Briefs
And the winner is…
Los Angeles’ Energy Climate Action Plan (CAP) has been awarded a Clean Air Excellence Award from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The city developed CAP under the direction of the Los Angeles Environmental Affairs Department with assistance from the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power, other city agencies and the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. The award honors the city’s plan to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases. The plan’s 2010 forecast is a 30 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions associated with city facilities and operations.
The Las Vegas-based Northwest Water Resource Center has received the Grand Conceptor award from the locally based American Council of Engineering Companies of Nevada. Las Vegas partnered with the Las Vegas Valley Water District to develop the $37 million center that treats up to 10 million gallons of wastewater per day. The treated water is used to irrigate turf areas such as golf courses and parks.
The Village of Addison, Ill., has received the Lincoln Award for Commitment to Excellence for 2001 from the Naperville, Ill.-based Lincoln Foundation for Business Excellence. Addison is one of two municipalities ever to win the award. The award recognizes excellence in leadership, strategic planning, customer and market focus, information and analysis, human resource development and management, process management, and organization.
Palo Alto, Calif., has won the Solutions Award from Washington, D.C.-based Public Technology Inc. for an initiative that provides increased levels of IT support without increasing full-time staff. The award also recognized the city for working with other jurisdictions to leverage collective influence and buying power to acquire technology; maximizing economies of scale for technology investments due to cost allocation across multiple jurisdictions; and promoting regional standards and information sharing.
Company news
Pressure Pipe Inspection (PPI), based in Mississauga, Ontario, Canada, has acquired Toronto-based Interactive Engineering, which provides GIS-based asset management and technical services to municipalities and utilities. The technology obtained through the acquisition allows PPI to augment its pipe evaluation services with water system mapping and repair planning.
Babylon, N.Y.-based Greenman-Pedersen has acquired Scranton, Pa.-based Hillier Engineering & Technologies (HET). HET will operate as a branch office of Greenman-Pedersen, and it will offer engineering and design services for schools and municipal facilities for water supply and infrastructure.
Cupertino, Calif.-based Counterpane Internet Security and Irvine, Calif.-based DynTek have partnered to provide security monitoring services to state and local governments. Services include detecting intrusions and insider attacks, and tailoring immediate responses to those attacks.
Water, water, everywhere…
Collier County, Fla., has contracted with Fort Washington, Pa.-based Severn Trent-Avatar Utility Services to install 20,000 automatic meter readers. The company will replace meters that are five years and older, and it will retrofit meters less than five years old with an encoder and electronic remote transmitters.