AWWA) with technical input from the
Water Environment Federation (WEF).
They are open for public comment and
trial use until June 30, 2007.
ii
Risk Assessment Methodology for
Water Utilities, 2nd edition, Awwa
Research Foundation, Denver,
CO, 2002
iii
http://cfpub.epa.gov/safewater/
watersecurity/index.cfm
i
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
33
Spotlight on Security
PROTECTING
THE NATION’S WATER
SUPPLY FROM ATTACK
Nation’s First Physical Security Standard Guidelines
for Water/Wastewater Utilities Released
Alexandria, Va.
The nation’s first standard guidelines for protecting the public
from potential malevolent acts and other threats by enhancing
the physical security of water and wastewater infrastructure
systems were released today for trial use by water and
wastewater utilities.
The voluntary standard guidelines—jointly developed by the
American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and the American
Water Works Association (AWWA) with technical input from the
34
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Water Environment Federation (WEF)—are the result of Phase
III of the Water Infrastructure Security Enhancements (WISE)
program. They were created under ASCE’s American National
Standards Institute-accredited standards development program.
Titled “Guidelines for the Physical Security of Water Utilities”
and “Guidelines for the Physical Security of Wastewater/
Stormwater Utilities,” the draft guidelines are open for public
comment and trial use until June 30, 2007.
Spotlight on Security
“Our society depends on a safe and reliable water supply,
not only for human consumption but also for other needs such
as industry, agriculture and even fire protection,” said ASCE
Executive Director Patrick J. Natale, P.E., F.ASCE, CAE. “These
risk-reduction standards for water, wastewater and stormwater
systems are an essential part of protecting our nation’s
infrastructure from potential terrorist threats, and allowing it to
continue supporting our economy and public health.”
The guidelines provide drinking water, wastewater and
stormwater utilities with practical information to help implement
improved security measures in new and existing facilities of all
sizes. The documents also address risks from construction and
design perspectives and describe physical security approaches
for detecting or delaying malevolent parties. The water guideline
covers raw water facilities, wells and pumping stations, water
treatment plants, water storage facilities, distribution systems
and support facilities. The wastewater/stormwater guideline
focuses on collections systems, pump stations, wastewater
treatment plants and support facilities.
“In today’s world, it’s critical that we think about the long-term
security of our water systems during design and construction,”
said AWWA Executive Director Jack Hoffbuhr, P.E., DEE.
“These guidelines will help utilities ensure that security is an
integral part of their overall approach to treating, storing and
delivering safe water.”
First launched in 2003 and funded by a multi-year grant
from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), WISE was
organized to support water and wastewater utilities in mitigating
vulnerabilities from man-made threats and natural disasters
in existing systems and throughout the design, construction and
operation of new systems.
“The Water Environment Federation is pleased to partner
with organizations like AWWA and ASCE,” said WEF Executive
Director Bill Bertera. “Incorporating WEF’s technical expertise in
wastewater into the development of their standards jointly serves
the professionals who design and operate water infrastructure.”
Phase I of the grant led to the creation of interim voluntary
security guidance documents for water, wastewater, stormwater
and on-line contaminant monitoring systems. Released in 2004,
the guidelines addressed issues such as risk assessment, threat
analysis, financial and communications planning, human resources
management, operational maintenance, emergency response
strategy, design upgrades for improving physical security and
management and operating practices to reduce vulnerabilities to
malevolent events. Guidelines for contaminant monitoring systems
addressed system design including assessments for monitoring
system needs, locating instruments and sensors and responding to
suspected contamination events.
Comprehensive modular-format training materials were then
developed in Phase II to disseminate the information in the
interim guidance documents such as implementing enhanced
security measures in facility design, operation and management,
and providing water managers, operations personnel, design
professionals and regulatory officials with detailed practical
assistance for implementing improved security measures.
Copies of the draft standards for trial use will be available on
each organization’s Web site: www.asce.org, www.awwa.org and
www.wef.org.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
35
FREE PRESS SPECIAL REPORT - PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS OF THE RIVER (First of two parts)
Revisiting
the Rouge
By Joel Thurtell, Detroit Free Press Staff Writer
*Reprinted with permission from the Detroit Free Press
By 2005, the river was supposed
to be clean enough for swimming.
