Given the unprecedented health crisis currently facing the
world, Veolia NA affirms continuity of its essential services as it
safeguards the health of its employees, customers and
communities within its footprint.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis, Veolia North America
has implemented a number of comprehensive continuity plans specific
to its footprint, underscoring the special role the company sees to
ensure there is uninterrupted service for its critical industries
during this period of uncertainty. As part of that commitment to
keep its operations running as usual, the company has released a
breakdown on their essential services platforms which focus
primarily on producing and supplying drinking water and treating
wastewater, preserving waste processing operations, in particular
collections and processing facilities, safeguarding energy
management activities in heating networks to ensure industrial and
tertiary facilities continue to operate and upholding its
activities processing hazardous waste, which is vital to
maintaining key industrial operations.
“Veolia’s mission is to provide services that are essential in
day-to-day life, like supplying drinking water, treating
wastewater, processing waste and providing energy services. During
this challenging time, our responsibility is even greater as needs
are more pressing. Our operatives are fully mobilized to continue
serving the country. Day in, day out, these everyday heroes are
on the ground so others can stay at home,” said Brian Clarke,
president and CEO at Veolia North America.
Given Veolia NA employees’ expertise in managing crises, even in
the most difficult and critical conditions, the company has
identified the following verticals as part of their COVID-19
response:
Supplying drinking water without interruption In order to
maintain the quality and availability of its services, Veolia North
America has activated a business continuity plan to protect its
operations. Its teams continue to guarantee the supply of perfect
quality drinking water in sufficient quantity, in all
circumstances. To make this possible, Veolia has organized its
operational and support services to continuously maintain the level
of staffing required to keep its activity ticking over.
Tap water is perfectly suitable for drinking. The water supplied
has systematically undergone various stages of treatment, including
disinfection, which is designed to eliminate all viruses, as well
as the coronavirus. The World Health Organization (WHO) has
confirmed that the virus has not displayed any resistance to the
standard treatment applied to drinking water.
Protecting the environment by treating wastewater Each
day, Veolia employees are working hard to keep communities safe and
continue providing essential services. This includes water
treatment professionals. They are working day in, day out, to
safeguard continuity in public water services, which also covers
wastewater treatment, because cleaning wastewater is essential to
uphold public hygiene and protect the environment.
While important in everyday life, it is imperative in a time of
crisis that people remember some things cannot be flushed down the
toilet. Waste items such as disinfectant wipes, tissues and all
paper other than toilet paper, dental floss, cat litter,
medication, cooking fat and even nappies are found in wastewater,
even though they should absolutely be thrown in the bin. A
nightmare for our plumbing systems, these items clog up pipes in
people’s homes and wastewater treatment facilities. Some users seem
to ignore the severity of the environmental and financial
consequences of disposing of waste in this way, which pollutes
natural environments and creates an imbalance in the ecosystem.
Processing waste to maintain public hygiene standards
With the support of public authorities, Veolia has put in place
business continuity plans for its waste management activities,
which aim primarily to maintain waste collection through specific
plans for each local area, and protect waste processing operations
and facilities, including waste-to-energy plants, which eliminate
waste while generating biogas, steam and heat for urban and
industrial networks.
To do so, Veolia is also doing everything it can to protect the
safety of its employees, especially those in the field who are
currently the most at risk. We are therefore focusing even more
actively on safety during these unprecedented times. Our employees
strictly comply with the protective measures, health regulations,
social distancing rules and professional risk prevention measures
already in place within the Group. Veolia also provides employees
on the ground with the protective equipment they require and
disinfects the cabins of waste collection trucks at the end of
every shift.
To support and continue to meet the needs of businesses that
remain operational and avoid fly-tipping, sorting centers
recovering non-hazardous industrial waste and professional landfill
sites will stay open with tighter sanitary measures in place.
Heating and energy for all It is essential we maintain
the continuity of service generating and distributing heating, hot
water and electricity for our local authority and industrial
customers. Our services concentrate on critical facilities as well
as the buildings and industries that have remained in
operation.
In accordance with current government directives, and in order
to safeguard the health of all people including employees, branches
will not be open to the public until further notice. On the ground,
technicians and on-call teams have also been laid up to work in
rotation. Interventions have been prioritized and the teams are
concentrating on priority duties, including treating, producing and
distributing drinking water, undertaking repair work on major leaks
and handling emergency call outs like water cut-offs and leaks
likely to damage property or harm people. Our call centers remain
open to handle such emergency calls. Other customer inquiries are
now being dealt with via our smartphone apps, email or our
website.
A crisis unit activated since the start of the epidemic
All operations carried out by Veolia North America on the ground
are coordinated by a crisis unit working at national and regional
level, in liaison with the Veolia Group global crisis unit.
About the Veolia group Veolia group is the global leader
in optimized resource management. With nearly 179,000 employees
worldwide, the Group designs and provides water, waste and energy
management solutions which contribute to the sustainable
development of communities and industries. Through its three
complementary business activities, Veolia helps to develop access
to resources, preserve available resources, and to replenish
them.
In 2019, the Veolia group supplied 98 million people with
drinking water and 67 million people with wastewater service,
produced nearly 45 million megawatt hours of energy and treated 50
million metric tons of waste. Veolia Environnement (listed on Paris
Euronext: VIE) recorded consolidated revenue of €27.189 billion in
2019 (USD 29.9 billion). www.veolia.com
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Matthew Burgard matthew.burgard@veolia.com
Veolia Environnement (EU:VIE)
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