Richard S. Herd, Water Resources Manager for Allegheny Energy, has been recognized by the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) for carrying out the Company’s commitment to ensuring the protection of the environment’s natural resources.
Herd received the award for his work in Watershed Risk Management during EPRI’s recent Environment Sector Council Meeting.
"It is a pleasure to honor Rick Herd for his outstanding achievements in watershed risk management," said Kurt Yeager, EPRI’s Chief Executive Officer. "We are profoundly grateful to Rick for his dedication and hard work in this important field."
Allegheny Energy routinely works with organizations to preserve area watersheds. Herd was recognized for working with officials from Region 3 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to apply EPRI’s Watershed Analysis Risk Management Framework (WARMF) to watershed improvement projects in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. Through the use of the EPRI model, watershed associations and their stakeholders were able to more effectively develop water quality improvement plans for streams in their respective watersheds, with particular regard to the treatment of acid mine drainage.
"I am pleased to receive this honor because it helps to showcase how important environmental issues are to the energy industry in general, and demonstrates Allegheny Energy’s leadership and commitment to environmental enhancements in the areas we serve," Herd said. "EPRI’s watershed management model was successfully applied to projects in these two states and should serve as a framework for improving water quality conditions all around our region."
Herd joined Allegheny Energy in 1980 and has been recognized on several occasions for his accomplishments in water quality management and wastewater treatment. He chairs several national trade groups and is actively involved in a number of watershed organizations in the region. He earned a master’s degree in environmental engineering from the University of Virginia, a master’s degree in biology/ecology from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, and a bachelor’s degree in biology from Otterbein College.