May 15, 2005
Water Plant Operator of the Year Tom Parent, center, is congratulated by Crooked Creek Traditional Council President Johnny John Jr. and Environmental Health Officer Jeff Severn.
Making sure a community's water is safe to drink is a big responsibility. Tom Parent of Crooked Creek takes that responibility seriously. As a result, he has been named Water Plant Operator of the Year.
On Tuesday May 3, Jeff Severn and Valerie Boswell of the Yukon Kuskokwim Health Corporation Office of Environmental Health & Engineering (YKHC- OEHE) Water Plant Operator Training Program visited Crooked Creek to recognize Tom Parent for his outstanding service operating his village's water plant during 2004.
Tom Parent was presented with a Certificate of Appreciation and a hooded Carhart Arctic Extreme Active Jacket embroidered with "YKHC-OEHE WATER PLANT OPERATOR OF THE YEAR 2004."
The award is open to all the villages in the YKHC area. This year the selection process was especially difficult. After receiving the nominations, staff from YKHC's Remote Maintenance Worker program, engineers from Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC) and Village Safe Water, Environmental Health Officers from YKHC and representatives from the Rural Utility Cooperative participated in selecting the recipient of this year's award. There are many outstanding Water Plant Operators in our area. After gathering and evaluating the information, Tom was selected.
Tom earned this honor by meeting criteria such as maintaining his State Water Plant Operator certification in Water Treatment Level 1, Water Distribution and Sewage Treatment and Sewage Collection. Tom has taken corrective actions to fix problems at the Water Treatment Plant and has assisted OEH&E staff while working in the village. In one case, trace amounts of copper were found in a water sample. Tom took a proactive approach, investigated the problem, developed a solution, and contacted ANTHC engineers. They agreed with Tom's idea and helped him implement a corrosion control program. Everyone we spoke to said that Tom went above and beyond what is normally expected of water plant operators.
The engineer said, "He was there when the barge landed and he completed the installation of all the components. He is the community's advocate for producing clean water. If all my communities had operators like Tom, my work would be significantly easier."
The Office of Environmental Health & Engineering is proud of the all the Water Plant Operators and their efforts to protect public health.
"Consuming water that has been properly treated is key to preventing diseases and water related illnesses," said Severn. "Water obtained from alternative sources such as rain catchments and river water may contain bacteria, diseases, and other pollutants. Parents who get drinking water from a properly treated source help to ensure the health and safety of their families."
If you would like to nominate a water plant operator for an award contact Jeff Severn: 1-800-478-6599 or 907-543-6424.