posted on: 5/27/2016
At a ceremony in Boston on May 10, 2016, City of Dover Superintendent of Public Works and Utilities Bill Boulanger received the Environmental Protection Agency's Region 1 Environmental Merit Award for his 42 years of service. The EPA's Environmental Merit Awards Program honors those who have made outstanding contributions to protect New England's environment.
In addition to the ceremony on May 10, Boulanger was also recognized for the award at the May 25, 2016 Dover City Council meeting.
Boulanger was nominated for the award by the University of New Hampshire Stormwater Center and the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services.
Speaking at the City Council meeting, James Houle of the UNH Stormwater Center noted that Boulanger's leadership and knowledge were instrumental in improving the City of Dover's stormwater management.
"After successful adoption and adaptation of green stormwater infrastructure, Bill has transitioned the City from demonstration of updated stormwater management infrastructure to implementation of stormwater innovations that are more effective, better understood and more economical to implement than previously imagined," Houle said, reading from the nomination letter. "Experiences and stories such as Bill's are critical to accelerate adoption of the best of the best management practices via peer-to-peer interactions. It is local champions such as Bill Boulanger who will lead the implementation wave and do it cheaper and more effectively than anyone ever imagined."
Houle said the direct participation of respected and trusted leaders like Boulanger help tackle fundamental problems often associated with municipal adoption of innovative stormwater management approaches, including compatibility and complexity.
The nomination letter includes mention of some of the recent, successful stormwater projects for which Boulanger was recognized as a leader, including watershed restoration at Berry Brook, and assisting with innovative stormwater management system design.
"It's a great honor and we're very fortunate to have Bill as a member of our staff," said Dover City Manager J. Michael Joyal, Jr. at the May 25 City Council meeting. "He has brought a lot of innovation and great ideas to the operations of the Community Services Department. He continues to do that every day."
Boulanger has worked for the City of Dover for 42 years. He is a long-serving member of the New Hampshire Water Works Association, where he has been on the Board of Directors for the past seven years. Boulanger has taught and continues to teach many classes for NHWWA and has mentored many municipal employees in water-related management.
Boulanger holds many certifications, including grade IV water distribution, grade II water treatment, grade III in wastewater treatment, and grade IV in wastewater collection. During his career with Dover, Boulanger also developed and implemented a regionally acclaimed directional flushing program and his expertise in this area is recognized throughout the state, according to the EPA nomination letter. Boulanger and his staff have also installed supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) systems in well stations and pump stations for both water and sewer, installed automated billing meters and implemented asset management inventory systems for water distribution, hydrants, wells, pump stations, leak detection and more.
For more information, contact Community Services at 603-516-6450.
