Feb 16 2008
A range of accomplishments, from finding a way to clean and re-use soil for military construction projects to sharing the history of archeological sites on Army property, earned the Army's highest honor for environmental stewardship for fiscal 2007.
The Pentagon announced the nine winners of the fiscal 2007 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award in February.
James G. Arnold, an environmental restoration manager at the Oregon Army National Guard won the Environmental Restoration, Individual category after advancing a plan to use new soil washing technology for range soil remediation. Redstone Arsenal, Ala., won Cultural Resources Management, Installation, for its innovative preservation efforts.
Four other installations and three teams will also receive fiscal 2007 Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards. These include Fort Ruger, Hawaii; Fort Hood, Texas; Camp San Luis Obispo, Calif.; the Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, Conn.; the Pennsylvania Army National Guard Natural Resources Conservation Team; the U.S. Army Garrison Daegu, Korea, Environmental Quality Team; and the M115A2/M116A1 Simulator Perchlorate Replacement Team.
Fort Ruger won the award for Environmental Restoration, Installation, for developing their firing ranges into a state park by excavating and cleaning contaminated soil and hydroseeding the land with native grass species.
Fort Hood exceeded the Army Sustainable Development and Design policy by planning all new construction projects to meet Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, earning the Environmental Quality, Non- Industrial Installation award.
Cultural resources staff at Camp San Luis Obispo, California Army National Guard, partnered with the Civilian Conservation Corps to remove purple star thistle, an invasive plant species jeopardizing the survival of the federally and state endangered Chorro Creek bog thistle; and won the Natural Resources Conservation, Small Installation, award.
When the Aviation Classification Repair Activity Depot, Connecticut Army National Guard, Conn., eliminated the toxic paint compound, chromium-6, from the aircraft coating process, they not only reduced human health risks, they abolished the need for leak-prone waste material underground storage tanks, earning them the Pollution Prevention, Industrial Installation award.
The Natural Resources Conservation Team, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, won the National Resources Conservation, Team award, in part by increasing the number of off-limits regal fritillary butterfly habitats, thus increasing the estimated population of the endangered butterfly to 1,000.
Implementing a successful, qualitative recycling program, cited by the Korea Region Deputy Director as a standard for other installations, earned the Environmental Quality Team, U.S. Army Garrison, Daegu, Korea, the Environmental Quality, Team award.
The M115A2/M116A1 Simulator Perchlorate Replacement Team, based at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Md., won the Excellence in Weapon System Acquisition, Team award for finding an oxidizer replacement for the traditional accelerator perchlorate.
Winners of the Army environmental awards go on to compete for the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards.