Professional Women in Construction honors landmark DEP project

On Thursday, March 31, Cas Holloway, commissioner of NYC's Department of Environmental Protection, accepted the Professional Women in Construction (PWC) Project of the Year Award for the DEP's $1.6 billion, 153-acre Ultraviolet Disinfection Plant being built in Westchester County at the nonprofit organization's annual Awards Reception. The landmark project under construction in Mount Pleasant will be the largest UV facility in the world handling about two billion gallons of drinking water daily - over 90% of NYC's supply - from the current Catskill and Delaware watersheds and, said Holloway, it "will help New York City to continue to be one of only five large cities in the country to maintain a largely unfiltered water supply." Thanking PWC and its president, Lenore Janis, Holloway also noted the major role of the DEP's deputy commissioner for the Bureau of Design and Construction, Kathryn Mallon, who has already started to "bring the next generation of DEP projects to reality." Holloway then added, "The construction of the UV facility is running on budget and significantly ahead of schedule—and the women-owned businesses working on the job have been critical to that success. In 2010, DEP had contracts worth more than $110 million with more than 170 women-owned firms; and at the UV plant, we have contracts for $60 million of work with 40 women-owned and 37 minority-owned businesses. The success of the UV project shows how important diversity is to getting the best work for the best price, and Mayor Bloomberg has made it a priority to ensure that contracting opportunities are available to the widest possible range of firms. That's good for the member firms of PWC —a fantastic partner in DEP's outreach efforts—and good for New Yorkers who pay the water bills too. Tonight's gathering is a testament to how much has been accomplished to bring WMBEs to work on projects of this scope and magnitude - and it is only a beginning." Presenting the award, Janis said, "We are delighted to honor the DEP for a project that is already bringing much acclaim to the region...The DEP has made clear its commitment to hiring WMBEs [minority and women-owned businesses] and we applaud their efforts in this direction." Following the award presentation, the UV Disinfection Facility project team stepped up to the podium to share the congratulations with Janis and Holloway. The team representing the joint venture companies included persons from: SEW JV (Skanska USA Civil, ECO III & JF White); Hazen and Sawyer PC; CDM; Malcolm Pirnie; CH2M Hill; Welsbach Electric; LJ Coppola Inc.; and Dattner Architects. The PWC Awards Reception was held at The Yale Club.