Naval Hospital Bremerton Environmental Stewardship Recognized with Prestigious Award

By Douglas H. Stutz, Naval Hospital Bremerton Public Affairs

BREMERTON, Wash. (NNS) -- Naval Hospital Bremerton (NHB) was honored with a "Partner Recognition" award by Practice Greenhealth, the national membership organization for health care facilities committed to environmentally responsible stewardship, June 14.

The award was presented to Capt. Christopher Culp, NHB commanding officer, and recognized NHB for making significant progress toward environmental performance goals.

The honor is one of the organization's Environmental Excellence Awards given annually to honor environmental achievements in the health care sector.

"This award demonstrates our commitment to beneficiaries, staff and visitors in protecting and preserving our environment. I am honored to accept it on behalf of our command," said Culp.

As was the case last year, NHB's environmental stewardship at home also continues to impact communities overseas. By receiving this award, a full set of mercury-free digital thermometers and sphygmomanometers have been donated to seven hospitals in Bali, Indonesia in honor of the 2012 Environmental Excellence Award winners. Previously, 100 trees were planted in Tanzania on behalf of NHB which received the 'Making Medicine Mercury Free' award as part of Practice Greenhealth's 2011 Environmental Excellence Awards.

The Partner Recognition Award is for health care facilities that have begun to work on environmental improvements, achieved some progress, and have at least a ten percent recycling rate for the total waste stream.

Naval Hospital Bremerton is recognized not only for its 30 percent recycling rate, but also for the successful completion in expanding the pharmaceutical waste program to outlying clinics, training staff members in the Green Purchasing Program and for improving the dental mercury recovery operations.

According to complied figures by NHB's Environmental department, the main operating room (OR) is a prime example in recycling efforts at the command. Their surgical savings from recycling efforts for just three weeks in late 2011 was $11,508. Projected 2012 savings for the entire year in the main OR by recycling and usage of remanufactured items is estimated to be at $172,614.

The main OR used to throw away three, 30-gallon bags of garbage per total joint surgery case. Now they recycle three, 30-gallon bags of plastic and have just one 15-gallon bag that is now thrown away.

"It's a significant reduction in waste stream to the landfill. It's really an incremental amount of waste product, and we're staying on top of the process because it's easy to take for granted. We even recycle the instrument wrappings to use again," said Kevin Stevenson main OR nurse.

Compiled statistics at NHB show that the ongoing environmental awareness campaign of recycling is working. Recycled material (in tons) of paper and paperboard went from 52.25 in 2010 to 55 in 2011; plastic went from 15.53 in 2010 to 15.75; construction debris went from 2.55 in 2010 to 3.66 in 2011; metals and aluminum cans went from 1.90 in 2010 to 2.12 and batteries showed an increase from 0.43 in 2010 to 0.88 in 2011.

Concurrently, and as a direct result of the command's overall recycle efforts, trash disposed (in tons) fell from 198.50 in 2010 to 190.19 in 2011. Overall, average solid waste disposed by hospital staff per day fell from 1.18 pounds to 1.12 pounds per day.

"Our goal for 2012 solid waste disposal per person, per day, is one pound or under. We think that by continually being actively aware and getting as many people involved as we can, that we can achieve that," said Ramon Calantas, NHB environmental technician.

According to Calantas, the pharmaceutical waste program was implemented at the branch clinic level in 2011 after training clinic staff and coordinating the disposal of pharmaceutical waste with the area base (Naval Base Kitsap, Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, and Naval Station Everett) Hazardous Waste (HW) departments. This process took several months. Base HW staff had to review clinic processes and Wash. State Department of Ecology policy and regulations on pharmaceutical waste disposal prior to approving several areas in the clinics as satellite accumulation areas for hazardous waste. Collection areas in the clinics were added a few months after implementation as clinic staff identified additional areas were pharmaceutical waste was generated.

Pharmaceutical waste is defined as pharmaceuticals that cannot be used for their intended purpose or returned to the distributor for credit; expired/outdated repackaged medications; dropped pills, tablets, capsules; empty vials/carpules; partially used IV bags with medication; creams, lotions; and medicines left at the clinic by discharged patients. The patient info is removed prior to disposal and the clinic will attempt to contact patient prior to disposal.

"Empty plastic medication containers from the pharmacy are [also] recycled and the expired, unused medications are first presented to the Guaranteed Returns Vendor. If the vendor accepts them, we are given monetary credit. If they are rejected, we dispose them as pharmaceutical waste," added Calantas.

NHB's involvement in the Green Purchasing program has led to an increase in the command's efficiency in green procurement by using100 percent recycled content paper by deleting all other options from the supply catalog.

