To the Editor:
I read with interest the article about environmental health and safety management system certifications at the City of Lawrence (Kan.) Wastewater Treatment Plant (“A Natural Step,” TPO, April 2009). The article contains a statement that the facility is “the only plant in the country to have all three management systems in place.”
I would like to point out that the Kent County Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility (KCRWTF) in Frederica, Del., holds all three certificates, and in fact obtained all three certificates before Lawrence did. The KCRWTF was the first to hold all three certificates at the same time and has recently been recertified under both the ISO 14001 and OHSAS 18001 programs. Ours was also the first publicly owned treatment facility to be accepted into the U.S. EPA’s national Performance Track program (which the EPA has decided to discontinue). We were a member before the City of Lawrence. Thank you for allowing me to provide this correction.
Jim Newton, P.E., BCEE
Environmental Program Manager
Kent County Department of Public Works
Milford, Del.