It’s not yet, but hopes are high it
will be a hub for recreation one day.
A tugboat pushes a barge toward a pier across from U.S. Steel on the Rouge River between Detroit and River Rouge in June. Supporters of a
revitalized Rouge say transforming the river into a recreation haven is possible. (Photos by PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press)
The Rouge River Series
At their 2006 Annual Conference in
Dallas, The Water Environment Federation
presented the Harry Schlenz Award
to Joel Thurtell and Pat Beck of the
Detroit Free Press. The Harry Schlenz
Award recognizes accomplishments
of the media, journalists and others
whose profession is outside of the
water environment profession field. This
medal is in memory of Harry E. Schlenz,
who served as Federation President in
1961-1962. In this case the award was
36
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
About this series
based on the two-part series that the Free
Press ran on Oct. 19-20, 2005 about what
the authors found when they canoed 27
miles up the Rouge River in Southeastern
Michigan. The editors thought our
readers might be interested in reading
these award-winning articles. The first
article, entitled “Revisiting the Rouge”
is presented in this issue. The second
article, entitled “Helping the Rouge” will
appear in the next issue of MWEA Matters
(Summer 2007).
A generation of metro Detroit schoolkids
grew up participating in Rouge River
cleanups. They pulled out logs, shopping
carts and old tires galore. And governments
have poured money into digging new
sewer lines to slow the flow of effluent into
the river. This summer, Free Press staff
writer Joel Thurtell and staff photographer
Patricia Beck canoed 27 miles up the main
branch of the Rouge for a closer look. Today,
they report about the issues still facing the
river — and the dreams for it.
Rouge ups and downs
SEWAGE: GOING DOWN
Gallons of waste-laden storm water
released into the Rouge River from
metro Detroit sewers.
S
tanding in her brown rubber waders,
Sam Santeiu kicked at the bank of
the shallow little brook that runs
across Ladywood High School’s property in
Livonia, then pushed a dip net through the
muddy swirl she’d created.
“Oh, it’s a worm!” she exclaimed as she
brought up the net and ran her gloved hands
through it.
Sam and 10 classmates from a 10th-grade
Ladywood biology class were looking for
signs of aquatic life as they honed their
testing skills Friday, getting ready for today’s
big gig.
Six hundred students from 15 schools
in Wayne and Oakland counties will swirl
nets and sampling bottles into the river that
drains 466 square miles of metro Detroit, one
of many activities designed to focus attention
on and heighten awareness of the Rouge.
The creek at Ladywood has clear, clean
water running over sandy soil.
“If the Rouge is like this,” Sam said, “it’s
pretty nice.”
Sorry, Sam, it’s not.
Unlike Ladywood’s tributary, the Rouge
is a bottom-obscuring brown at best, but its
problems go far beyond its murky color.
Twenty years ago, the Michigan Water
Resources Commission, and later the state
Department of Natural Resources, set 2005
as the year by which the Rouge would be
clean enough to swim.
Though much progress has been made,
southeast Michigan’s biggest river system
still is fit for direct human contact no
more than 5% of the time, even though
federal, state and local governments
have spent roughly $800 million on
sewer improvements.
On Friday, the Ladywood students found
a damselfly larva, a pollution-sensitive insect
that is an indicator of a healthy stream.
But farther downstream, on the Middle
Rouge at Newburgh Lake, where the
students are to sample water and animal life
today, conditions aren’t as good. Pollutionsensitive creatures are there, said Ladywood
biology teacher Michael Gaule, but so is
enough fecal coliform bacteria to prohibit
swimming and boating.
Still, supporters of a revitalized Rouge
say they believe the dream of transforming
the river into a recreation haven can be
achieved. Jim Murray, who founded the
nonprofit Friends of the Rouge group and
set the 2005 target in 1985 as chairman of
the Water Resources Commission, insists the
river could be a gem for outdoor activities.
“With today’s high gas prices, you
wouldn’t need to drive 50 or 100 miles to get
to water where you could canoe or picnic,”
Murray said this summer. Murray imagines
that Detroit’s River Rouge Park — bigger
than Belle Isle — and neighboring Eliza
Howell Park could be pleasant getaways for
hikers, bicyclists, picnickers, canoeists and
kayakers. Now, there are no hiking trails or
canoe liveries. Picnic areas are distant from
the river.