"Cindy Carlson, Material Management Department, sent some of her staff (her buyers) to the Department of Defense Course "Buying Green: A Multifunctional Approach to Pollution Prevention" training in early 2011. The course is about purchasing recycled content materials, energy and water efficient products, alternative fuel vehicles, biobased products, and environmental preferred products," Calantas said, noting that the staff check for green alternatives prior to buying requested material when any non-clinical supplies have to be ordered.

NHB's "Mercury Elimination Plan" started with an inventory of supplies, materials and equipment containing mercury; their locations, manufacturer and quantity, and an assessment of the feasibility of replacing with mercury-free alternatives as practicable. The plan also included requirements to ensure mercury free products are purchased, as well as involvement with maintenance and construction staff to ensure no mercury items are introduced during repairs or projects. Much of the progress made in the plan has been the focus on dental amalgams used in dental procedures now being captured and recycled.

"We have installed a combination of dental amalgam filter in tandem with mercury removal filters to exceed federal regulation for mercury in our wastewater," said Calantas. "We installed the same units in our newly deployed Mobile Dental Van currently at Everett. We invited Environmental Staff at Everett to showcase what we have installed in the van to comply with federal, state, and county regulations for wastewater disposal in the sewer systems. We continue to collect scrap amalgam from the dental clinics including the empty amalgam capsules. These are sent to a recycling company instead of disposing as hazardous waste."

The Mercury Elimination Plan has included having fluorescent lamps being replaced with green tipped, energy efficient, low mercury lamps; using digital radiology machines that eliminate any mercury products needed for wet X-ray processing

"Our goal is to eliminate all mercury from NHB as new alternatives become available." said Robert Mitchell, NHB environmental manager. "Fortunately, our industry and manufacturers have responded to this issue, and it's becoming easier to find safer, cost-effective alternatives. But to further minimize mercury's effect, Naval Hospital Bremerton has set standards that go beyond regulatory reductions."

Navy's Environment and Energy Programs Sail to Inner Harbor for Baltimore Navy Week

From Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division

BALTIMORE (NNS) -- The Navy's energy and environmental programs will be on display during Baltimore's Star-Spangled Sailabration and Navy Week activities from June 14-17.

The event is one of a series of activities planned to commemorate the War of 1812 bicentennial.

The Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division (N45) will have an exhibit aboard USS San Antonio (LPD 17) in the Baltimore Inner Harbor June 14-15 and at Fort McHenry during the air show June 16-17.

Visitors to the N45 exhibits can learn about Navy initiatives such as marine mammal protection, waste management at sea, and energy conservation. The exhibit aboard San Antonio will highlight specific environmental systems on Navy ships, including a plastic waste processor disk.

Information on how the Navy manages waste at sea and on base, along with free copies of Currents, the Navy's energy and environmental magazine; posters; worksheets for kids, and other free educational materials will be available to the public. The Navy's environmental quality mascot, EQ Pelican, will provide free photo opportunities for families during the weekend events.

"The War of 1812 was the conflict in which the U.S. Navy came of age, serving notice to the world that it was a force to be reckoned with. In the two centuries since, the U.S. Navy has become the world's preeminent naval power, not only in combat capability, but also in commitment to protect the natural environment," said John Quinn, N45's acting director. "Baltimore Navy Week is a wonderful opportunity for Baltimore visitors to learn about our nation's naval heritage and to discover the many things their Navy does every day to protect and preserve the environment for future generations."

To learn more about Baltimore Navy Week, visit http://www.navyweek.org/baltimore2012/index.html.

Panetta: Environment Emerges as National Security Concern

By Nick Simeone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON  – Climate and environmental change are emerging as national security threats that weigh heavily in the Pentagon’s new strategy, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta told an environmental group last night.

“The area of climate change has a dramatic impact on national security,” Panetta said here at a reception hosted by the Environmental Defense Fund to honor the Defense Department in advancing clean energy initiatives. “Rising sea levels, severe droughts, the melting of the polar caps, the more frequent and devastating natural disasters all raise demand for humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” Panetta said.

Panetta cited the melting of Arctic ice in renewing a longstanding call for the Senate to ratify the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea. More than 150 nations have accepted the treaty, which has been in force since the early 1990s, and a succession of U.S. government administrations have urged ratification.

Among other things, the convention would guarantee various aspects of passage and overflight for the U.S. military. Panetta urged his audience to use their influence to push for treaty ratification. “We are the only industrialized nation that has not approved that treaty,” he said.

The secretary also said he has great concern about energy-related threats to homeland security that are not driven by climate change.

“I have a deep interest in working to try to ensure from a security perspective that we take measures that will help facilitate and maintain power in the event of an interruption of the commercial grid that could be caused, for example, by a cyber attack which is a reality that we have to confront,” he said.

