Wednesday, August 24, 2005

Moncton, August 24th, 2005 - The Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission (GMSC) is proud to announce that we have been chosen to host a prestigious specialized conference of the International Water Association (IWA) on June 24-27, 2007 in Greater Moncton.

The conference entitled “Moving Forward – Wastewater Biosolids Sustainability: Technical, Managerial and Public Relations” will bring the IWA and WEF network of experts in research, practice, regulation, management, consulting and manufacturing to Canada. This specialty conference will be the first that the IWA sludge management committee has been awarded to either Canada or United States.

The organization of this conference will be done in conjunction with the GMSC, the Université de Moncton and the Canadian Association on Water Quality. The organizing and program committee are comprised of local as well as international experts. The confirmation of the conference is the result of the leadership role, recognized by the International community, that the GMSC has assumed over the years. The GMSC was awarded the conference after having submitted a proposal and after having been requested to appear before the management committee of the IWA, chaired by Dr. Ludivico Spinosa, of Italy, at IWA meetings on August 9-11 2005 in Johannesburg, South Africa.

“The betterment of the environment is something that affects us all. The costs, in Canada, of building and managing wastewater systems and the resulting biosolids are in the billions of dollars,” says Ronald J. LeBlanc, Chairman of The Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission.

While some cities in Canada, such as Greater Moncton, have wastewater treatment plants; others do not have any at all. For those cities that do have wastewater treatment systems, the building of the wastewater treatment systems is the easy part. Operating the systems is where the real challenge begins. While the GMSC has been able to manage its biosolids, some municipalities, have not been able to do so at all.

This conference will be of enormous benefit to all Canadian municipalities, as it will bring world scientific leaders to Greater Moncton. The experts will pay their own expenses to come here and they will share their wisdom and expertise on technical, managerial and public relations aspects of wastewater biosolids sustainability. The expertise coming to Greater Moncton will result not only in helping Canadians learn about new and leading edge technology, but it will also help in making infrastructure decisions that could result in savings of millions of dollars to building and management of wasterwater and biosolids system.

“We really believe that this conference will help to further the agenda for wastewater and biosolids solutions in Canada and in the world We are very honored of the IWA decision,

and are pleased to be recognized in this field by such a prestigious organization”, says Leblanc

Bringing international conferences like this to Canada, and to New Brunswick, will allow us to continue moving the local, Canadian and International agendas forward”, added Leblanc This is not the first time the GMSC will be on the world stage. Over the years, GMSC has participated in several specialized international conferences presenting papers and speaking on wastewater and biosolids innovative solutions.

For more information, please contact:

Roland Richard

Director of special projects

Greater Moncton Sewerage Commission Tel: 387-7977