Director's Column
From the Source - Winter 1997
by G. Robert Kerr
Lockheed Plant Receives National Award
It is always a pleasure for the P2AD staff and I to provide positive recognition and publicity for companies in Georgia. One of our core strategies is to serve as a catalyst organization to encourage pollution prevention, and we hope that favorable recognition of Georgia businesses and industries will result in adoption of pollution prevention programs by even more companies.
In this column, I want to feature Lockheed Martin Aeronautical Systems' Marietta plant, which recently received a national award for its work in reducing ozone depleting chemicals. The 1996 EPA Stratospheric Ozone Protection Award recognized Lockheed Martin's efforts in two areas to eliminate the use of 1,1,1-trichloroethane (TCA).
One project involved switching to an aqueous cleaning solution which is approximately 75% water, to remove contaminants from fuel tanks on C-130 Hercules aircraft. Use of TCA to clean these tanks required a lot of personal protective equipment for employees, including a respirator with a supplied air line. The new aqueous cleaning process consists of simply heating the cleaner, and then spraying the diluted soapy solution into the tanks and rinsing. Respirators are no longer necessary for the workers assigned to this task. Rochelle Routman, pollution prevention coordinator for the plant, states: "Just by substituting the aqueous spray cleaner for TCA, we have eliminated 22 tons of ozone depleting chemicals and hazardous air pollutants from this operation each year. We've reduced health risks to our employees, done something good for the environment, and saved money."
The second project involved replacement of TCA in various hand-wipe applications. Because TCA was used for a wide range of general cleaning solvent applications, five replacements were identified instead of a single solvent substitute. The changes resulted in a reduction of 40 tons of ozone depleting compounds per year. Congratulations to Lockheed Martin for these significant pollution prevention efforts. We are very pleased to see a Georgia company receive national recognition.
Weyerhaeuser Project XL Finalized
I also want to recognize Weyerhaeuser Corporation's Flint River Pulp Operations. As you may recall from the Winter 1996 issue of From the Source, the Weyerhaeuser plant located in Oglethorpe, GA is a participant in EPA's Project XL (eXcellence and Leadership) program. This project allows Weyerhaeuser the flexibility to try alternative approaches to the traditional command and control regulations, while performing beyond the regulatory requirements. The formal agreement outlining how Weyerhaeuser will implement this project was signed in December 1996.
New Staff Member Begins Work with Division
I am pleased to announce the addition of Deanna L. Ruffer to the staff of P2AD. Deanna has twenty years of experience in the environmental and waste management fields. Prior to joining P2AD she was a Vice President with the international environmental consulting firm of Roy F. Weston, Inc.
She is a former local government solid waste manager and has assisted local and state governments throughout the United States, as well as private companies, in addressing their waste reduction and management needs.
She has served on the Executive Committee and International Board of the Solid Waste Association of North America. Deanna will be focusing her efforts initially on solid waste and recycling issues.
Upcoming Governor's Awards
On the state level, many of you will recall the articles in past issues regarding P2AD's pollution prevention recognition programs. The feature article of this newsletter describes one component of our recognition program, the Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention. The first set of these awards will be presented by Governor Zell Miller at the October 31 luncheon of the Governor's Conference on Pollution Prevention and the Environment. We look forward to reviewing your applications for this award during the summer. For more specific information about the program, please contact Amy McMillen of our staff at (404) 651-5120 or (800) 685-2443.
Newsletter Survey
In the Fall 1996 issue of From the Source, we included a written survey about the newsletter. Thank you very much to those of you who took the time to respond. If you lost the survey and would like another copy, please call us and we will get the survey to you. We are in the process of compiling the information we received, and will be incorporating many of your suggestions into future newsletters.
|