A mixed report card
Kelly Cave, director of the Wayne County
Department of Environment’s watershed
management division, said the governments’
improvement efforts, which she estimated
would tally at least $800 million, have led to
substantial progress in river cleanliness.
But some of the efforts had less successful
results, said Bill Craig, cochair of the Rouge
Remedial Action Plan Advisory Council, a
group that tries to measure improvements in
the river.
In the years soon after the federal Clean
Water Act was passed in 1972, government
regulators cracked down on industries that
were dumping pollutants into rivers and
streams. But industry wasn’t ever the only
polluter. Though much reduced, sewage
from municipal waste disposal systems still
pours into the Rouge River. Faulty private
septic systems also contribute, as does
overfertilizing lawns, illegally dumping
in storm drains and building too close to
the river.
In 1992, metro Detroit sewers spewed 6
billion gallons a year of raw sewage mixed
with rainwater into the Rouge from the
1992
6 billion
2005
2 billion
DISSOLVED OXYGEN: GOING UP
Fish and other marine animals need
oxygen to live. The minimum necessary
to sustain fish is 5 milligrams per liter.
Percentage of time the Rouge River
met the standard:
1992
2005
25%
95%
STREAM FLOW: SPEEDING UP
More roads, parking lots and roofs in
the Rouge River watershed sluice rain
directly to the river, filling it quickly,
undercutting banks and washing away
wildlife habitat.
Stream flow
(cubic feet per second)
1931
June
2003
June
24
148
Sources: Kelly Cave, Wayne County
Department of Environment;
U.S. Geological Survey
MARTHA THIERRY/Detroit Free Press
“Though much
reduced, sewage
from municipal
waste disposal
systems still pours
into the Rouge
River.”
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
37
FREE PRESS SPECIAL REPORT - PROGRESS AND PROBLEMS OF THE RIVER (First of two parts)
Ladywood High School sophomores Jessica
Padmos, 15, of Farmington, left, checks the
net as Sam Santeiu, 15, of Dearborn Heights
looks at a tiny snail she just scooped out of
the creek on the school’s campus in Livonia
on Friday. The creek runs into the Rouge
River, where students are to sample water
and animal life today. (Photos by
PATRICIA BECK/Detroit Free Press)
towering concrete pipes that connect
sewers to the river. By this year, that
amount has been reduced by nearly 70%, to
about 2 billion gallons.
A recent report card by the Rouge
Remedial Action Plan Advisory Council
noted the progress made in reducing toxic
chemicals and bacteria in the river. But the
report also said conditions for wildlife are
deteriorating because of increased runoff
from development.
The reports for toxics and bacteria are
mixed, too. Although toxic chemicals are
much less prevalent in the Rouge, there
still are state advisories against eating
fish from several areas of the river. And
river bottom sediments likely remain
contaminated with toxics, Craig said.
Much of the blame for bacteria pollution
points to Detroit, where more than 20
concrete and metal combined sewer
overflow gates still do what they were
designed to do in the 1950s — dump
sewage into the river when storms
overwhelm the system.
Yet in the suburbs of Wayne and
Oakland counties, where separate sewers
have been built to carry only sanitary waste
and not storm runoff, high fecal coliform
counts still are measured in many places.
While Oakland County has been lauded
for its efforts at stemming the flow of
sewage into the Rouge, in the summer of
2004, the water flowing into Wayne County
from Southfield during wet weather
was unfit for human contact 79% of the
time, said Colleen Hughes, a chemical
engineer with Camp, Dresser & McKee, an
engineering firm that tracks bacteria data.
Detroit is preparing to invest $600
million in a gigantic tunnel, to be finished
between 2010 and 2020, that would
eliminate the Rouge as a receptacle for
sewage by sluicing waste straight to
the city’s wastewater treatment plant.
Engineers hope this will go a long way
toward reducing waste in the river, but it
won’t stop pollution from failing septic
systems or illegal dumping.
• Clean up pet droppings.
