Secretary of Defense William Perry kicked off the Department's observance of
Earth Day by announcing the winners of the 1994 Defense Natural Resources
Conservation, Environmental Quality, Pollution Prevention, Recycling and
Environmental Cleanup Awards during a ceremony held at the Pentagon today.
Since 1962, the Natural Resources Conservation Award has been presented to
individuals and installations who have successfully managed and conserved
living and natural resources on DoD lands. The 1994 installation winner was
the Naval Air Warfare Center, Patuxent River, Maryland. Patuxent River
established an Integrated Natural Resources Management Plan (INRMP). The plan
adopts and incorporates the concepts of biodiversity, conservation and
ecosystem management, and was implemented with the aid of a new, customized
Geographic Information System.
The individual winner of the Natural Resources Conservation Award was Valerie
Ann Morrill, US Army Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. Morrill skillfully combined
limited DoD resources, cooperating agencies, and volunteers to establish and
maintain natural and cultural resources programs.
Since 1973, the Environmental Quality Award has been presented to individuals
and installations who have worked to make significant progress in avoiding and
controlling air, water, land and noise pollution. The installation winner for
1994 was Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. To promote environmental awareness,
Robins AFB restructured the Environmental Compliance Assessment Management
Program into a continuous assessment process, resulting in continuous
improvement in the environmental program and fewer discrepancies. Other noted
accomplishments include reducing purchases of ozone depleting chemicals to 62
percent below the 1992 baseline and closing 66 percent of the installation
restoration program sites.
The individual winner of the Environmental Quality Award was James Van Orman,
Hill Air Force Base, Utah. Van Orman demonstrated outstanding leadership in his
involvement of the local community in the installation's environmental program.
His efforts have produced a 94 percent reduction of ozone depleting chemicals,
a 40 percent reduction in hazardous waste generation and a 55 percent reduction
in solid waste over the last two years.
This is the third year for the Pollution Prevention Award, which recognizes
individuals and teams for significant strides in reducing pollution at the
source. The installation winner for the Pollution Prevention - Industrial Award
was Kelly Air Force Base, Texas. The Kelly team has worked hard at reducing
the purchasing of hazardous materials and reducing the waste going to the
landfill. In the past two years, the base has reduced the purchase of ozone
depleting solvents by 97.6 percent and also reduced solid waste going to the
landfill by 48.5 percent. The base was the only federal facility selected for
the Clean Industries 2000 Honor Roll.
This year's installation winner for the Pollution Prevention- Non-Industrial
Award was the Naval Construction Battalion Center, Port Hueneme, California.
The accomplishments of the Naval Construction Battalion Center include the
conversion of 25 vehicles to compressed natural gas, reduction of air emissions
by 16 tons, elimination of 25 illicit discharges to the storm drain system,
reduction of solid waste disposed by 27 percent, and the reduction of the
hazardous material inventory by 1800 items ( a 40 percent reduction).
The installation winner for the Pollution Prevention-Acquisition Award is the
Environmental Management Team (EMT) for the Project Manager, Abrams Tank
System, Program Executive Office, Armored Systems Modernization, Warren,
Michigan. The EMT developed and implemented an Environmental Management
Program that has made concern for the environment a way of life in Program
Manger (PM) Abrams. Pollution prevention programs were initiated with major
contractors with the virtual elimination of cadmium and chromium from the
vehicle's design.
Beginning this year, the Secretary of Defense recognized installations and
individuals in two new environmental categories, recycling and environmental
cleanup. Recycling Awards were presented to the installation and individual
that made significant achievements in recycling programs. The Environmental
Cleanup Award was presented to the installation that made significant
achievements in cleanup programs, such as accelerated cleanup, use of
innovative technologies and developing partnerships.
The installation winner for the Recycling Award was Seymour Johnson Air Force
Base, North Carolina. Seymour is credited with being the first DoD
installation to start an active yard waste composting program and to start a
bioremediation soil composting program for soil that was contaminated with
fuel. Seymour is recycling at a rate of 47 percent. They composted 3 million
pound of yard waste and saved $200,000 by composting over 3,500 tons of
contaminated soil.
The individual winner for the Recycling Award was Mr. Charles Penwell,
Tobyhanna Arm Depot, Pennsylvania. As a direct result of Mr. Penwell's
efforts, the Depot's solid waste steam was reduced by 73 percent. This
resulted in 11,340 tons of recyclable material being collected, disposal cost
savings of over $1,067,700 and revenues from the sale of the material of over
$388,400.
The Naval Air Station, Whidbey Island, Washington was the winner of the first
Environmental Cleanup Award. Whidbey Island developed a model
multi-disciplinary approach for the remediation/restoration of it's
Installation Restoration Program sites. Accomplishments include creating a
wetland habitat out of a National Priority List site; streamlining the
Hazardous Waste Evaluation Study protocol; using innovative methods to save
time and money on environmental reporting requirements.
"On this the 25th Anniversary of Earth Day, I consider it a great honor for me
to present the annual Department of Defense Environmental Awards. It is no
surprise to me how the Armed Forces have emerged as national leaders in
protecting and preserving the lands, airways, and waters we use to train and
operate. I am very proud of the men, women and installations recognized here
today," said Secretary Perry.
Selection of the winners for these awards was made by prominent non-DoD
officials actively involved in environmental, natural resource conservation,
pollution prevention, recycling, and cleanup programs.
