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- 2021.02.17 JEA Announces New Leadership Team
- 2021.03.11 JEA Receives First Place Safety Award from Florida Municipal Electric Association
- 2021.06.15 JEA Names Theodore B. Phillips Chief Financial Officer
- 2021.07.13 JEA Announces New COO and VP of Financial Services
- 2021.08.17 JEA Builds Out Leadership Team with Hiring of Chief External Affairs Officer
- 2021.09.15 JEA Names New Chief Information Officer, VP of Technical Services
- 2021.09.30 Ricky Erixton, JEA Vice President of Electric Systems, Named to SERC Reliability Board of Directors
- 2021.09.30 Ricardo “Rick” Morales III Appointed to JEA Board of Directors
- 2021.11.03 JEA Receives Statewide Recognition for Programs that Build Community
- 2022.01.06 JEA Names its First Director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
- 2022.01.07 JEA Reducing Carbon Emissions with Closure of Plant Scherer Coal-fired Unit
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- 2022.01.27 JEA Names Mark Stultz Vice President, Communications
- 2022.02.11 JEA Honored as Outstanding Utility by Florida Urban Forestry Council
- 2022.04.08 Steven Selders Promoted to JEA Vice President, Application Delivery and Enterprise Architecture
- 2022.04.26 JEA Managing Director & CEO Jay Stowe, Appointed to Electricity Subsector Coordinating Council
- 2022.06.01 JEA Partnering with Customers to be Ready for 2022 Hurricane Season
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- 2022.06.13 JEA Presents Environmental Stewardship Award to Evoqua Water Technologies
- 2022.07.26 JEA to Suspend Electric, Water Disconnections During Peak of Summer Heat
- 2022.08.27 Precautionary Boil Water Advisory Remains in Effect for Sandalwood Area as JEA Continues Testing
- 2022.08.28 JEA Lifts Boil Water Advisory for Sandalwood Area
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- 2022.09.27 JEA Prepared to Respond to Hurricane Ian Impacts
- 2022.09.28 JEA Welcomes Mutual Aid Response to Hurricane Ian
- 2022.09.29 JEA Crews Restoring Power Throughout Jacksonville
- 2022.10.03 JEA Names Pedro Melendez Vice President, Planning, Engineering & Construction
- 2022.10.20 JEA Honors Local Agency Partners for Their Work in the Community
- 2022.11.04 JEA Receives Statewide Recognition for Community Work in Northeast Florida
- 2022.11.08 JEA Prepares for Subtropical Storm Nicole
- 2022.11.11 All Storm Restorations Continue Today; JEA to Lift Limited Emergency Operations
- 2022.12.12 JEA Women's, Men's Teams Win Top Honors at Statewide Water Competition
- 2022.12.20 JEA Offers Tips in Advance of Severe Cold Weather
- 2022.12.24 JEA Offers Tips During Severe Cold Weather
- 2023.01.10 JEA Receives Statewide Recognition for Mutual Aid Work
- 2023.03.06 JEA Receives Statewide Recognition for Safety
- 2023.03.07 New JEA HQ Customer Center to Open April 10
- 2023.04.06 JEA Lineworkers Earn Top Honors at International Lineman’s Rodeo
- 2023.04.25 Community Invited to May 25 Public Forum on Northeast Florida’s Energy Future
- 2023.05.01 JEA Receives Recognition for Commitment to Urban Tree Management
- 2023.05.18 JEA's Long-Range Clean Energy Plan Available to Public
- 2023.05.26 JEA Ready for 2023 Hurricane Season, Offers Tips to Help Customers Prepare
- 2023.06.05 Helen Materazzi Named JEA Vice President, Organizational Effectiveness
- 2023.06.14 JEA Upgrading Water Meters for All Customers
- 2023.06.15 JEA Crews Heading to Tallahassee to Assist with Storm Restoration
- 2023.06.26 JEA Presents Environmental Stewardship Award to 29 Local Companies
- 2023.07.14 JEA Launches Fleet Vehicle Electrification Program
- 2023.08.22 JEA Issues Precautionary Boil Water Advisory for South Philips Highway and Nocatee Area, Encourages All Customers to Conserve
- 2023.08.22 Chief Human Resources Officer, VyStar Credit Union
- 2023.08.23 Precautionary Boil Water Advisory Remains in Effect for South Philips Highway, Nocatee Area, JEA Continues to Encourage All Customers to Conserve
- 2023.08.24 JEA Lifts Precautionary Boil Water Advisory for South Philips Highway, Nocatee Area
- 2023.08.28 JEA Prepares for Tropical Storm Idalia Encourages Customers to Be Ready
- 2023.08.30 JEA Responding to Customers Due to Hurricane Idalia
- 2023.11.15 JEA Receives Top Ranking in 2023 Business Satisfaction Survey by J.D. Power
- 2023.11.07 JEA Receives Statewide Recognition for Programs That Enhance the Community
- 2023.11.20 Juli Crawford Promoted to JEA Vice President, Enterprise Strategy & Planning
- 2023.11.28 JEA and UNF Advance Sustainable Solutions at Lab Opening
- 2024.01.09 Bond Rating Agencies Affirm Strong Financial Status for JEA Water Services
- 2024.01.30 JEA Hosts FMEA Lineman Competition
