Jeff Theerman, vice president and senior utility consultant for environmental engineering firm Brown and Caldwell, was honored with the Distinguished Service Award by the National Association of Clean Water Agencies. 

The award is reserved for individuals formerly representing NACWA member agencies who, during their representation of their utility, maintained an active and distinguished role in the association in addition to exemplifying a strong dedication to the clean-water industry. 

A member of NACWA’s board of directors since 2004, Theerman served as the organization’s president, vice president, secretary and treasurer. 

Before joining Brown and Caldwell, Theerman served as Metropolitan St. Louis Sewer District’s (MSD) executive director and led one of the nation’s largest and most complex wastewater and stormwater management utilities, providing services to approximately 1.4 million people in the City of St. Louis and St. Louis County. 

Most recently, Theerman led the MSD’s management team in negotiating a $4.7 billion consent decree with the U.S. EPA for a multi-decade capital improvement and replacement plan. The district is working on the first phase of the program to update and rehabilitate its aging collections and treatment system. 

With Theerman’s leadership over the last 28 years, MSD has invested over $2.5 billion to remove more than 350 overflows from its system; the current phase of the project will address the remaining 350+ overflows over the next two decades. In addition, MSD is rehabilitating interceptors, pump stations and force mains, and making improvements to its wastewater treatment plants. 

“One of Theerman’s legacies at MSD was the development of a highly proficient and accountable management team, whose knowledge and skill in running a wastewater utility is second to none,” said James Buford and Michael Yates, chairman and vice chairman of the MSD board of trustees, in a statement on the MSD blog.  

With new Executive Director Brian Hoelscher taking over for Theerman earlier this year, MSD is staying centered on their management plan, engaging the community, using a range of technologies — both gray and green — and doing maintenance around the clock. 

For a full story on MSD, visit www.mswmag.com/editorial/2013/01/bringing_it_all_together.