The Fort Meade Environmental Division's Installation Restoration and Military Munitions Response Program team was presented with the Army's highest award for outstanding performance and excellence in environmental stewardship, sustainability and leadership.
Hershell Wolfe, deputy assistant secretary of the Army for Environment, Safety and Occupational Health, presented to George Knight and the other members of the environmental team with the 2013 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Environmental Restorations in a brief ceremony on April 23 at the Pavilion.
"[The award] is presented to those installations on the forefront of the Army's efforts to protect and sustain the environment," Wolfe said in his remarks. "Award winners stand out as leading examples of how the Army protects human health, while ensuring mission readiness and support."
The team's mission is to protect the installation and surrounding communities from potential human health and environmental hazards caused by historical operational activities. Their work includes removing contaminated soil at a former pesticide shop adjacent to the Directorate of Emergency Services and excavating methane-generating buried trash at the Manor View dump site.
Over the last two years, the team investigated more than 130 acres of land previously suspected of being contaminated, and determined it was available for reuse.
The team also is credited with saving the Army more than $17.5 million dollars by using innovative scientific and management techniques.
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