Robins Air Force Base Environmental Advisory Board (EAB)

Fact Sheet A publication of Robins AFB Volume 3, Issue 1, August 2008

August 2008 EAB Meeting

BASE RECEIVES AWARDS FOR CONTINUED EXCELLENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS

The summer meeting of the EAB was held August 7, 2008, at Centerville City Hall, Centerville, Georgia. Two topics were briefed: “Pollution Prevention (P2) Success in the 402 Maintenance Wing at Robins AFB” and “Draft Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System for Federal Facilities.” This Fact Sheet provides a summary of the information and topics discussed in the meeting.

The next meeting will be held on November 6, 2008.

The Robins AFB EAB

Recognizing the importance of public involvement in environmental matters, Robins Air Force Base (Robins AFB) has established the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). The mission of the EAB is to encourage participation of surrounding communi-ties in the Base’s environmental programs and allow community members and other stakeholders to have meaningful dialog with Base officials. Specifically, the EAB serves to promote community awareness and obtain constructive community review, comment, and input on current and proposed actions associated with environmental programs at Robins AFB. The EAB supports the Air Force environmental mission of sustaining readiness, being a good neighbor, protecting human health and the environment for the Base and community, and making smart business decisions.

Inside this issue…

During the August 2008 EAB Meeting, Ms. Becky McCoy announced that Robins AFB has recently won several environmental awards including the:

• 2007 Air Force General Thomas D. White Pollution Prevention Award (Industrial);

• 2007 Secretary of Defense Pollution Prevention Award;

• 1st Place – 2008 White House Closing the Circle Award for the Environmental Management System; and

• Honorable Mention – 2008 White House Closing the Circle Award for the Green Procurement Program.

Ms. McCoy noted that following receipt of the 2007 General Thomas D. White Pollution Prevention Award at the Air Force Material Command (AFMC) Level, which was announced during the January 2008 EAB Meeting, the award package was submitted at the

(Continued on page 4)

Personnel from Robins AFB accepted the 2007 Air Force General Thomas D. White Pollution Prevention Award (Industrial) at the Pentagon in June 2008. Pictured from left to right are: Major General Del Eulberg (Air Force Civil Engineer, Washington D.C.); Mark Summers, Todd Lavender, Kim Kelley, Colonel Debra Bean, and Captain Kay Beigh of Robins AFB; Timothy Bridges (Director of Installations and Mission Support, Headquarters AFMC, Wright Patterson AFB); and William Anderson (Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Installations, Environment, and Logistics, Washington D.C.).

Improving Painting Efficiency ....................... page 2 Base Prepares for New Storm Water Permit .. page 3 Revised EAB Schedule ................................... page 4 Acronyms ....................................................... page 4 EAB Member List .......................................... page 4

Page 2 August 2008

MAINTENANCE WING IMPROVING PAINTING EFFICIENCY THROUGH INNOVATION

The 402 Maintenance Wing (MXW) at Robins AFB, which is responsible for Programmed Depot Mainte-nance of over 200 C-5, C-17, C-130, and F-15 aircraft each year, has been recognized with multiple awards for its strong Pollution Prevention (P2) culture (see article on Page 1). P2 is the process of reducing or eliminating waste at the source through modification of production processes, promoting the use of non-toxic or less-toxic substances, implementing conser-vation techniques, and/or reusing or recycling materi-als rather than putting them into a waste stream. Mr. Todd Lavender of the 402 MXW, briefed the EAB members on three recent P2 success stories at the Base including: (i) the transition from High Vol-ume, Low Pressure (HPLV) paint guns to the Air-Assisted Airless (AAA) Paint Delivery System for the C-130 aircraft; (ii) the transition from the Electrostatic Paint Gun technology to the Plural Component Paint Dispensing System (PCPDS) for the C-5 aircraft; and (iii) the transition from the Wash, Acid Etch, and Chromate Conversion Coating (WAEC3) to PreKote for the C-130 surface pretreatment process. Imple-mentation of these three new P2 initiatives has a total projected annual savings (including material, waste disposal, and labor costs) of approximately $3 Million based on the Base’s current production schedules. Other tangible benefits to the AAA paint guns and the PCPDS include enhanced labor productivity and ergo-nomics and superior paint finish quality. In the Pre-Kote process, the use of the chromate conversion coating is eliminated, which reduces worker exposure to the potentially harmful contaminant. The 402 MXW continually strives to modify their operations to make them more environmentally safe and friendly.

AAA Paint Delivery System Cost Savings per Aircraft. Total cost savings are approximately $1,347,500 per year based on annual average throughput of 50 C-130 aircraft.

PCPDS Cost Savings per Aircraft. Total cost savings are approximately $1,273,000 per year based on annual aver-age throughput of 25 C-5 aircraft.

PreKote Surface Pretreatment Cost Savings per Aircraft. Total cost savings are estimated at more than $435,000 per year based on annual average throughput of 50 C-130 aircraft. 4 Gun AAA Mobile Unit AAA Paint Gun

