MichCon's Belle River Mills Compressor Station Celebrates ISO 14001 Certification
23 February 2008 - 5:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
CHINA TOWNSHIP, Mich., Feb. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Employees, company
officials and guests today celebrated the Belle River Mills
Compressor Station's successful completion of the ISO
(International Organization for Standardization) 14001
certification process. MichCon's Belle River Mills Compressor
Station is the 13th DTE Energy facility to receive the
environmental management certification. ISO 14001 is an
internationally recognized standard that provides a facility with
the basic framework for managing environmental impacts.
Certification requires that employees must be aware of how their
job can impact the environment. An environmental management system
certified to the ISO 14001 standard is effective because it
involves every aspect of a facility's activities that can affect
the environment. Periodic reviews of the system, by a third party
after certification, ensure that it continues to be effective in
the future. Station Manager Larry Maiorana accepted the ISO 14001
certificate from Gerald Schwarz, lead auditor for NSF-ISR, the
accredited third party auditing organization that reviewed the
plant's effort to achieve certification. Maiorana said that earning
certification was truly a team effort that demonstrates the
commitment of all plant personnel to their individual and
collective role as stewards of the environment. "The employees of
the Belle River Mills Compressor Station are committed to
protecting the environment both as individuals and as a team," he
said. "We recognize that our individual actions can make a positive
impact. We also know that we can accomplish even more by working
together." Helping to achieve the certification were the 20 members
of Local 223 of the Utility Workers Union of America, AFL-CIO who
work at the Belle River Mills Compressor Station. "I'm proud to see
everybody working together to accomplish something this important,"
said Dave Humenny, Belle River Mills Local 223 committee person.
"Compliance with the ISO 14001 standard is good for the environment
and the community." Also participating in Friday's ceremonies were
Robert A. Richard, Senior Vice President, MichCon, and Skiles Boyd,
DTE Energy Vice President, Environmental Management and Resources.
The Belle River Mills Compressor Station is located in St. Clair
County and compresses and withdraws gas from three natural gas
storage fields -- the Columbus, West Columbus and Belle River Mills
fields. The station's work force of about 30 employees managed to
earn certification while also completing a number of significant
construction projects. These projects include installing air
pollution control equipment on compressor engines -- at a cost of
$5.5 million -- to reduce nitrogen oxide emissions by 60 percent
and Installation of a new natural gas refrigeration plant and
dehydration plant that will recycle refrigerant and operate at near
zero emissions. MichCon is a subsidiary of DTE Energy, a
Detroit-based diversified energy company involved in the
development and management of energy-related businesses and
services nationwide. MichCon serves 1.3 million customers with
natural gas service in 550 Michigan communities. Information about
DTE Energy is available at http://www.dteenergy.com/. DATASOURCE:
DTE Energy CONTACT: John J. Austerberry, +1-313-235-8859, or Lorie
N. Kessler, +1-313-235-8807, both of DTE Energy Web site:
http://www.dteenergy.com/
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