In other news below:
-- FlowSense hires new project manager for its global Building Services Group
-- AMEC selected for satellite health checks of water bodies in Everglades, Wales
-- Pentair acquires Krystil Klear to complement existing filtration business
-- New Jersey American Water earns national water quality award
-- Florida Pest Management Association promotes water management practices
-- Hot Box celebrates 20th anniversary, welcomes manager back from Iraq
-- Pa. governor signs water services, ecoterrorism acts
-- MPW signs merger agreement
-- Michigan Land Use Institute targets Great Lakes restoration
-- TWDB newsletter focuses on Texas drought, legislation
-- SNC-Lavalin awarded contract for Saudi Aramco's Khurais water injection program
• MWH Global lands $50 million contract with city of Augusta -- AUGUSTA, GA, April 17, 2006 -- The city of Augusta, Ga. has awarded a pre-construction service contract to MWH to manage the expansion of the J.B. Messerly Wastewater Treatment Facility. The construction management project is part of an ongoing capital improvement program and is being undertaken to help Augusta serve its growing population.
Under the estimated $50 million contract, MWH is responsible for addressing rehabilitation of the wastewater treatment facility in two phases: pre-construction and construction management-at-risk. As part of the contract, it's involved in a Bidder Interest Program (BIP) within the local community to widen the scope of interest and involve community businesses in this important rehabilitation project. The goal of this program is to increase opportunities for small, local and minority-owned businesses to participate as subcontractors in this and other area projects.
"Working with MWH on a previous large, high-profile project has produced great experiences and world-class facilities, and we are excited to work with the company again on the J.B. Messerly rehabilitation project," said Drew Goins, Assistant Utility Director for the Augusta Utilities Department. "MWH's proven experience in our community will add value each step of the way on this important undertaking."
"We're pleased to have been selected to help oversee the expansion of Augusta's primary wastewater treatment plant," said Richard B. Lewis, vice president for MWH's construction unit. "We look forward to working closely with the city to ensure that the wastewater needs of this community are met well into the future in an environmentally friendly manner."
The J.B. Messerly Wastewater Treatment Plant currently serves approximately 150,000 area residents in what is Georgia's second largest growing metropolitan area.
MWH's approach to this project includes a community involvement program featuring at-risk youth education and support for local charities and environmental initiatives. Programs supported by MWH in Augusta for past projects include SAFEhomes of Augusta; Fort Gordon Youth ChalleNGe Academy; and the Augusta Brownfields Commission.
In supplying construction management-at-risk services, MWH provides the City of Augusta and its residents with maintained budgets and on-time schedules. Its actions ensure that the public receives the services that help secure the future of their communities and enhance their quality of life without unexpected cost increases or time delays.
MWH recently completed design-build services for Augusta's 15-mgd N. Max Hicks Tobacco Road Water Treatment Facility and 11 miles of raw water pipeline. The company has similar construction management-at-risk experience in Naples and Cape Coral, FL, and Houston.
MWH, a global environmental engineering, program management and construction firm, has served the Augusta area for more than five years, and employs more than 50 local people.
With headquarters in Broomfield, CO, MWH (www.mwhglobal.com) is a private, employee-owned firm with approximately 6,000 employees worldwide. The company provides water, wastewater, energy, natural resource, program management, consulting and construction services to industrial, municipal and government clients in the Americas, Europe, Middle East, India, Asia and the Pacific Rim.
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Among other recent headlines:
• FlowSense hires new project manager for global Building Services Group -- MAPLE GROVE, MN, April 17, 2006 -- FlowSense recently hired Todd Kuglin as project manager for its Building Services Group. He'll be responsible for overall turnkey project management of mechanical systems and facilities service contracts at FlowSense including HVAC installation, HVAC controls and building automation, plumbing and pipefitting, boiler and burner installation, air and water quality management, water and wastewater treatment, electrical and mechanical installation, turnkey project management. Kuglin brings to FlowSense over 20 years of proven experience in the refrigeration, air conditioning, and heating industry. This includes equipment and building automation systems including those manufactured by Trane, York, Carrier, McQuay, Honeywell, Johnson Controls, and Siemens. His qualifications include a master licence holder in steam and hot water, gasfitters, and refrigeration; and a journeyman license holder for oil burner installers, warm air installers, and high pressure power piping. Furthermore, Kuglin is an active member of ASHRAE and a certified instructor of Journeyman and Apprentices of the United Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters Union...
