The Army announced the winners of the 2024 Secretary of the Army Environmental Awards Program. The winning nominations will compete in the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards Program with winners announced on Earth Day, April 22, 2024.

The successes outlined in the nominations of these winners are examples of the many environmental successes that can be found throughout the Army environmental program. Army environmental professionals are constantly striving for ways to ensure environmental quality, restoration and conservation that sustain the mission and support the future.

Those recognized include:

·      Natural Resources Conservation (Small Installation Category) winner: Hawaii Army National Guard

·      Environmental Quality (Non-Industrial Installation Category) winner: U.S. Army Reserve. 81st Readiness Division

·      Sustainability (Industrial Installation Category) winner: Tobyhanna Army Depot

·      Environmental Restoration (Installation Category) winner: U.S. Army Garrison Fort Johnson

·      Cultural Resources Management (Large Installation Category) winner: Fort Bliss Cultural Resources Team

·      Natural Resources Management (Individual/Team Category) winner: Fort Carson Mission Sensitive Species Team

·      Environmental Quality (Individual/Team Category) winner: 88th Readiness Division Hazardous Materials Centralized Management Team

·      Environmental Restoration (Individual/Team Category) winner: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Deactivated Nuclear Power Plant Program Project Team

Tobyhanna Army Depot went on to win in the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards Program for Sustainability (Industrial Installation).

The wood auger compactor was installed in spring 2022. An inability to efficiently process and remove unusable pallets and boxes was an ongoing safety and environmental issue, taking up nearly 85% of the space at the Recycling Center. Once the compactor was operational, wood recycling loads increased between 3-4 times and eliminated all excess wood at the recycling yard.

Bilingual warning signs along the fence line of the unexplode ordnance area help communicate environmental hazards to the local environmental justice communities and keep our neighbors safe. Monroe County has a Spanish speaking population of approximately 25% of the total population.

The Tobyhanna Army Depot Environmental Branch Team organizes, leads and participates in several clean-ups throughout the year on the installation and in the surrounding community; which instills environmental stewardship both on and off the post. Paula Mesaris, Joe Mazza, Amalia Thomas, and Rich Daywood.
helped at the spring Adopt-a-Highway event

Sean Maynard inspects for a healthy brood pattern at one of the honey bee hives at the inactive landfill apiary. Protecting and maintain honeybee populations bolsters landscaping and wild flower areas on the installation. Honeybees also travel up to three miles to forage also supporting neighborhood gardens, local agriculture and adjacent state parks.

Over the past two years, since Tobyhanna Army Depot stabilized the apiary and added wildflower gardens across the installation, the Monarch butterfly population has increased, making this a common sight.

Wild flowers grow on the inactive landfill, a National Priorities Listed site that served little use prior to establishing the apiary and taking a low maintenance approach to managing the vegetation. The vegetation increases habitat for local pollinators in addition to the honeybees and decreases erosion issues on the landfill caps.