Budget considerations compound the issue, the secretary said. The Defense Department spent about $15 billion on fuel for military operations last year. In Afghanistan alone, the Pentagon uses more than 50 million gallons of fuel each month on average. Combined with rising gas prices, this creates new budget issues for the department, Panetta said.

“We now face a budget shortfall exceeding $3 billion because of higher-than-expected fuel costs this year,” he told the audience.

Having grown up in pristine Monterey, Calif., Panetta said, he has a lifelong interest in protecting the nation’s resources. He pledged to continue to keep the Defense Department on the cutting edge in the push for clean energy and environmental friendly initiatives, a chief reason why the Environmental Defense Fund honored the department.

“In the next fiscal year, we are going to be investing more than a billion dollars in more efficient aircraft and aircraft engines, in hybrid electric drives for our ships, in improved generators, in microgrids for combat bases and combat vehicle energy-efficient programs,” he said. “We are investing another billion dollars to make our installations here at home more energy-efficient, and we are using them as the test bed to demonstrate next-generation energy technologies.”

Misawa CPO 365 Helps Conduct Beach Cleanup

By Senior Chief Mass Communication Specialist Daniel Sanford, Naval Air Facility Misawa Public Affairs

MISAWA, Japan (NNS) -- Members of the Navy Misawa CPO 365 Program spent the morning cleaning up the local Misawa Fish Port, April 21.

The event was in coordination with the 42nd annual observance of Earth Day, a global event filled with activities highlighting environmental concerns and issues.

More than 30 Misawa Air Base chief petty officers (CPOs) and board-eligible first class petty officers worked together to help the community pick up trash and help beautify the areas in the local community.

"Were here this morning to help out our host country and Mother Nature," said Chief Navy Counselor Todd Wean, who hails from Sarasota, Fla. "The members of CPO 365 do monthly community relations projects together anyway, so it seemed like a good fit for us to combine our effort in the community, while also helping out the environment in the process."

The cleanup is always one of the largest environmental awareness projects in Misawa with several tons of refuse being collected and removed from the fish port.

"We have a great relationship with the local community, and they are very open, receptive and helpful to service members living here in Misawa," said Chief Cryptologic Technician Collection Erika Haws, who originally hails from New Orleans, and serves as the Navy Misawa CPO 365 community relations coordinator. "It's nice to return the favor, and help make this area even more beautiful than it already is."

Besides, the CPO 365 members, many more Misawa service and family members were also on hand to help with the cleanup. Misawa cub scouts, girl scouts and numerous other base groups and organizations joined CPO 365 in their effort.

"It's nice to see folks of all ages come on out from the base and take ownership in the local community," said Wean. "We love Misawa, and this is just one small way that we can make it an even better place to be stationed and live."

Earth Day: Naval Station Newport Celebrates with Base Clean

By Bob Krekorian, Naval Station Newport Public Affairs

NEWPORT, R.I. (NNS) -- Active duty personnel and DoD civilian employees at Naval Station (NAVSTA) Newport conducted a base-wide clean up of debris, litter and trash, and recyclables, April 16-20, in conjunction with Earth Day 2012.

The shoreline areas adjacent to Narragansett Bay was the focus of this year's clean up, scheduled daily, 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Available personnel from the various NAVSTA Newport departments and 12 tenant commands were assigned areas of responsibility. The base was divided into three areas to insure the entire installation received some attention: Coasters' Harbor Island, Coddington Point, and Coddington Cove.

The result of the clean up produced a total of 2,378 pounds of debris and litter. Recyclable material recovered included 1,120 pounds of wood; 221 pounds of bottles/cans/paper, and cardboard; and 500 pounds of scrap metal. Trash collected totaled 537 pounds.

The total amount of recyclables recovered, 1,841 pounds, helped contribute to a 77 percent diversion rate to local landfills.

"Our annual base clean up demonstrates that we can make a difference in showing our continued commitment to environmental stewardship," said Capt. Douglas Mikatarian, commanding officer, Naval Station Newport.

"By involving all possible NAVSTA departments and tenant commands, we achieved our goal of improving base appearance and keeping our shoreline free of debris and litter," Mikatarian said.

To accommodate academic scheduling at the Naval Academy Preparatory School, Newport, R.I., 200 Midshipman candidates started collecting debris, April 14.

Thirty Scouts and their adult chaperones from Boy Scout Troop 7, Middletown, R.I. and Boy Scout Troop 4, Riverside, R.I., are visiting Naval Station Newport, April 20-22, for an overnight encampment that includes a litter and debris clean up at Morale, Welfare and Recreation's Carr Point Recreation Area.

Last year, more than 2,800 pounds of debris were bagged during a similar weeklong clean up; recyclable material recovered totaled 1,700 pounds.