• Volunteer to help the nonprofit Friends of
the Rouge with projects such as bug hunts,
frog and toad surveys and the annual Rouge
Cleanup. Memberships are $30 a year, or
any amount you can afford. Proceeds help
support educational programs. The group
has a lot of information on its Web site:
www.therouge.org. Or call 313-792-9900
anytime.
• The Southeast Michigan Council of Governments Web site — www.semcog.org —
has a section “Seven simple steps to clean
water” under the heading “Ours to Protect.”
• The Rouge River National Wet Weather
Demonstration Project Web site
— www.rougeriver.com — has a range of
information, from technical discussions
of sewer systems to an outline of future
projects to improve the Rouge.
Too close for comfort
Ongoing development has brought other
problems. Buildings have been placed
so close to the river in some places that
they’re in danger of being undermined
by the current. And the very buildings,
parking lots and roads in danger are
contributing storm runoff that rushes to
the Rouge over impervious surfaces, such
as concrete and asphalt, without being
slowed and filtered by the ground.
In 1931, the U.S. Geological Survey
recorded June stream flows in the Rouge
at about 24 cubic feet per second. In June
How you can help
Apart from not tossing junk cars, washing
machines, shopping carts, trash bins and
sailboats into the river, here are some
things you can do to help the Rouge:
• Fix faulty septic systems.
• Don’t flush noxious things, such as used
motor oil or gasoline, down the drain.
• Use fertilizers, pesticides and
herbicides wisely. Read the directions.
Don’t overbuy or overuse them, and
dispose of them properly.
38
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
- Joel Thurtell
Grading the Rouge
2003, the volume had increased sixfold to
148 cubic feet per second.
Kenneth Patterson has watched the
Rouge eat away 10 feet of his backyard in
the 10 years he has owned his home near
Fenkell and Telegraph in Detroit.
Steve Marshall, a retired environmental
planner for Southfield, said that 30
years ago, the Rouge was a gentle brook
compared with the wide stream that now
shoulders its way through nine miles of
Southfield, undermining buildings that
were placed too close.
Farther south, increased flows have
caused flooding in homes. In 1972,
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
straightened and paved several miles
of the Rouge south of Michigan Avenue
to stop sewer backups in Dearborn and
Downriver basements.
But the concrete channel disconnected
fish and other wildlife from wetlands
where they breed. Two years ago, a section
of the old Rouge River at Greenfield
Village was reconnected to the concrete
channel. The section, known as an oxbow,
now has pike, salmon and a dozen other
species of fish. On its banks, village
staffers give canoeing lessons to visitors.
There are plans for a fish ladder
around the dam at the Henry Ford Estate
in Dearborn.
Oakland County
Contact JOEL THURTELL at 248-351-3296
or [email protected].
Rouge River watershed
Route of
Canoe Trip
5 miles
Washtenaw County
Those are steps toward the Friends
of the Rouge founder Jim Murray’s
dream of turning the Rouge River into a
recreation destination.
Ed Bagale is another visionary pumping
energy and ideas into the Rouge River
Gateway Partnership, a coalition of local
governments, colleges and riverside
businesses. From his position as vice
chancellor of the University of MichiganDearborn, Bagale hypes the river, looking for
ways to draw people to it.
One project is about to be partly realized,
with the dedication Oct. 29 of two bridges,
each 15 feet wide by 120 feet long, connecting
Hines Drive along the Middle Rouge with
Dearborn and the Lower Rouge. Now people
can hike or bike between Northville and
downtown Dearborn, and eventually they’ll
be able to go all the way to Detroit.
“The only way you’re going to meet the
challenge” of cleaning the river “is if people
… feel compelled and driven to recreate on
that river and feel ownership of that river,”
Bagale said.
“When you provide access, people will
come, and once they see it, they will become
attached to it and they will want to protect it
and they will want to reach into their pockets
and pay for it.”
Detroit
Wayne County
Area: 466 square miles
Population: 2.5 million
Counties: 3
Municipalities: 48
Lakes and ponds: 400
Length of river: 126 miles
Branches: 4: Lower, Middle, Upper, Main
Sources: Friends of the Rouge;
www.therouge.org; Southeast Michigan
Council of Governments
MARTHA THIERRY/Detroit Free Press
Of seven indicators of Rouge River water
quality, five show conditions worsening
in 2005. That’s the consensus of the
Rouge Remedial Action Plan Advisory
Council, which on Aug. 22 provisionally
adopted a draft Rouge River Report Card.
