Water pollution control facility honored

BREWER – The Brewer Water Pollution Control Facility recently was presented the Lee Agger Award for meritorious support and service to environmental training.

The award, given annually by the Joint Environmental Training Coordinating Committee, was presented Sept. 28 during the Maine Wastewater Control Association’s fall convention at Sebasco Harbor Resort.

Kenneth Locke, director of the city’s Environment and Public Works Department, plant superintendent Scott Clukey and operators Steve Butler and David Rogers accepted the award on behalf of the city and the facility.

The award was established in 1990 in memory of Lee Agger, JETCC’s second coordinator, who died after a long illness in 1989. Agger is credited with establishing the organization’s system of determining needs and delivering quality training, among other things.

According to a statement issued by Leann Hanson of JETCC, Brewer was chosen for the award largely because it has been an exemplary role model in several areas. The city facility’s staff has, for many years, been an example for others to follow in terms of teamwork, support, public relations, volunteerism and service to its community and others involved in water pollution control and public education.

The Brewer staff consistently has been active in committee work and education endeavors for the Maine Wastewater Control Association and the JETCC program, Hanson noted. Operators from the Brewer plant often assist with training program development, as presenters and as hosts to provide training for others in the field.

JETCC was formed in 1985 to assist the Maine Department of Environmental Protection and the Maine Wastewater Management Control Association with providing training for personnel in the field of water pollution control.

The Lee Agger Award was the second the plant and its staff have taken home this year. Earlier this fall, the facility came in second place in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s 2001 National Combined Sewer Control Program Excellence Award program.

In 1997, the Brewer facility took home the George W. Burke Jr. Facility Safety Award, and in 1995 it won the Richard B. Goodnow Award in recognition of excellence in operation and management of a municipal wastewater treatment facility.