• AMEC selected for satellite health checks of water bodies in Everglades, Wales -- PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA, April 14, 2006 -- The European Space Agency (ESA) has selected international project management and services firm AMEC for a $300,000 sustainability project that will use earth observation technology to assess the health of two water bodies -- Florida Bay in the Everglades and Cardiff Bay in Wales. The project will involve the processing of satellite imagery to measure the impact of aeration systems and other management techniques used to improve water quality. Large and sustained looms of algae plague Florida Bay and pose a potential threat to Cardiff Bay. Algae blooms are caused by excessive nitrogen, phosphorous and other nutrients from agricultural runoff or wastewater discharges. An overabundance of algae deprives fish and other marine life of the oxygen they need to survive. Some satellites can offer 10,000 square miles of data collected simultaneously, said AMEC's Scott Stoodley, who is assisting with the project. Stoodley, a senior environmental scientist in the Westford, MA, office, has used remote sensing to assess water quality in water bodies throughout the world...
Also see: "Headline"
http://www.amec.com/news/mediareleasedetails.asp?Pageid=876&MediaID=1127
AMEC to improve Travers Reservoir flood protection capabilities
• Pentair acquires Krystil Klear to complement existing filtration business -- GOLDEN VALLEY, MN, April 12, 2006 -- Pentair has acquired the assets of Krystil Klear, a privately held company, to complement existing businesses in its Water Group. Krystil Klear expands Pentair's industrial filtration product offering to include a broad range of steel and stainless steel housing and filtration solutions. Pentair's filtration business serves the residential, municipal, commercial, and industrial markets with filtration housings, cartridge elements, tanks, valves, and other filtration system components...
• New Jersey American Water earns national water quality award -- CHERRY HILL, NJ, April 17, 2006 -- New Jersey American Water is proud to announce that its Jumping Brook Water Treatment Plant in Monmouth County has earned a national award for maintaining the Directors Award of recognition from the Partnership for Safe Water, a national volunteer initiative developed by the Environmental Protection Agency and other water organizations. The partnership represents water suppliers striving to provide their communities with drinking water quality that surpasses the required federal standards. The award is presented to water systems that have completed a successful review in the Partnership's Self-Assessment and Peer Review phase, a phase in which utilities examine the capabilities of their treatment plant operation and administration and then create a plan for implementing improvements. The New Jersey facility has maintained the Directors Award for five consecutive years...
• Florida Pest Management Association promotes water management practices -- Pest control companies help protect the environment -- ORLANDO, FL, April 17, 2006 -- Increasing numbers of pest management companies and lawn care companies are educating their customers on Best Water Management Practices (Water BMPs) for conservation, environmental protection and the maintenance of healthy lawns in celebration of Earth Day on April 22 and National Pest Management Month. A few years ago, the Florida Pest Management Association (FPMA) joined other green industry organizations and the St. Johns Water Management District to develop a set of standards and practices that pest management professionals, lawn care professionals and homeowners can follow to conserve our natural resources...
• Hot Box welcomes manager back from Iraq -- Celebrating 20th anniversary, engineered enclosures company and AWWA exhibitor plans double celebration with Southeast manager's scheduled return -- JACKSONVILLE, FL, April 17, 2006 -- Brian Devine, the Southeast regional sales manager for Hot Box, has been on deployment since November 2004 in Iraq when he was called up to active duty as a reservist. A Jacksonville, FL, resident, married with two children, Staff Sgt. SSG/E-6 Devine is the Support Operations Logistics NCOIC for the 48th Brigade Combat Team out of Georgia, plus being a driver for Convoy Security twice a week. He's scheduled to come home this May and return to his duties with Hot Box. In his last e-mail Brian indicated he hoped to be home in time to attend and see his friends at the AWWA conference this June in San Antonio...
Also see: "Engineered enclosure maker Hot Box celebrates 20th anniversary"
• Pa. governor signs Water Services Act -- HARRISBURG, PA, April 14, 2006 -- Gov. Edward G. Rendell today signed House Bill 893 into law, creating the Water Services Act. The new law will allow a Third Class City with a home rule charter, and with a population of 30,000 or less, to take over the operation of water and sewer services which were previously provided by an existing water and sewer authority. The city must obtain approval from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission before the termination of an authority, the transfer of an authority's project to the city, or relocation of reserves, assets or funds from an authority to the city. The bill also requires the city to obtain approval from 75% of any other municipalities which have service agreements with or whose residents receive water and sewer services from the authority prior to termination of the authority...
