AAEES announces Excellence in Environmental Engineering & Science awards

ANNAPOLIS, Md. — The American Academy of Environmental Engineers & Scientists announced the winners of its national Excellence in Environmental Engineering & Science competition at its Annual Awards Luncheon & Conference April 24. The Academy awarded a Superior Achievement for Excellence in Environmental Engineering & Science Award to PSOMAS (Los Angeles) for its South Los Angeles Wetland Park project. This project was considered to be the best of the 2014 competition.

Grand Prizes, are awarded to the best in each of the competition’s categories. Receiving Grand Prizes are:

Research – CDM Smith (Cambridge, Mass.) for their Biological Treatment of Nitrate and Perchlorate for Drinking Water Production project, Rialto, California

Research – DC Water (Washington, D.C.) for their Removing the Primary Barrier to Successful Mainstream Deammonification project, Washington, D.C.

Planning – CDM Smith (Cambridge, Mass.) for their planning of the City of San Diego Long Range Water Resources Plan, San Diego

Design – CH2M HILL (Englewood, Colo.) for their design of the Agua Nueva Water Reclamation Facility, Tucson, Ariz.

Operations/Management – CDM Smith/Carollo/RA Consultants Team for the UV Disinfection for the Richard Miller Treatment Plant, Cincinnati

University Research – Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Rice University (Houston) for the Proliferation of Multidrug-resistant “Superbugs” (NDM-1-Positive) in Activated Sludge Treatment Plants, Research at Rice University

Small Projects – HDR (Omaha, Neb.) for their Lake Kampeska Phosphorus Removal Demonstration Project, Sioux Falls, S.D.

Small Firms – American Engineering Consultants, Inc. (Cayce, S.C.) for their Membrane Thickening – A Sustainable Solution, Cayce, S.C.

Environmental Sustainability – Black & Veatch (Kansas City, Mo.) for their Echo Park Lake Rehabilitation project, Los Angeles

Industrial Waste Management – CH2M HILL (Englewood, Colo.) for the Iron Mountain Mine Sediment Removal Remediation Project, Keswick, Calif.

Eight other entrants were presented Honor Awards by the judges in recognition of projects with outstanding features. Honor Awards were presented for:

Research – Brown and Caldwell for their EchoWater Advanced Treatment Technology Pilot (ATTP), Elk Grove, Calif.

Planning – CH2M Hill (Englewood, Colo.) for the Disaster-Proofing Vital Infrastructure, NYCDEP, Wastewater Resiliency Plan, Corona, N.Y.

Planning – Hazen and Sawyer (New York) for Advanced Wastewater Treatment Project, Corona, N.Y.

Design – Greeley and Hansen (Chicago) for the design of the Newtown Creek NC-41 Central Residuals Building, Corona, N.Y.

Design – Hazen and Sawyer (New York) for the design of the Newtown Creek Wastewater Treatment Plant Secondary Treatment Upgrade

University Research – Rice University, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering for their Gene Probe to determine the Feasibility and Assess the Performance of Monitored Natural Attenuation for Dioxane Plumes

Environmental Sustainability – Navy Region Southwest for their Navy Region Southwest Environmental Sustainability project

The hallmark of the AAEES’s Award, the criteria upon which all entries were judged, included:

• Demonstration of an integrated approach that considers all environmental media — air, water and land.
• Quality as evidenced by the degree of user satisfaction and proven performance.
• The extent the entry contributes to or offers the prospect of contributing to social and economic advancement.
• Originality and innovation representing the application of new knowledge, a new application of existing knowledge or an innovative mix of existing performance.
• The complexity of the problem addressed.