Assessments shown are of current
conditions compared with 1999.
No progress
or deterioration
Progress Conditions
made
worse
COMPARISON OF CONDITIONS
Assessment
1999 2005
Public health/
bacteria: Current
levels are down,
but still too high for
human contact.
Public health/toxic
chemicals: Still
in river but not
considered a public
health threat.
Water quality/
aquatic life: Pollution
plus floodwaters,
high temperatures
and sediments are
bad for aquatic life.
Riparian corridor:
Stream banks are
threatened by runoff
from development.
Wetlands,
woodlands,
meadows:
Significant losses
recorded.
Wildlife and fish:
Habitat and species
losses recorded.
Stream-bed
organisms: Poor
river bottom,
sediments and high
speed of flow affect
these creatures.
Source: Rouge Remedial Action
Plan Advisory Council
MARTHA THIERRY/Detroit Free Press
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
39
TESTIMONY OF
G. TRACY MEHAN, III
Before the House Appropriations Subcommittee
on interior, environment, & related agencies
February 27, 2007
Mr. Chairman and Members of the
Committee, I am G. Tracy Mehan, III,
formerly Assistant Administrator for
Water at the United States Environmental
Protection Agency.
I have also served as Director of the
Missouri Department of Natural Resources
and the Michigan Office of the Great
Lakes. I am presently employed as an
environmental consultant. I am testifying
here today in my individual capacity, and
my testimony and the views expressed
herein are entirely my own.
Thank you for the opportunity to discuss
the nation’s present and future challenges
to the chemical, physical, and biological
integrity of its waters.
“Whom the gods would destroy, they
first give forty years of success.” Peter
Drucker, the godfather of American
management consultants, often repeated
this statement in the context of the
institutional imperative to change with
new circumstances.
35 years after enactment of the nation’s
40
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
Clean Water Act, we are creeping up on
that 40 year mark; and the gods are not
pleased. We detect a certain flattening
out of the upward curve of progress. We
confront seemingly intractable problems.
By just about any measure, America has
improved its water quality over the past
three decades: pounds of pollution abated,
stream segments improved, fisheries
restored. Today, twice as many Americans
are served by advanced or secondary
wastewater treatment. We are actually
closing in on no-net-loss of wetlands. Lake
Erie, once declared dead, is a Walleye
fisherman’s Mecca.
Bill Ruckelshaus, the former EPA
Administrator, is reported to have
said that even if all our waters are not
fishable or swimmable, at least there not
flammable!
Yet, we seem to be stuck on a plateau.
39% of assessed river miles, 45% of
assessed lake acres, and 51% of assessed
estuary square miles are “impaired.” That
is, they are not meeting water quality
standards which are based on designated
uses, such as fishing, swimming, and
drinking water use.
Just this past May, EPA released its
first consistent evaluation of streams
that feed rivers, lakes, and coastal areas
(www.epa.gov/owow/streamsurvey). This
study, the Wadeable Streams Assessment
(WSA), was based on sampling at almost
1400 sites representing similar ecological
characteristics in various regions taken by
more than 150 field biologists.
The results of the WSA reveal that only
28% were in good condition. 25% were in
fair condition, and 42% in poor condition.
The hypoxic zone in the Gulf of Mexico
(“the Dead Zone”) keeps getting larger.
Forward momentum on the clean-up of
Chesapeake Bay is sluggish. Both of these
bodies of water are polluted, significantly,
by diffuse, polluted runoff from agriculture,
so-called nonpoint sources not subject to
regulation under the Clean Water Act.
The relatively small portion of the Gulf
Hypoxia problem, which is attributable
to traditional, regulated point sources, is
illustrated by the observation that Chicago
may be the largest single point-source
discharger of nutrients to the Gulf!
Tens of thousands of inland lakes in New
England and the upper Midwest, along
with rivers in the Southeast, are the subject
of fish consumption advisories for mercury
which, primarily, falls from the sky. A
quarter or more of the total nitrogen load
to the Chesapeake Bay comes from the air,
75% falling on land and then running off
into the water.
