For the second year running, the Fisherman Bay Sewer District received the “Outstanding Performance Award” from the Washington State Department of Ecology.

The award was a plaque and was sent to the district in September.

The award is given to districts in full compliance with all the Department of Ecology’s standards. The award-winning plants passed all environmental tests, analyzed all samples, turned in all state-required reports and avoided permit violations during 2009.

This is, as District Clerk Peggy Gordon said, a hard task to complete. The district had a constant flow of deadlines for administrative and lab work, “I dont think people know how much paper work and how much lab work we do on a weekly basis,” she said.

There were more rewards to be had for their work. In the district’s first state on-site audit (a six month analysis of the district’s accountability) they achieved full compliance for the past three years. The district was told by the auditors office that this was an impressive first audit.

The Fisherman Bay Sewer District takes care of everything related to waste water within the district boundaries. Waste water is not something the ordinary person thinks about during an ordinary day. Thus Gordon says the official recognition is welcomed, since their organization attends to something so important yet seems to fall under the wire of public attention. “There is more to flushing the toilet that people even realize.”