Black & Veatch, a global engineering, consulting and construction company, announced today that the Westside Water Quality Improvement Project it worked on received the 2007 Oustanding Stormwater Best Management Practices (BMPs) Implementation Award from the California Stormwater Quality Association (CASQA). The award was granted in the Treatment Control/Structural BMP Implementation subcategory.
The award was presented to the city of Santa Monica, Calif., which owns and operates the water quality facility, at CASQA's annual awards luncheon. Black & Veatch provided design, permitting and construction support services for the environmentally responsible facility.
"The city is very happy with the outcome of the Westside project, which is helping us meet total maximum daily load obligations," said Santa Monica Senior Environmental Analyst Neal Shapiro, who accepted the award of behalf of the city. "It is a fantastic project that was completed on time and on budget. Black & Veatch's excellent BMP evaluation and design helped bring this project to fruition."
Development and implementation of the urban runoff quality treatment facility, which was constructed deep beneath Mar Vista Park in western Los Angeles, demonstrated cooperation between two California cities to cost-effectively alleviate pollution caused by urban runoff in parts of both Los Angeles and Santa Monica.
Completion of the Westside project was a major step forward in improving local water quality to benefit Ballona Creek, Santa Monica Bay and local beaches. The new facility treats 100 percent of the dry weather flow (2 to 3 cu ft per second) and up to 36 cu ft per second of wet weather flow. It removes a variety of solid, liquid and soluble pollutants. The hydraulically-efficient facility was designed with no moving parts, chemical additives or electrical power requirements.
"The Westside Water Quality Improvement Project is a wonderful example of Black & Veatch collaborating with forward-thinking municipal leaders to develop an innovative storm water solution that improves the quality of the urban environment," said Les Lampe, Black & Veatch's water resources global practice and technology leader.
The CASQA awards program identifies and recognizes exemplary leadership and outstanding projects, activities and contributors in the field of storm water quality management. Award candidates are evaluated on demonstrated excellence, ingenuity, creativity, professionalism and documented results. The Westside project earned statewide recognition.
"Larry Magura did an excellent job managing this project for Black & Veatch," said Lampe, "and Neal Shapiro and the city of Santa Monica deserve this recognition for successful implementation of environmental improvements that have already enhanced the quality of water in Santa Monica Bay."
Source: Black & Veatch
