HOW TO MAKE THE EMS SHOE FIT: TAILORING EMS TO SUPPORT HOPEWELL REGIONAL WASTEWATER TREATMENT FACILITY'S ORGANIZATIONAL PRIORITIES

Wastewater utilities perform a critical mission every day to safeguard human health and the environment. They also face pressure to be more accountable on environmental issues, and more accessible to a wide range of stakeholders. Meeting these responsibilities is especially challenging in the face of flat or declining budgets and complicated by competing priorities such as the need to enhance security and to maintain and replace aging infrastructure. Environmental management systems (EMSs) offer wastewater utilities an approach to meeting these challenges and improving organizational performance. However, implementing an EMS is not easy, and requires time, resources, and willingness to change.This paper describes the City of Hopewell Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility's (HRWTF) experience developing and implementing an EMS and offers insights and lessons learned to other organizations considering whether to develop an EMS.