Just about any human activity on
the land can generate polluted runoff.
Lawn fertilizer, paving of impervious
surfaces, rooftops, row crop agriculture,
construction activities, and golf courses,
are some of the nonpoint sources of
contaminants such as sediment, nutrients,
pesticides, and bacteria.
Urban stormwater runoff from streets,
parking lots, and sidewalks is a leading
cause of impairment for nearly 40% of
surveyed water bodies.
When urban or suburban development
occurs, that is, when more and more
impervious surfaces cover the landscape,
rainfall flowing to groundwater is reduced
from 37% to approximately 15% because
it is prevented from seeping into the
ground. This imperviousness prevents the
replenishment of groundwater sources and
the filtering out of pollutants which then
runs off into surface water.
Generally speaking, a parking lot might
be 95% impervious. Even a residential
lawn might be 40% impervious due
to soil having been compacted during
construction and landscaping. Between
1982 and 1997 the%age of developed
watersheds (at the 8-digit HUC level)
nearly doubled from 5.4 to 9.5%.
Land consumption, so to speak, was
more than twice the rate of population
growth nationally.
For most of three decades, EPA’s
National Water Program, at the clear
direction of Congress, focused almost
exclusively on the big discharge pipes in
the water, both industrial and municipal.
These are the traditional point source
dischargers which have been successfully,
if not perfectly, controlled through the
National Pollutant Discharge Elimination
System (NPDES) permitting program.
EPA imposed categorical, technologybased effluent guidelines on these point
source dischargers, at the end of the
pipe, without regard to the quality of the
receiving waters. The law was: “Just do it!”
No paralysis by analysis. No calibrating of
the discharge to the ambient water quality.
The guidelines may or may not achieve
water quality standards and criteria,
assuming they were in place. Monitoring
was done, predominantly, at the end
of the pipe, for compliance purposes,
rather than for assessing general ambient
water quality in the watershed or stream
segment as a whole.
Technology-based effluent guidelines
have now reached the point of
diminishing returns in terms of
practicability and economic achievability
required by law. Moreover, more and
more receiving waters already have water
quality standards in place for which
the guidelines will be inadequate, thus
requiring additional controls anyway. Let
me explain this last point in terms of the
requirements of the Clean Water Act.
If, in a permitting cycle (every 5 years), a
permit writer finds that technology-based
permit limits are not stringent enough
to meet water quality standards, water
quality-based effluent limits (WQBEL)
must be imposed. These involve a sitespecific evaluation of the discharge and its
effect on the receiving water.
It is hard to appreciate how allconsuming was the effort to develop
technology-based effluent guidelines. For
decades this was the focal point of so much
of EPA’s activities requiring enormous
amounts of resources, personnel, and
budget. The courts basically dictated
the workload pursuant to successful
lawsuits filed by environmentalists. And
industry, in turn, filed numerous lawsuits
of their own challenging the guidelines
promulgated by EPA. By 1976, there were
already 250 lawsuits on file challenging
specific guidelines.
EPA’s Office of Water and state
programs are now broadening their focus
to establish water quality standards
criteria, say, for nutrients which have been
neglected until recently. The Chesapeake
Bay is one ecosystem which is benefiting
from this new emphasis on sciencebased water quality criteria to protect
designated uses.
Building upon the foundation of the
NPDES program and the technologybased effluent guidelines, we need to
emphasize nonpoint sources as much as
point sources, water quality standards as
much as technology-based guidelines, the
entire watershed (and airshed) as much as
the discrete discharge pipe, and ambient
water quality monitoring as much as
monitoring, end of pipe, exclusively for
point- source compliance purposes.
The Total Maximum Daily Load
(TMDL) program is a crucial element
in this era of the watershed. The TMDL
program was in the Clean Water Act from
the beginning, but it was neglected by
EPA in its struggle to meet legislative
mandates for point source discharges.
A wave of litigation in the mid-1990s
energized this program.
A TMDL is, essentially, a pollution
budget, or limit, for impaired waters
which establishes waste-load allocations
for individual point-source dischargers
enforceable in their NPDES permits. It
also sets a load allocation for categories
of nonpoint sources throughout the
watershed or reach of stream. These load
allocations for nonpoint sources are more
informational, designed to direct and
drive local and regional efforts, primarily
voluntary or financial, although in some
states implementation mandated by law.
