Environmental Management System

The Port of Vancouver has successfully implemented an Environmental Management System (EMS) for its drinking water wellhead area.

The decision to implement the EMS was voluntary and not a regulatory requirement. Through uniform procedures, following ISO 14001 standards, the EMS has provided the port with a comprehensive management tool which provides confidence to port staff and regulators that our system is thoroughly administered to meet and exceed Washington Department of Health requirements.

The port performed an internal audit to verify that our EMS program conforms with ISO 14001 standards in October 2009 and have since successfully implemented all recommendations.

In addition to ensuring compliance with our drinking water standards the port has also enjoyed the following benefits:

• Minimized the risk of contamination within the drinking water wellhead area
• Limited potential impacts to the wellhead area
• Increased confidence that significant aspect areas (i.e. areas of high environ-mental/health risk) are properly managed
• Assured that appropriate emergency response measures are in place
• Increased safety for system operators
• Preserved institutional knowledge of system operations and compliance procedures
• Prioritized capital spending for higher risk areas within the drinking water wellhead