Members of the "LA Wrecking Crew" are pictured winning last year's WEFTEC Operations Challenge competition.Click here to enlarge imageThe 74th edition of the Water Environment Federation's annual meeting, WEFTEC 2001 will cover a wide spectrum of today's critical water quality issues. Eighty-nine technical sessions and 23 preconference workshops will provide innovative information on utility management, groundwater remediation, watershed management, water reuse, biological monitoring, biosolids/residuals management, and much more.
The WEFTEC Exposition is one of the world's largest displays of wastewater and water quality products and services. It will feature more than 800 companies displaying their newest and best products. Attendees will be able to meet one-on-one with manufacturers, consultants, and contractors participating in the exposition. Located in Halls D-H of the Georgia World Congress Center, the expo is easily accessible to the technical sessions and committee meetings.
Based on member requests, the exposition will be open on Sunday, Oct. 14, for a special expo preview. Attendees can use this time to see vendors' newest applications and developments, determine what vendors they want to visit during the Expo, and set up appointments for private demonstrations on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday.
In addition to the extensive technical program and equipment exposition, the conference will feature an Industry Day dedicated to industrial issues, Water Environment Research Foundation activities; the skills competition of Operations Challenge 2001, poster presentations; facility tours, award presentations, student activities, and more.
On Tuesday, Oct. 16, as part of the "WEF Celebration of Excellence," current WEF President Joe Stowe Jr. (CH2M Hill; Charlotte, NC) will ceremoniously "pass the gavel" of Federation leadership to incoming 2001-2002 President Jim Clark (Black & Veatch; Los Angeles, CA).
The Opening General Session speaker will be Bruce Babbitt, who was appointed to Secretary of the Interior by President Clinton in 1993. During his tenure as Interior Secretary, Babbitt drafted plans to restore the Florida Everglades and helped enact the massive California Desert Protection Act. Current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Christine Todd Whitman has been invited to present the Bush Administration perspective on key water quality issues.