A TMDL is only as good as the water
quality standards upon which it is based.
If the standards are inappropriate, i.e.,
too lenient or too strict (or unattainable),
the TMDL will be flawed. It is important
that technically defensible water quality
standards are in place to guide the
development of a TMDL and provide
the performance measure for watershed
clean-up activities for both point and
nonpoint sources.
In terms of a broader watershed focus,
ambient water quality monitoring is
critical. Water quality monitoring and
assessment programs in this country are
at a historic turning point.
We have collected data of all types
and sources. Nevertheless, we cannot
adequately describe in a scientifically
defensible way, the quality of our waters
at a national scale. We do not know
the condition of the majority of states’
waters. We cannot quantify progress
we have made to date in cleaning those
waters, nor can we identify where we
need to go to fix remaining problems.
We are often flying blind when it comes
to making decisions how best to address
water quality problems and allocate our
limited resources for cleanup, pollution
prevention, and restoration.
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
41
EPA and the states are making real
progress on monitoring as demonstrated
by the recent Wadeable Streams
Assessment which I mentioned earlier
and the formation of water quality
monitoring councils or other interagency
bodies in states like New Jersey and
regions such as the Great Lakes.
However, funding is always a problem
for monitoring which is often the first
program to be cut in hard economic
times in favor of permitting and
enforcement. To my mind, the priorities
should be reversed.
To give you a sense of how much work
needs to be done, relative to monitoring
the quality of our waters, I would simply
note EPA’s Draft Report on the Environment
2003, which concluded: “…at this time,
there is not sufficient information
to provide a national answer to this
question with confidence and scientific
credibility.” With the exception of coastal
areas (and now Wadeable Streams) the
report was agnostic on the question of the
health of the waters of the U.S.
These are tight budget times in
Washington. But given the nation’s
need to broaden its focus to encompass
the entire watershed and to address the
myriad challenges to water quality, it
is essential for the federal government
and the state delegated programs to get
the standards right and to adequately
monitor progress, or lack thereof, in
achieving those standards.
We need end points of performance
to inform all the important actors—
local, state, federal, private, and notfor-profit—of their success, or lack
thereof, in achieving water quality
goals. Such information would inform
the political process, generating new
resources, or directing existing resources
and authorities into the most costeffective actions.
Before we pass that 40th anniversary of
the Clean Water Act, we need to embrace
an integrated watershed approach which
comprehends land and water, point and
nonpoint sources, water quantity and
quality while weaving together a seamless
partnership of public, private and notfor-profit stakeholders, all of whom are
essential to the restoration and protection
of the waters of the United States.
In this way we may yet appease the
gods and avoid their wrath.
Thank you for your attention. I
welcome your questions and comments.
42
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
professional directory
To reserve your ad space in MWEA Matters contact
Linda Johnson 877-985-9793 [email protected]
Michigan
Wastewater
Division
Fluid Process Equipment, Inc.
Denny Faurot
4797 Campus Drive
Kalamazoo, MI 49008
Mobile: (269) 998-0064
Phone: (269) 345-1923
Fax: (269) 345-3333
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: fpepumps.com
10375 Dixie Highway
Davisburg, MI 48350
(800) 433-4332
(248) 625-0667 ext. 309
Fax: (248) 625-8650
www.slcmeter.com
William Traynor
President
[email protected]
SUPPLY
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INSTALLATIONS
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REMOVAL
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4992 Sweet Home Rd., Niagara Falls, NY 14305
Tel: (716) 285-5680 • Fax: (716) 285-5681
E-mail: [email protected] • Web: www.anthrafilter.net
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
43
professional directory
Low-Level Mercury EPA1631
Wastewater Analyses
Drinking Water Analyses
NORTHERN LAKE SERVICE, INC.
Analytical Laboratory and Environmental Services
400 NORTH LAKE AVENUE
CRANDON, WI 54520-1298
EMAIL: [email protected]
44
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007
TEL: (715) 478-2777
WATS: (800) 278-1254
FAX: (715) 478-3060
professional directory
www.mi-wea.org Spring 2007
45
AD INDEX
COMPANY
TELEPHONE
WEB SITE
PAGE
360water.com
614-294-3600
www.360water.com
28
Anthrafilter, Inc.