Also see:
-- "Governor signs Ecoterrorism Bill into law"
-- "Loyalhanna Watershed Association wins Governor's Award for Environmental Excellence"
• MPW signs a merger agreement -- HEBRON, OH, April 14, 2006 -- In connection with the written offer by Monte R. Black to buy the outstanding public shares of MPW Industrial Services Group Inc. not controlled by Black or his immediate family for $2.55 per share that was approved by the MPW Board on April 5, the company announced today that it has entered into an agreement and plan of merger between it and Noir Acquisition Corp., a newly created corporation controlled by Black. He and his family control about 59% of the outstanding shares. Founded in 1972, MPW is a provider of integrated, technically-based industrial cleaning and related facilities support services in North America. MPW offers four principal service lines that are integral to a wide variety of manufacturing processes. These four service lines are industrial cleaning, facility maintenance and support services, industrial container cleaning and industrial process water purification...
• MLUI report covers Great Lakes restoration, Acme downtown and Ubly wind farms -- ANN ARBOR, MI, April 14, 2006 -- In its latest newsletter, the Michigan Land Use Institute looks at the economics behind a just-proposed federal Great Lakes environmental restoration plan, and the legal drama roiling Acme Township's push for a new town center. Then it visits Ubly, where Michigan's first wind energy farm is rising. On the first topic, Andy Guy reports on the formal introduction of a federal bill to fund the restoration of our sorely tried Great Lakes. The ghastly federal deficit makes passing the proposal tough, but Andy says that the economic arguments for the big environmental project could carry the day...
• 'Water for Texas' stresses drought, legislation -- AUSTIN, TX, April 14, 2006 -- In the recently released quarterly newsletter, Water for Texas - Spring 2006, the Texas Water Development Board (TWDB) points out that, in spite of the recent rainfall, the state is still experiencing drought conditions very similar to this time period in 2000. The National Weather Service reports that Texas is experiencing the longest dry spell since the drought of record in the 1950s. With respect to government relations, the assignment of a new Legislative Budget Board (LBB) budget analyst prompted a request for a site visit to the projects funded through the biennial General Appropriations Act related to Economically Disadvantaged Areas Program (EDAP), Agricultural Water Conservation and Desalination. Other topics include:
-- 16th Annual Texas GIS Forum Presented by TNRIS in May
-- Water-Wise (Xeriscape) Landscaping and Water Waste
-- TWDB Chair to Lead Environmental Flows Advisory Committee
-- TWDB Recognized by the 2006 Global Water Awards
-- Texas Water Day 2006
-- TWDB - Committed to Youth Water Education...
• SNC-Lavalin awarded contract for Saudi Aramco's Khurais water injection program -- CALGARY, Canada, April 13, 2006 -- SNC-Lavalin and Saipem S.A., in joint venture, have been awarded a converted lump sum turnkey contract by Saudi Aramco to design and build the seawater injection plants which form a key part of the Khurais Oil Field Development Program in Saudi Arabia. The four injection plants have a capacity of injecting over four million barrels of treated seawater per day. The contract commences on a reimbursable basis converting to a fixed price lump sum turnkey contract once the project's details are further defined. The Khurais oilfield development is the largest of several Saudi Aramco projects intended to boost the production capacity of Saudi Arabia's oilfields from 11.3 million barrels/day to 12.5 million barrels/day by 2009. The field, with an area of 2,890 km2, is located about 250 km southwest of Dhahran...
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In earlier newsbriefs, see: "WaterBriefs: Aqua New Jersey unveils new water treatment plant using UV technology" -- Also in this report (April 14, 2006): WEF Wastewater Security Workshop schedule released; DistribuTECH 2007 opens call for papers; Wilo EMU launches nationwide pump and mixer service on 24/7 basis; Nearly 4,000 power plant air pollution projects planned or under custruction; ITT becomes gold sponsor of Aquatech Amsterdam; Quebec city picks Bentley water software to integrate data from diverse networks; PUC Staff Report: Nashua's plan to take Pennichuck not in public interest; Bottled Water: More than just a story about sales growth; MHI to replace steam generators for Belgium's Electrabel Doel nuclear power plant; Public meeting held on draft environmental report for proposed Lake Perris projects...
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