Water Companies Group Honors EPA's Rogers
The Pennsylvania Chapter of the National Association of Water Companies presented Richard A. Rogers, chief of the Drinking Water Branch of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 3, the James McGirr Kelly Award for Excellence.
"It gives me great pleasure to present Rick Rogers with the chapter's most prestigious award," said Chair John Hollenbach, vice president and manager, United Water Pennsylvania. "Rick has been very active in advancing the quality and delivery of safe drinking water in the Commonwealth and has played a leadership role within EPA's Water Security Division in meeting the challenges posed by the federal Bioterrorism Act of 2002."
"When Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast in 2007, Rick joined many water professionals who traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to help restore drinking water service to thousands of Gulf Coast residents whose treatment plants were damaged or flooded," Hollenbach said.
In accepting the award, Rogers pointed out that the award is the result of hard work and many contributions by his staff, which oversees the Middle Atlantic region. He noted that the Department of Environmental Protection has primacy over its drinking water program and has been a vital partner in ensuring the implementation of the majority of the Safe Drinking Water Act programs in Pennsylvania.
Rogers has worked in the Drinking Water Branch since 1987. For the first 10 years, his main role was to act as lead for microbial quality of drinking water and the prevention of waterborne disease outbreaks. As chief, Rick assumes a wide range of responsibilities from regulatory development to oversight of delegated state programs and the associated federal grants directed annually to states. He also serves as EPA's representative on the Water Utility Council of the Pennsylvania Section, American Water Works Association.
Prior to working with EPA, Rogers spent four years with the Philadelphia Water Department as an aquatic biologist.