Performance by system’s private operator, Veolia Water, secures
highest level of excellence
MILWAUKEE, July 16, 2009 – The successful operational partnership between Veolia Water North America and the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD) was recognized last night by NACWA, which awarded the Milwaukee operations with two Platinum Peak Performance Awards.
The Platinum Peak Performance Awards recognize public wastewater facilities that have achieved 100 percent compliance with their National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for five or more consecutive calendar years. NACWA recognized both MMSD facilities operated by Veolia Water with this award: South Shore Water Reclamation Facility and Jones Island Water Reclamation facility for 12 and 11 consecutive years of perfect compliance, respectively.
“This award is not an easy one to achieve,” said Laurent Auguste, president and CEO of Veolia Water Americas. “But it’s particularly challenging for larger, highly complex facilities such as Jones Island and South Shore that together serve over 1.1 million people in 28 communities.”
MMSD’s contractual agreement with private operator Veolia Water requires higher performance than the Wisconsin Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (WPDES) compliance permit, which governs the removal of contaminants from wastewater effluent before discharge into Lake Michigan.
“Veolia Water is an excellent environmental partner to MMSD,” said Kevin Shafer, MMSD executive director. “Not only have they achieved perfect environmental compliance with WPDES permit standards, but they also were successful in 2008 at meeting MMSD’s more stringent water quality parameters.”
Also recognized at the ceremony was the Veolia Water-Gresham, Ore., wastewater partnership, which received a Platinum Peak Performance Awardfor five consecutive years of perfect compliance.
For more information on Veolia Water’s water quality efforts, contact Joyce Harms at 414-747-3849, or visit www.veoliawaterna.com.
Veolia Water North America is the leading provider of comprehensive water and wastewater partnership services to municipal and industrial customers in approximately 650 communities. Veolia Water, the water division of Veolia Environnement, is the world leader in water and wastewater services. Specialized in outsourcing services for municipal authorities, as well as industrial and service companies, it is also one of the world's major designers of technological solutions and constructor of facilities needed in water and wastewater services. With 93,400 employees worldwide, Veolia Water provides water service to 80 million people and wastewater service to 59 million.
Veolia Environnement (NYSE: VE and Paris Euronext: VIE) is the worldwide reference in environmental services. With more than 336,000 employees, the company has operations around the world and provides tailored solutions to meet the needs of municipal and industrial customers in four complementary segments: water management, waste management, energy management, and freight and passenger transportation. Veolia Environnement recorded annual revenues of $50 billion in 2008. Visit the company's Web sites at www.veolia.com and www.veoliawaterna.com.
Contacts
Joyce Harms, 414-747-3849
[email protected]
or
Matt Demo, 312-552-2887
[email protected]