OWASA adopts resolution to honor Dan Okun

WHEREAS, Dr. Daniel A. Okun is an internationally acclaimed champion of the principle of selecting drinking water sources of the highest and best quality available and protecting these resources through vigorous and pro-active public management; and WHEREAS, Dr. Okun led a University-sponsored project in the 1960s which identified Cane Creek in southwestern Orange County as the preferred site of the Carrboro-Chapel Hill community’s primary water supply source, and which resulted in the construction of the Cane Creek Reservoir and Dam in 1989, thus providing a very high quality water source with a capacity of three billion gallons for our community; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Okun gave extensive expert testimony during the legal proceedings for the Cane Creek Reservoir project, and his support and assistance was invaluable to the success of the project; and

WHEREAS, the governing boards of the Town of Carrboro, Town of Chapel Hill, Orange County and OWASA have followed Dr. Okun’s principles of source water protection in adopting some of the most progressive watershed protection ordinances in the United States to ensure the long-term viability of the University Lake – Cane Creek Reservoir – Stone Quarry supply system; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Okun’s longstanding leadership regarding the use of reclaimed water for non-drinking purposes has greatly encouraged and supported the work of OWASA and the University to plan and implement a reclaimed water system project which will reduce our vulnerability to future droughts by reusing highly treated wastewater rather than drinking water for certain non-potable purposes on the University campus, and which will reduce the community’s water supply costs for decades into the future; and Dr. Okun is also a strong advocate for dual water systems, which are designed with adequate capacity to use reclaimed water for fire protection and enable drinking water systems to separately provide high quality drinking water for human consumption and other essential purposes; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Okun served as an outstanding member of the faculty of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill from 1952 to 1982, including 18 years as the Chair of the Department of Environmental Sciences and Engineering in the School of Public Health; and in 1999 the University created the Daniel A. Okun Distinguished Professorship of Environmental Engineering; and the University has also bestowed upon Dr. Okun the title of Kenan Professor, Emeritus; and

WHEREAS, Dr. Okun’s consultancy career has included service to local, State and Federal agencies in the United States, and internationally to the World Bank, the World Health Organization, and the U.S. Agency for International Development and in more than 80 countries around the world; and Dr. Okun has received numerous State, national and international awards, including the Eddy Award, the Fuller Award, the first Freese Award of the American Society of Civil Engineers, the Abel Wolman Award of Excellence from the American Water Works Association, the Fair Award of the American Academy of Environmental Engineers, the Billard Research Award of the New York Academy of Sciences, the Boyd Award of the Association of Metropolitan Water Agencies, and the Friendship Medal of the Institute of Water and Environmental Management in Great Britain;

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED by the Board of Directors of the Orange Water and Sewer Authority:

1. That the Board does hereby formally recognize, honor and praise the extensive public service, expertise and wisdom of Dr. Daniel A. Okun for his many achievements and his outstanding service to OWASA, our community, the State of North Carolina, our nation and the world.

Adopted this the 25th day of May, 2006.

____________________________ Michael A. Clarke, Chair ATTEST:

__________________________ Randolph M. Kabrick, P.E. Secretary

For further information please contact Rebecca Riggsbee Lloyd by email at Rebecca_Lloyd@unc.edu