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ARTICLES OF INTEREST FROM THIS ISSUE
On-line Credit Card Processing at www.weao.org We have great news for you: our web site has been enabled to process credit card payments for membership registrations/renewals and the 2002 Annual Conference fees. The credit card details will be encrypted for secure processing, and for your records, a receipt will be automatically e-mailed to you at the time of payment. At the Executive Administration's end, the automated payment collection process provides full accounting reporting features for effective funds administration. Many thanks to Francesca Davino for her help throughout the set-up process. Pay by credit card to test the system! We will continue to keep our membership informed on the latest Association related news, events and Newsletter through e-mail broadcasts. If you haven't heard from us and wish to receive such informative e-mails, please contact weao@weao.org to let us know your e-mail address or, for your convenience, use the form available on the web site on the main page, under the title 'E-mail address update'. At the Annual Conference, a web site contest with draw prizes will be launched. Grease your mouse and test your environmental knowledge in answering 10 multiple-choice questions for a chance to win attractive prizes. Details will be posted on this web site close to the Conference date. Thanks to all of you who took the time to e-mail your comments and suggestions regarding the web site; your feedback is valuable. Please continue to send your thoughts to: webmaster@weao.org. Emil Cocirla, Webmaster, Can-Am Instruments Ltd. WEAO leads way for Stockholm Junior Water Prize
In 2001, the Water Environment Association of Ontario took the initiative in launching the Stockholm Junior Water Prize competition in Canada. As a result, a program is now in place to select a Canadian student from the Canada Wide Science Fair (CWSF) to represent Canada at the international competition held each year in Stockholm, Sweden. The program for 2001 was co-sponsored by the WEAO, BC Water & Wastewater Association, Western Canada Water Environment Association, RÉSEAU environnement, and the Water Environment Federation. The first Canadian Stockholm Junior Prize winner was Mathieu Brousseau, 17, of St.-Jean Chrysostome, Québec. Mathieu was selected from five finalists at the CWSF in Kingston, Ontario, last year and represented Canada at the international competition in Stockholm, Sweden, last August. The judges who attended the CWSF and made the final selection were: Dr. David Bagley, of the University of Toronto, Dr. Bruce Anderson, of Queen's University, and Stephen Nutt, of XCG Consultants. A huge thank you from all involved with the program goes to the judges for the generous volunteering of their time and knowledge. Mathieu, who comes from an area with a major dairy industry, studied the treatment of dairy farm effluent. Having noted that the effluent can contain phosphorus concentration levels up to 10 times greater than that observed in domestic wastewater, he investigated how to reduce phosphates, nitrogen and organic matter before the farm effluent is discharged in the environment. In his search to maximize the removal of pollutants through a system that would be easy and economically viable for the farmer, Mathieu selected the process of coagulation/flocculation. In his project, Mathieu studied the effect of modifying various parameters of the treatment protocol. His research concluded that flocculation reduces the phosphorus, nitrogen and suspended solids concentrations in the effluent. The Stockholm Junior Water Prize is an international competition for young people up to the age of 20. Established in 1997 by the Stockholm International Water Institute as an addition to its senior prize, the award honours an outstanding water science research project by a young person or group. For 2002, the Canadian entry will be selected at the CWSF held in Saskatoon May 12-19, and will then represent Canada in Sweden in August. You can find more information on the Stockholm Junior Water Prize by visiting siwi.org or the WEF web site. For more information on the CWSFs operated by the Youth Science Foundation of Canada, visit ysf.ca or contact the WEAO directly. R. Larry Madden, C&M Environmental Technologies Chair, Canadian Stockholm Junior Water Prize In 2001, for the first time, students from Stockholm, Magnus Isacson, Johan Nilvebrant and Rasmus Öman, won the Stockholm Junior Water Prize. They received the Prize and the $5,000 scholarship for their project: Removal of Metal Ions from Leachate, which focused on the use of natural materials for the removal of metals in leachate in landfills. Ontario Municipalities are pilot testing the EMS for Biosolids Ontario Federation of Agriculture, City of Hamilton, Halton Region, City of Ottawa, Ontario Ministry of Environment and Environment Canada's Great Lakes Sustainability Fund are sponsoring a demonstration project to evaluate and demonstrate the uses of the Environmental Management System (EMS) for Biosolids developed by the National Biosolids Partnership (NBP) in the US. The EMS is designed to assist municipalities improve their biosolids quality for beneficial uses, assure compliance with government guidelines and regulations, and increase public confidence and acceptance of their land application program. Information about the EMS, including guidance manuals, is available at the NBP web site: www.biosolids.policy.net. A Technical Steering Committee has been formed to oversee the delivery of the project. The Committee comprises members from the sponsoring agencies as well as representatives of Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Pollution Probe, Canadian Institute of Public Health Inspectors - Ontario Branch, Center for Land and Water Stewardship and the consultant team. CH2M HILL, in partnership with Diamond Management Institute, Ontario, and PA Consulting in the US, is the successful consultant to this project. Technical consultation and input are also being solicited from the NBP in the US. The Committee is co-chaired by Tony Ho, of MOE, and David Armitage, of the Ontario Federation of Agriculture. The project started in January 2002 and will be completed in 18 months. Project deliverables for each of the three participating municipalities will include gap analyses EMS implementation program and case study reports. The project will also publish an Ontario version of EMS Guidance Manual and Best Management Practices for Biosolids Application Manual, along with presentations and training workshops for staff of the sponsoring agencies, and other Ontario municipalities. A workshop to introduce the EMS to Ontario municipalities and land application companies is being planned for April 24 in Hamilton, following the WEAO Annual Conference. The workshop will also cover the experiences learned and benefits achieved to date in the US. The EMS program had been successfully pilot tested in 24 municipalities in the US. The NBP is in the process of finalizing a third party verification program that will independently certify a municipality which has met the requirements of the NBP's EMS standard. NBP is also expanding the program and has signed up another 15 to 20 US municipalities to implement the program in 2002. Watch out for the pamphlet/registration form for the April 24 training workshop in Hamilton. Alternatively, contact Peter Nicol at: pnicol@ch2m.com, or Tony Ho at: hoto@ene.gov.on.ca. Tony Ho, Ontario Ministry of Environment Low bidding highlighted at OPCEA AGM
OPCEA's Annual General Meeting took place on February 5, 2002, at the Delta Meadowvale. Heinz Held, SEW Eurodrive, an OPCEA past president, called the meeting to order. Heinz introduced Al Vivian of John Meunier/US Filter, as the new President of OPCEA. Al gave a brief synopsis of the Board's activities in 2001 and informed the members that, as Ed Yanoshita had resigned, Heinz Held would fulfill his duties as past-president for the upcoming year. Rob Campbell, of Cancoppas, gave a report on the progress of the 2002 show in Hamilton. He noted that 70 booths had been spoken for and that members should act quickly if they required show space. To attract greater traffic flow, a Passport System will be introduced, requiring all booths to be visited for the prizes to be won. Tom Davey, publisher of Environmental Science & Engineering Magazine, was a featured speaker who gave various examples of price versus quality in environmental engineering decisions. He outlined what he termed the "low bid ethos", a situation where price, not quality, was the dominant factor in many buying decisions. His presentation cited many examples where the environment had suffered because consultants and equipment had been selected on lowest price rather than highest quality. The newly elected OPCEA Directors were Brian Allen, of Indachem, and Dave Tidy, of Metcon Sales and Engineering. Penny Davey, Environmental Science & Engineering |
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