Public participation and pollution prevention

Recent newsletter highlighting the 2000 Earth Day

The three keys to a successful P2 program are "communication, communication, communication." Communication takes many forms and some are more effective at reaching certain audiences than others. Therefore, in the P2 program for Onondaga County's Department of Drainage and Sanitation, we use several approaches.

We assign one of our greatest successes to the publication of a quarterly newsletter. In the newsletter, we keep local industries and other interested parties up-to-date on happenings in our organization, new regulations, and, last but not least, P2 opportunities. The newsletter is also used to recognize significant achievements at local industries such as environmental awards or accomplishments, news, and expansions.

Specialized brochures used to communicate P2 issues.

We are also developing a line of brochures that will describe P2 in general and P2 opportunities at specific industrial sectors such as automotive repair facilities, restaurants, and photo processing facilities. The brochures will be distributed at public places and by mail when appropriate. In conjunction with the brochures, a series of best management practices (BMPs) will be developed for these industrial sectors.

Stakeholder meetings are used frequently in our Pretreatment Program and will be used for P2 as well. For example, when developing strategies to reduce mercury in the sewer system, we will meet with healthcare providers, dentists, and other identified sources of mercury to gather their input in the program. The same process will be used to reach out to photo processors regarding BMPs for silver discharges. This allows all parties to work in concert toward a common goal rather than the traditional command-and-control structure used in regulatory programs.

Onondaga County Executive Nicholas Pirro (left) with Jack Pollicino from SCI Corporation.

With our annual "Industrial Achievement Award Program" we recognize publicly the efforts of local industrial users. The award is presented to industries in the Pretreatment Program that maintained 100% compliance with their Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permits, compliance with both pretreatment standards and administrative and reporting requirements. During award ceremonies, industries are presented a plaque by the County Executive and the Commissioner. Many industries consider this to be a significant accomplishment and work hard to be eligible for the award.

In 1998, SCI was one of 33 companies that maintained 100% compliance with their Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permits.

This year a pollution prevention award will be presented to a local company that has completed a wastewater P2 or multimedia P2 project. The NYSDEC has presented awards for P2 projects for thirteen years. If the success of their program is any indication, we expect this to be a popular award category.

To publicize the award ceremony, we issue press releases to local media and include the award winners in the newsletter. Last year, we published a quarter page ad in a local business newspaper to recognize the award winners. The ad prominently recognized that the companies had maintained 100% compliance with the terms and conditions of their Industrial Wastewater Discharge Permits and included the slogan "Water: We Treat it Right" to show the true intent of the program.

One of this year's goals is to complete a web site about P2. As more people and businesses use the Internet for information, this will become an increasingly important way of communicating with them. On the web site, we will have information about P2 opportunities, success stories, access to documents such as the newsletter, brochures, BMPs, and links to other sources of information. The web site will also provide another way for us to recognize the Industrial Achievement and P2 award winners.

We also reach out to our customers through trade shows and other public events. Earlier this year, we had a booth at the local Chamber of Commerce business show. We provided information on wastewater treatment, P2, and the pretreatment program. Our presence gave us an opportunity to speak with local businesses and the public. We are looking into the possibility of doing even more of these events to reach more people.