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The District is a Friend of the Environment |
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Since 1999, the District has helped fund the Alameda County Green Business Program and has inspected businesses focusing on sanitary discharge compliance, water conservation, and pollution prevention. In the summer of 2003, staff were asked to draft a Green Business Policy for the District to become certified as a Green Business.
The cost to implement the green business policy is not fully known. However, a brief audit of current business practices reveals that the District is 70% of the way to being certified as a green business. Environmental compliance, pollution prevention, energy conservation, water conservation and solid waste reduction are basic ways of doing business at the District. For example: In December 2001, the District spent $20,629.43 to retrofit less efficient lights with T-8 lamps and the annual energy savings is $8,382.63.
To make the project manageable (and because a new Maintenance Shop will not be built until 2005), the Board of Directors, by Resolution, endorsed the District becoming a certified green business with Alameda and Contra Costa Counties and deemed that the District do so in five phases: (1) District Office; (2) Field Operations; (3) Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility; (4) Automotive Fleet; and, (5) Maintenance Shop. (See the Staff Report and Janitorial Chemicals Spreadsheet for more details).
The rationale to implement a green business policy in phases is because the first two phases should be the easiest and quickest to implement. The third phase, Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility, will require the District to work with other local wastewater agencies to develop criteria by which wastewater treatment plants can become certified as green. Automotive Fleet is the fourth phase because the District just recently purchased two alternative fuel vehicles and would like to track fuel consumption and maintenance needs for at least one year before deciding to purchase additional alternative fuel vehicles. And the Maintenance Shop is the last phase because it seemed more logical to wait until the new shop was built before certifying the function. (See Staff Report for more details.)
The District provides three products (water, wastewater and recycled water) to customers located in two counties (Alameda and Contra Costa), three cities (Dublin, southern San Ramon, and Pleasanton), and the rapidly growing unincorporated Dougherty Valley.
District employees work out of three locations, Field Operations at Camp Parks, the Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility in Pleasanton, and the District Administrative Offices in Dublin. The District maintains 192.8 miles of potable water pipeline, 28.8 miles of recycled water pipeline, and 160.1 miles of wastewater pipeline to collect and distribute our products and operates the wastewater treatment plant with the capacity to treat 17 million gallons per day average.
The District has a history of being a friend of the environment. Actions to date include the following: |
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Meeting or exceeding all regulatory compliance requirements and environmental regulations. |
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Promoting pollution prevention programs within the District and among our customers. |
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Conserving energy and water (Drought Tolerant Garden at District Office encourages customers to replace water thirsty lawns with drought tolerant plants). |
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Working to reduce solid waste. |
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Capturing the gas generated by the digesters, mixing it with methane, and using it to produce electricity for the Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility since 1984, which not only conserves energy, but also saves the District hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on electric costs. |
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Protecting wildlife by delaying work on reservoirs and construction on the District’s Dedicated Land Disposal to preserve the natural environment for golden eagles, grebes (small birds that spend a lot of their time in the water), and red-legged tree frogs. |
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Recycling water for landscape irrigation since 1996 with the North Pleasanton Irrigation District project and Puttin’ On the Green, recycling water for landscape irrigation since 1999, conserving potable water, reducing the amount of treated wastewater that has to be piped over the hill to the San Francisco Bay, and keeping Dublin green even in times of drought. |
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Working a 9/80 schedule (eighty hours in nine days) during the summer months since 2001, thereby allowing the office to shut down air conditioning, equipment, and lights every other Friday saving energy and money. |
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Redesigning the aeration system (during the Stage 4 improvements at the Regional Wastewater Treatment Facility) and increasing efficiency so much that Pacific Gas & Electric’s Savings by Design program awarded the District $37,597.00 in June 2003 for reducing our energy demands. |
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Employees at all three locations of the District have been participating in single-stream recycling, thereby reducing our solid waste. |
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Preventing pollution of our waterways and educating our customers regarding ways they can contribute to pollution prevention. |
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Participating in the City’s annual Creek Clean Up, taking a leadership role in the most recent effort. |
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Making presentations in schools that promote water conservation, water recycling and pollution prevention. |
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Publishing news, information and tips on ways to conserve water, recycle water and prevent the pollution of water in various District publications. |
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For more information about the Green Business Program in your county, contact: |
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