- 2024.01.31 JEA Honored with Statewide Award for Mutual Aid Assistance
- 2024.02.26 JEA Lineworkers Earn Top Prizes at Florida Lineman Competition
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- 2013.08.20 From the CEO: Our Commitment to Improving the Health of the St. Johns River
From the CEO: Our Commitment to Improving the Health of the St. Johns River
2013-08-20
Jacksonville, FL - The St. Johns River is a focal point for life on the First Coast. We play in and around it. We take sustenance from it, it supports our economy, and we enjoy its glorious vistas, every day. We are truly lucky to have this incredible asset in our community. There are many in the community who are concerned about the health of the St. Johns River. At JEA, we too are concerned and we are committed to doing our part to restore and protect the St. Johns. As an active participant in nutrient reduction efforts for our River since 1997, we want the community to know the investments we make on your behalf.
Nitrogen is a naturally present nutrient in the tidal portion of the river, but when concentrations are too high it causes periodic algae blooms. Nutrients added from human activities make the potential for algae blooms greater, and cause blooms to last longer. As a result, JEA as well as many others have focused on addressing this excess nutrient issue.
It should be noted that approximately two thirds of the nutrients contained in the River originate well upstream from Jacksonville, primarily from Central Florida. Those areas have also made tremendous progress to date, but it will require the commitment of many other communities in addition to the efforts of JEA to continue our progress.
JEA was given responsibility for the City’s water and sewer system in 1997. For more than a decade, JEA has invested in the rehabilitation of the City’s infrastructure. One area of focus is nutrient removal from the river. In 1999, JEA embarked on a voluntary initiative to reduce its discharge of nitrogen from the sewer treatment process to the River by 50%. In 2010, JEA met that goal and has more than maintained it over the past three years. JEA began this initiative because it was the right thing to do, long before any regulatory requirement mandated it.
JEA has focused efforts to minimize nutrient discharge on three main categories; concentrating treatment improvements at five large regional treatment plants to maximize economies; phasing out five smaller and older technology plants while redirecting their flows to large regional plants, and expanding the reclaimed water system where possible. We are nearing completion on the last major capital project, a $22 million treatment upgrade to our Buckman Water Reclamation facility. By year end, JEA will have phased out the last of our older technology plants.
Overall, JEA has invested more than $400 million in the past 10 years to reduce the nutrients contained in the wastewater we receive from our customers. Approximately 88% of the nitrogen present in the wastewater we receive is removed before that water is returned to the river – and the small remaining fraction is well below any regulatory requirement.
In addition to removing nitrogen from your wastewater, we are focused on expanding our reuse system which through additional treatment provides water for irrigation systems. We have invested $85 million in this expansion. The system currently serves approximately 15 million gallons per day, and has a capacity of more than 30 million gallons per day. By concentrating our reuse infrastructure improvements in areas primed for future growth, JEA is making the most cost effective use of your resources. JEA’s reuse system expansion provides a dual benefit by reducing discharge to the River while offsetting additional groundwater withdrawals and saving precious potable water for drinking and personal use.
So while we still have a ways to go, JEA will continue to do our part and will look for ways to work collaboratively to reach our collective end in mind—a healthy, vibrant river for all to enjoy.
Paul McElroy
Managing Director/CEO
JEA
Category:
- conservation
- corporate
- environment
- water
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Environment
JEA strives for environmental excellence and to be a responsible steward of the environment. As a community-owned, not-for-profit utility, we are committed to meeting our customers’ energy, water and sewer service needs in a manner that is environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.
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Our Commitment
We work to ensure full compliance with environmental laws and regulations and are continually improving the environmental performance of our facilities and operations.