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Vision,
uncompromising focus on the details, and command attention
make Fort Irwin's environmental stewardship a process
rather than a collection of programs.
By
Muhammad Bari
What
began in 1940 as the Mojave Anti-Aircraft Range in the
California high desert, Fort Irwin has gone through
a number of evolutions on its way to becoming the Department
of the Army's National Training Center (NTC) with more
than 1,000 mi.2 for maneuver. Pitting soldiers
against the harsh desert environment occupied by a determined
and formidable opposing force, just as during World
War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, and most recently
Operation Iraqi Freedom, the NTC and Fort Irwin train
units to fight and win on the battlefield.
This
rigid adherence to the base's mission doesn't end with
trainings but carries through to its approach to environmental
stewardship, characterized by an across-the-board process
that treats each element cradle-to-grave as part of
a definable whole. The process is most easily shown
in the management of hazardous materials, where the
materials are issued, monitored, collected, and either
repackaged or disposed as part of the base's HAZMAT
program. The same approach applies to each element of
the environmental management program, whose superiority
was recognized in 2001 by the Secretary of the Army's
Environmental Quality Award and again in 2002 by the
Secretary of the Army's Pollution Prevention Award.
Waste
Management and Resource Recovery
Fort
Irwin is among the first installations that have exceeded
the Department of Defense (DoD) goal of 40% diversion
by 2005 of all solid waste currently generated. Fort
Irwin also exceeded the California requirement to reduce
the 1990-baseline disposal of nonhazardous solid waste
by 50% by the year 2000. Fort Irwin diverts solid waste
from the landfill by processing it through the installation's
recycling center and composting facility.
Fort Irwin
has a state-of-the-art commingled recycling program,
providing blue containers to housing occupants and offices
to deposit all recyclables, which are then sorted at
the recycling center. As shown in Figure 1, this has
resulted in an increase of more than 400% for material
being recycled from 1997 to 2002.
Fort Irwin
recycling management continuously provides training
to enhance public awareness of recycling procedures.
The Environmental Division publishes articles in the
post newspaper and celebrates Earth Day and America
Recycles Day with the elementary schools. Fort Irwin
is a remote installation. The cost to deposit 1 ton
of trash in the Fort Irwin onsite Class III landfill
is $178. The cost to deposit 1 ton of trash in an offsite
public landfill is $220. The cost to recycle 1 ton of
trash is $78. In addition to the sales, the overall
cost savings from the recycling program includes the
cost avoidance of reduced landfill operation, which
was $384,694 in fiscal year 2000, $430,000 in FY 01,
and $358,000 in FY 02. Figure 2 shows the decrease in
landfill disposal relative to an increasing population
base.
Compost
Facility
The Fort
Irwin Compost Program spans three areas of environmental
concern: solid wastes, air quality, and water conservation.
As the NTC, Fort Irwin annually produces around 20,000
yd.3 of woodwaste in the form of pallets,
ammo boxes, and target scrap. In the past, this wood
was periodically burned, which generated smoke for months.
In addition, the Fort Irwin community annually produces
about 10,000 yd.3 of greenwaste, which was
formerly stockpiled at an unauthorized dumpsite on-post.
The wastewater treatment plant produces about 900 tpy
of Class A sewer sludge, which was formerly landfilled
at a cost of $178/ton.
The compost
facility resulted from Fort Irwin's desire to dispose
of these wastestreams in an environmentally friendly
manner. Currently operating under a pilot program, it
uses an in-vessel technology known as the Ag-Bag system,
which places the composting material inside a 500-ft.-long,
10-ft.-diameter plastic bag. Air is introduced into
the bag to control the temperature. The wet composting
material is put in the bags, and the moisture is held
in for the duration of the processing. As a result,
water resources are conserved. During FY 00FY 02, Fort
Irwin diverted 2,600 tons of sewage sludge and 60,000
yd.3 of woodwaste, or 100% of these wastestreams.
Facilities
management functions, including waste management, recycling,
and composting, are handled by Johnson Controls, the
world's largest facilities management services provider.
Hazardous-Waste
Minimization
 The
NTC and Fort Irwin have proactively reduced hazardous-waste
costs by implementing a comprehensive integrated approach
to waste management. Under this approach, pollution
prevention measures are incorporated into daily activities
at several levels across a broad range of multifunctional
users. The result of this cradle-to-grave management
philosophy has been a substantial annual cost savings
of approximately $2 million to the installation. This
accomplishment has improved mission readiness and soldier
quality of life without compromising environmental concerns.
Hazardous
Material Control Center (Hazmart). The Hazmart
effectively reduces waste generation and improves compliance
by centralizing the purchase, storage, distribution,
and management of hazardous material. Since implementing
the Hazmart program, Fort Irwin has greatly reduced
the volume of hazardous materials stored at individual
shops and maximized material turn-in/reuse options.
Table 3 summarizes the savings in terms of the value
of free issue items utilized by the NTC and rotation.
Antifreeze
Recycling. Fort Irwin initiated an antifreeze
recycling program in 1997. Table 3 summarizes the cost
savings achieved through this program.
Rerefined
Oil. In September of FY 00, Fort Irwin implemented
the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Closed Loop Rerefined
Oil Program (CLROP). Used oil is consolidated by the
installation hazardous waste service contractor and
then is picked up by the DLA contractor for rerefining
at no cost. The rerefined oil is then purchased from
the DLA contractor, through the Hazmart. Hazmart personnel
repackage the bulk material into customer-requested
quantities to facilitate standard operations. The program
is saving approximately $50,000 a year through the reduction
of used-oil disposal and the reduced price of purchasing
rerefined products.
Environmental
Education
The NTC and
Fort Irwin have established a Hazardous materials/Waste
Handler's (HM/WH) Training Program. This program is
required for all unit environmental awareness officers,
hazardous materials/waste managers, hazardous materials/waste
handlers, and their alternates. The training consists
of an initial 40-hour course, with an eight-hour annual
refresher class. Another training program has been established
for all incoming rotational environmental clean-up teams
to ensure that they receive hazardous-materials/waste-spill
response training required by the State of California.
Fort Irwin has also developed a community education
and public awareness program that includes educational
displays and public educational brochures, such as soldier
pocket books and brochures on endangered species, air
quality, cultural resources, and native wildlife.
Environmental
Stewardship Has Rewards
Fort
Irwin consistently has set goals beyond the minimum
and continues to raise its performance levels. Fundamental
milestones, such as exceeding the DoD 40% solid waste
reduction goal, meeting the US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM)
zero-defect policy for Notices of Violations (NOVs)
and regulatory noncompliance during a five-year period,
realizing a 30% reduction in hazardous-waste disposal
costs, and achieving water-use savings of 44 million
gal./yr. and energy-use savings of 166,000 kWh/yr. have
been attained. Through the development and implementation
of innovative management and educational programs, Fort
Irwin demonstrates true commitment to continual improvement
in environmental quality.
Muhammad
Bari is chief of the environmental division and directorate
of public works for Fort Irwin and the National Training
Center.
MSW
- July/August 2003
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