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Buckman Receives Awards from Federal, State Agencies
Jacksonville, FL (January 7, 2004) - JEA's Buckman Wastewater Treatment Facility received operations and maintenance excellence awards from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Florida Department of Environmental Protection in 2003.
Buckman received the EPA's 2003 National Operations and Maintenance (O&M) Excellence Award for Large Secondary Wastewater Treatment Plant. The EPA is divided into four regions in the United States. The Buckman Facility won first place honors in Region 4, then competed with the first place winners from the four regions, tying with a California facility for first place nationally. The EPA based its selection on Buckman's "demonstrated creative and cost-effective operations and maintenance practices."
Buckman also received the 2003 Operations and Maintenance Excellence Award from the Florida Department of Environmental Protection, northeast District, Type I Facility.
The plant, which processes 95 percent of the industrial waste generated in the Jacksonville area, had experienced permit compliance problems before JEA began a $20 million capital improvement project and began aggressive operational and maintenance initiatives after taking over water and sewer services from the City of Jacksonville in 1997.
"We've worked very hard to take Buckman from being considered one of the worst performing plants in the State to the best in the nation in a relatively short period of time," said Scott Schultz, JEA Manager of Wastewater Treatment at Buckman. "I'm excited that JEA and all of the people who worked on this project are receiving recognition for a job well done."
The plant also received an award from the American Metropolitan Sewerage Agency for recording no permit violations in 2002.
JEA is the eighth largest community owned electric utility in America providing electricity, water and sewer services to more than 750,000 accounts in Northeast Florida.
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