National Group Lauds Edmonton’s Environmental Management Program

The City of Edmonton is once again being recognized for environmental excellence after being presented with a prestigious Sustainable Community Award at the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Annual Meeting in Whistler on June 6.

The FCM-CH2MHILL* award offers national recognition for municipal projects that demonstrate excellence in sustainable community development. The City of Edmonton won the award in the category of planning for its ISO 14001 environmental management program.

“City of Edmonton employees have continually shown they are remarkable leaders when it comes to the environment,” says Edmonton Mayor, Stephen Mandel. “Their willingness to adopt and implement these strategies – with the crucial buy-in, support and encouragement of all Edmontonians – is exemplary. We can all be exceedingly proud of this achievement, which will have an impact, quite literally around the world.”

ISO 14001 is considered to be one of the most rigorous environmental management systems in the world. It was developed by the International Organization for Standardization which has representatives from more than 100 countries, including the Standards Council of Canada.

The City of Edmonton is one of few municipalities in the world to implement the standard on such a large scale. In all, more than 100 requirements must be met to qualify for ISO 14001 certification.

The City has been working for three years to meet this goal and nine City branches have achieved certification under the program:

  • Drainage Services
  • Waste Management
  • Parks
  • Edmonton Transit
  • Transit Operations Branch
  • Fire Rescue Services
  • Operational Services
  • Mobile Equipment Services
  • Roads Design and Construction

Two other City branches are working towards ISO 14001 designation and expect to be certified in 2010.

* CH2MHILL is a global engineering and construction firm

Media Contact

Jean-Olivier Dalphond
+1 647-728-4388
media@iclei.org

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