716-285-5680
www.anthrafilter.net
43
Arcadis
888-695-8436
www.arcadis-us.com
11
BadgerMeter Inc.
800-876-3837
www.badgermeter.com
6
Black & Veatch, Ltd.
313-962-0300
www.bv.com
44
C2AE
517-371-1200
www.c2ae.com
35
Calgon Carbon Corporation
412-787-6700
www.calgoncarbon.com
13
CDM
313-963-1313 www.cdm.com
14
Contech Stormwater Solutions
877-907-8676
www.contechstormwater.com
43
Corix Water Systems
800-500-8855
www.corix.com
47
Dubois Cooper Associates
734-455-6700
www.lakeside-equipment.com
10
East Jordan Iron Works
800-626-4653
www.ejiw.com
8
Environmental Resources Management (ERM)
616-399-3500
www.erm.com
45
Environmental Sales, Inc.
248-569-9393
45
Equipump
800-783-5623 www.equipump.com
45
Fishbeck, Thompson, Carr & Huber, Inc. 616-575-3824 www.ftch.com 18, 44
Fluid Process Equipment, Inc.
269-345-1923
www.fpepump.com
43
Global Odor Control Technologies
800-973-2656
www.goctechnologies.com
43
Golder Associates Inc.
517-482-2262
www.golder.com
14
Grace Industries, Inc.
800-204-7277 www.graceindustries.com 7
GREELEY AND HANSEN LLC
313-628-0730
www.greely-hansen.com
44
HTI, Inc.
231-995-7630
www.wedotanks.com
44
Hubbell, Roth & Clark, Inc.
248-454-6300 www.hrc-engr.com 45
Insituform
800-234-2992
www.insituform.com
44
Jett Pump & Valve, L.L.C.
269-209-9805
www.jettpump.com
11
JGM Valve Corporation 248-926-6200 www.jgmvalve.com
2
John Meunier Inc. 800-638-6437 www.johnmeunier.com 14
Jones & Henry Engineers, Ltd.
269-353-9650
www.jheng.com
45
KAR Laboratories, Inc.
269-381-9666
www.karlabs.com
12
Kemira Water 800-342-8755 www.kemirawatersolutions.com
42
Kerr Pump & Supply
248-543-3880
www.kerrpump.com
25
KSB, Inc.
804-222-1818
www.ksb-inc.com
22
Lewis Municipal Sales
317-566-0723
www.gethurco.com
34
LimnoTech
734-332-1200 www.limno.com
44
Malcolm Pirnie, Inc. 313-964-5217
www.pirnie.com 45
Merrell Bros., Inc.
800-663-8830
www.merrellbros.com 32
Neptune Technology Group Inc.
334-283-7246
www.neptunetg.com
5
Northern Lake Service, Inc.
715-478-2777
www.northernlakeservices.com
44
Paragon Laboratories, Inc.
734-462-3900
www.paragonlaboratories.com
23
Pearpoint
800-688-8094
www.pearpoint.com
42
Prein&Newhof 616-364-8491 www.preinnewhof.com 45
Pumps Plus, Inc.
248-888-9004
www.pumpsplus.com
18
PVS Technologies Inc 313-903-3397
www.pvstechnologies.com
9
Sewerin USA, LLC
303-424-3611
www.sewerin.net
11
SLC Meter Service Inc.
248-625-0667
www.slcmeter.com
43
Stantec Consulting Michigan
734-761-1010 www.stantec.com
44
Tetra Tech 734-665-6000 www.tetratech.com 35
The Ford Meter Box Company
260-563-3171
www.fordmeterbox.com
43
USA Bluebook
800-548-1234
www.usabluebook.com
48
Utility Service Company, Inc.
800-223-3695
www.utilityservice.com
19
Wade Trim 800-482-2864 www.wadetrim.com 11
Williams & Works
616-224-1500 www.williams-works.com 45
Wolverine Power Systems
616-879-0040
www.wolverinepower.com
27
46
MWEA MATTERS : Spring 2007