CDM Projects Earn ACEC and AAEE 2006 Engineering Awards
May 03, 2006
CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS—Two CDM projects have earned top awards in 2006 national engineering excellence competitions sponsored by the American Council of Engineering Companies (ACEC) and American Academy of Environmental Engineers (AAEE).
The West Palm Beach, Florida wetlands-based, indirect potable water reuse project has received the 2006 National Honor Award from ACEC. For decades, the city of West Palm Beach has obtained drinking water from Lake Okeechobee, but increasing population growth has reduced the water supply in this popular lake, which is now needed for Everglades restoration. Working with the city, CDM developed a wetlands-based solution that will reduce reliance on Lake Okeechobee and support the development of a long-term, sustainable alternative water supply strategy.
The project includes an advanced wastewater treatment facility that can produce high-quality reclaimed water with low phosphorous concentrations-one of the first indirect potable reuse systems of its kind in the United States. The innovative project will increase regional water reserves and offer solutions that are consistent with the goals of the Comprehensive Everglades Restoration Program, which requires that a portion of the city's historic water supply be diverted for Everglades restoration.
The Gilt Edge acid rock drainage (ARD) treatment project has received the 2006 Honor Award in small projects from AAEE. Nearly 130 years ago, the Gilt Edge Mining District in South Dakota beckoned hopefuls from across the country with the promise of mines laden with gold, copper, and tungsten, but the operations took a toll on the pristine mountain environment. Millions of gallons of lethal ARD leached into creeks and fisheries, and the mine was eventually declared a Superfund site. Revolutionizing site cleanup and reclamation, CDM, jointly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and ARCADIS US, Inc., applied an industry first: bioremediation technology that cleans ARD water to stringent standards without a treatment plant.
Using an innovative in-situ process that features inexpensive, readily accessible materials, CDM detoxified contaminants in more than 70 million gallons of pit-lake water, producing high-quality surface water capable of sustaining aquatic life—a feat never before possible in the site's long
history. The in-situ approach can realize per-site savings of $1 million to $3 million when implemented in lieu of a water treatment plant, and strenuous, year-round testing has revealed extraordinary treatment success, transforming once-lethal water into an eco-friendly habitat, able to sustain fish and macroinvertebrates.
Release Number: 354-06