The plant, which is operated through a public-private partnership with Severn Trent Services, was honored for exhibiting the best safety record in 2011 among Oklahoma wastewater plants.
The City of Clinton, Okla., has been named winner of the 2012 George W. Burke, Jr., Facility Safety Award by the Water Environment Federation, a global technical and educational organization representing water quality professionals. The award, which is given annually to industrial or municipal wastewater facilities on a statewide basis, is presented to wastewater treatment facilities that have exhibited the best safety records in the past calendar year. For 2011, 16 Burke statewide awards were presented in the United States.
The Clinton plant is a 4-mgd wastewater treatment plant located in western Oklahoma about 85 miles west of Oklahoma City. Since 2010, operation of the plant and the City’s 5.5-mgd Clinton Lake water treatment plant has been managed through a public-private partnership with Severn Trent Services. In the first year of the company’s contract with the City, operations costs for both plants were reduced by approximately $160,000, water quality and compliance improved and the plants’ energy usage was reduced by 45 to 50 percent.
The Burke award was established in 1982 in honor of George W. Burke, Jr., who was instrumental in developing WEF's annual safety survey and assisting in the production of several safety training aids and promotional packets.