‐$5,000

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

Materials Waste Disposal Labor

WEAC3 Costs

PreKote Costs 

Projected Savings

Negligible

$0

$5,000

$10,000

$15,000

$20,000

$25,000

$30,000

Materials Waste Disposal Labor

HPLV Paint Guns Costs

AAA Paint Guns Costs

Projected Savings

$0 

$10,000 

$20,000 

$30,000 

$40,000 

$50,000 

$60,000 

$70,000 

Materials Waste Disposal Labor

Dedicated Pots Costs

PCPDS and AAA Systems Costs

Projected Savings

August 2008 Page 3

Amendments to the 1987 Clean Water Act called for states to implement a permit process that would re-quire urbanized areas to implement programs, poli-cies, and practices to manage pollutants that have a negative impact on our water quality (e.g., pesticides and herbicides; oils, fuels, and greases; litter; and sediment). About a year ago, the Base was desig-nated as an urbanized area by the Georgia Environ-mental Protection Division (GA EPD), and in July 2008, the GA EPD issued the Base a courtesy copy of the Draft Permit for Storm Water Discharges Associ-ated with Small Municipal Separate Storm Sewer Sys-tems (MS4) at Military Facilities that is being re-viewed by both the United States Environmental Pro-tection Agency and the Department of Defense. Mr. Russ Adams, the Base’s Water Quality Program Manager, briefed the EAB members of the history and requirements of the permit and the steps that the Base is taking to ensure that it is prepared to comply with the permit. The overall goal of the permit is to reduce pollutants from entering waterways from MS4s (i.e., the storm water conveyance system) to the “maximum extent practicable” using Best Manage-ments Practices (BMPs). To comply with this new permit, the Base must de-velop and implement a Storm Water Management Program (SWMP) and submit a Notice of Intent to the State. The SWMP is required to specify a minimum of two BMPs for each of the following six control measures: (i) public education and awareness; (ii)

ROBINS AFB PROACTIVELY PREPARES FOR NEW STORM WATER PERMIT

public involvement/participation; (iii) illicit discharge de-tection and elimina-tion; (iv) construc-tion site runoff con-trol; (v) post-construction storm water management; and (vi) pollution prevention/good housekeeping. For each BMP, measur-able goals must be developed to allow the GA EPD to determine compliance with the control measures. For example, for public education and awareness, the Base may state in the SWMP that it plans to prepare three articles related to storm water management in the Robins AFB Rev-Up each year. The MS4 permit will be an additional storm water permit for the Base, which currently complies with general permits for storm water discharges associated with construction activities and industrial activities, as well as a wastewater permit that monitors point source discharges from the Base’s industrial operations. Benefits of this new MS4 permit include increased environmental awareness; improved water quality in the waterways surrounding the Base, and reduced compliance risk for the Base’s other permits.

Mr. Russ Adams identifies the storm water outfalls from the Base that are currently monitored as point source discharges under one of the two existing storm water permits issued by the GA EPD.

Examples of BMPs that the Base has already implemented include (from left to right) post-construction detention ponds, warning labels on all storm water inlets that discharge to waterways surrounding the Base, and construction site run-off control measures.

Ms. Becky McCoy, Robins AFB Installation Co-Chair

Mr. Ron Carbon, Warner Robins Community Member

Mr. Broderick Lowe, Warner Robins Community Member

Dr. Linda Smyth, Macon Community Co-Chair

Ms. Marianne Golmitz, Warner Robins Community Member

Mr. Mike Maffeo, Macon Community Member

Dr. Dann Spariosu, U.S. EPA Region 4 Federal Facility, Hazardous Waste Div.

Mr. James Harden, Warner Robins Community Member

Dr. M.B. Neace, Macon Community Member

Ms. Mary Brown, GA EPD Hazardous Waste Management

Mr. John Harley, Centerville Community Member

Dr. Brian E. Rood, Macon Community Member

Mr. Fred Hursey, Robins AFB Chief, Programming Branch

Dr. Joyce Jenkins, Fort Valley Community Member

Dr. Joseph Swartwout, Fort Valley Community Member

Dr. Dan Callahan, Warner Robins Community Member

Mr. Stephen Johnson, Macon Community Member

Mr. Don Thompson, Macon Community Member

Environmental Advisory Board Members

Acronyms AAA Air Assisted Airless AFB Air Force Base AFMC Air Force Material Command BMP Best Management Practice GAEPD Georgia Environmental Protec-

tion Division HPLV High Pressure, Low Volume EAB Environmental Advisory Board MS4 Municipal Separate Storm

Sewer System MXW Maintenance Wing P2 Pollution Prevention PCPDS Plural Component Paint Dis-

pensing System SWMP Storm Water Management Pro-

gram WAEC3 Wash, Acid Etch, Chromate

Conversion Coating

For more information regarding the EAB, please contact

Ms. Charline Logue, Robins AFB EAB Manager, at (478) 327-9268

or visit http://www.robinseab.org

Air Force Level. After winning at the Air Force Level, it was then submitted to the Department of De-fense Level, which it also won. These two awards recognize Robins AFB for its efforts in improving air-craft paint processes and imple-menting green procurement prac-tices to protect the environment, while also recognizing significant cost savings. The White Housing Closing the Cir-cle Awards recognize outstanding achievements of Federal employees and their facilities for efforts result-ing in significant contributions to-ward promoting environmental stewardship. The awards are fo-cused on waste prevention, recy-cling, green purchasing activities, environmental management, green/sustainable buildings, electronics stewardship, alterative fuel use and

(Continued from page 1) reduced fuel usage. For these awards, the Base competed against all government agencies (e.g., De-partment of Energy, United States Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Agricultural, etc.). The Base is the only facility in the country to have received two awards in 2008. Members of the award winning teams from Robins accepted these awards during ceremonies at the Pentagon in Washington D.C. in June 2008. Ms. McCoy noted that receipt of these multiple awards demon-strates the Base’s continued efforts to strive for excellence in its envi-ronmental programs. The suc-cesses of both the Environmental Management and the Maintenance

August 2008 Page 4

Remaining 2008 Meetings - Thursday, November 6th

EAB SCHEDULE REMINDER

2009 Meetings

- Thursday, February 5th - Thursday, May 7th - Thursday, August 6th

- Thursday, November 5th

2010 Meetings

- Thursday, February 4th - Thursday, May 6th - Thursday, August 5th - Thursday, November 4th

Wing environmental programs would not be possible without the continued support of the Base and the local community.