Clean Water Services’ Hillsboro Facility Wins EPA Excellence Award

Hillsboro, OR — April 13, 2004— Clean Water Services’ Hillsboro Wastewater Treatment Facility has earned the 2003 Operation and Maintenance Excellence Award presented by the Region 10 of the U. S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in recognition of outstanding compliance with the federal Clean Water Act. The facility “demonstrated exceptional technological achievements of innovative processes in their waste treatment pollution abatement and prevention programs, including treated effluent reuse, versatile, efficient and effective use of staff, physical process facilities and fiscal resources, outstanding biosolids, toxic waste control (local pretreatment), laboratory and spill response management programs, and an exemplary public outreach and education program," according to the award nomination by Steve Desmond of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality’s Water Quality Division.

For the past five years, the Hillsboro Wastewater Treatment Facility has been in compliance 100 percent with its National Pollution Discharge and Elimination System permit. In May 2003, the facility received the Association of Metropolitan Sewerage Agencies (AMSA) Platinum Peak Performance Award at a ceremony in Washington D.C. The Hillsboro Facility is one of just 32 wastewater treatment facilities in the nation to receive a Platinum Award for the period ending in 2002.

The 2003 Operation and Maintenance Excellence Award will be presented on April 20 at 10 am during the Clean Water Services’ Board of Directors meeting by a representative of EPA Region 10.

The Hillsboro Facility at 770 S. First Street cleans up to five million gallons a day of wastewater for 25,700 people in a 9.9 square mile area, serving western Hillsboro, North Plains, Banks, and parts of Cornelius and Forest Grove. Constructed in 1970, the facility was upgraded in 1993 and 1997 to achieve maximum versatility, and now operates predominantly in the rainy season from November through April. In summer the wastewater is pumped to the Rock Creek facility on River Road for treatment.

Clean Water Services is the sanitary sewer and surface water management utility for more than 473,000 customers in urban Washington County and small portions of Multnomah County, Clackamas County, Lake Oswego, and Portland. Clean Water Services operates four wastewater treatment plants, constructs and maintains flood management and water quality projects and manages flow in the Tualatin River to improve water quality and protect fish habitat. Although Clean Water Services maintains a close working relationship with Washington County government, it is a separately managed and financed public utility.

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