MSD promotes openness to employees, the public and the media. Any employee may answer a reporter’s questions if he or she feels competent to do so. Citizen advisory groups have input into decision-making on MSD projects and programs. Each capital project includes meetings with the affected property owners. This policy occasionally demands a fair amount of work, but has paid off in credibility, public support, trust and fair reporting of MSD’s issues.

Employees are encouraged to be involved with community and environmental groups, government commissions and professional organizations. The staff volunteers for stream clean-ups and Earth Day events, provides speakers and arranges site visits.

MSD provides any citizens group that cleans a local stream with work gloves, garbage bags and disposal of the debris, including abandoned cars.

MSD works with local schools on environmental projects and underwrites traveling environmental performances through Operation Brightside.

Supervised and trained students from several environmental-technology high schools are employed at MSD in an on-going summer project to survey and sample every pipe discharging into county streams — a requirement of an EPA permit program — to confirm that they contain no sanitary waste.

MSD has also shared its knowledge and experience with its peers in the local region and throughout North America, South America, Europe, Africa and Asia.

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