88th Readiness Division environmental team presented with 2024 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Environmental Quality, Individual/Team

Amy Borman, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health made a visit Nov. 21 to Fort McCoy to present the 2024 Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Environmental Quality, Individual/Team to the 88th Readiness Division’s Hazardous Materials Centralized Management Team.

Edward Tebo, 88th Readiness Division Environmental Division chief, accepted the award from Borman in a ceremony in building 60 at Fort McCoy. Division officials said this the first time in five years the U.S. Army Reserve has been recognized in the environmental award selection process.

The award shows Tebo led a team across the 19-state region, building a data base so they could access all their materials with QR codes. The development of a centralized hazardous material database by location provided hazardous material inventories for more than 3,000 specific flammable cabinets, rooms, cages, and other hazardous material storage areas.

In the awards package, available at https://www.denix.osd.mil/awards/denix-files/sites/12/2024/04/EQ-T-88RD-Narrative_Final_CH.pdf, it specifies the work from a Hazardous Materials Program Development Tiger Team.

“This nomination for Environmental Quality, Individual/Team is for the development of a hazardous material management program tailored to the unique demographics of all (Army Reserve) readiness divisions by a Tiger Team of members comprised of all four 88th Readiness Division Environmental Division branches, Department of the Army civilians, Gryphon Environmental, LLC service contract employees, the G4-Directorate of Logistics, and the Safety and Occupational Health Office,” the awards package states.

The package further states the 88th Readiness Division Environmental Division chief determined that a centralized database of all hazardous material used by the division, sortable by unit/organization, site, and each specific storage location, would be a first step in resolving the issues related to hazardous material inventory management.

“He established a Hazardous Material Program Development Tiger Team and challenged them to devise a process where any hazardous material at any facility would have access to safety data sheets for every product in the hazardous material inventory,” the awards package states. “To accomplish this the team had to literally ‘think outside the box’ to create a process that is capable of functioning beyond a typical single installation fence line.

“To ensure efficient and accurate establishment and effective operation of a new database, the Environmental Division chief chose VelocityEHS safety data sheets and Chemical Management Software, an off-the-shelf database system already populated with hundreds of thousands of safety data sheets, flexible hierarchical storage frameworks, ad hoc reporting, and an Emergency Planning and Community Right-To-Know Act module,” the awards package further states. “Next, all members of the e Environmental Division had to be engaged to do the data collection and entry, as well as the awareness campaign in addition to their normal duties. Personnel in the 88th Readiness Division Environmental Division understood the importance of better managing hazardous material and volunteered from across the three primary units.”

Team members recognized as contributing members for the award include Tebo; Tim Gelhaus, 88th Compliance Branch chief; Dave Torgersen, Gryphon Environmental, LLC, program manager; Katherine O’Neill, pollution prevention, Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act and hazardous materials program manager; Martin Pansch, storage tanks and spill prevention control and countermeasures program manager; Steven Bragg, integrated pest program manager; Kristin Cleveland, toxic substances program manager; Michelle Holtom, regional environmental protection specialist; Tony Bridges, regional environmental protection specialist; Andrea Pawlik, regional environmental protection specialist; Molly Stearns, regional environmental protection specialist; Todd Nestegard, regional environmental protection specialist; regional environmental protection specialist; Jennifer Cummings, regional environmental protection specialist; Jennifer Allen, regional environmental protection specialist; Sara Hecht, regional environmental protection specialist; Amy Lord, regional environmental protection specialist; Imelda Kelley, regional environmental protection specialist; Laura Achterberg, regional environmental protection specialist; Jason Sikorski, 88th G4/Directorate of Logistics regional maintenance manager; Brian Russell, 88th safety and occupational health manager; and Joshua O’Neill, systems consultant.

With specific accomplishments, thanks to this team’s work, “personnel who use hazardous material can access all safety data sheets and their hazardous material inventories for their location via a Quick Response, or QR, code and cell phone, providing fast access of hazardous material, which is particularly useful in emergencies. Readily available inventories save time searching for hazardous material and where to return it, freeing up time for other, more direct mission-related activities.”

Borman described the significance of the award and what the team accomplished after the award presentation.

“I appreciate that you’ve given me (this) opportunity, and you’re the first … award recipients under what I hope will be many more opportunities for us to get out and to really thank you for everything that you do,” Borman said. “The Army doesn’t function without a highly functioning environmental team. And (it’s) not often that you get recognized as an environmental team for the work that you do.

“This award really just gives the opportunity to express and share our appreciation with you for all of the great things that you’re doing, not only for Fort McCoy, but for the Army in general,” Borman said. “And the lessons that we’re going to be able to learn from the work that we did but with … everything that you’ve done with your hazardous materials program, those are lessons that we’re going to be able to share across the Army and results that we’re going to be able to share across the Army. And for those of you who are not tracking and have not seen, this team was responsible for putting into place a hazardous materials management program that reduced the number of issues and violations across the 88th by over 80 percent, which is significant.”

Borman added, “They should be awarded, applauded, and really recognized for all of the work that they've done. … These awards are really important and they are the Secretary of the Army’s environmental awards and they are given each year … to teams of individuals who do amazing work with regards to … innovative work with regards to maintaining our environmental programs within the Army. So kudos to you, applause to all of you, and congratulations on behalf of not only myself, … and on behalf of the Secretary of the Army for doing the work that you’re doing. And I would encourage you to keep it up, keep innovating, and keep Fort McCoy on the right path. Because I think there are many, many more things to come based on the systems that you have put into place and the work that you’ve done. It's clear that you care and are concerned about Fort McCoy, about the exposures, and about ensuring that readiness continues to be maintained and that we can continue to honor his honor, which is where we're all headed.”

Read more about the 88th Readiness Division by visiting https://www.usar.army.mil/88thRD or https://www.dvidshub.net/unit/88RSC.

Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” on Flickr at https://www.flickr.com/photos/fortmccoywi, on X (formerly Twitter) by searching “usagmccoy,” on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/fortmccoywi, and on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/@fortmccoy.

Also try downloading the My Army Post app to your smartphone and set “Fort McCoy” or another installation as your preferred base. Fort McCoy is also part of Army’s Installation Management Command where “We Are The Army’s Home.”

(Article prepared by the Fort McCoy Public Affairs Office and the 88th Readiness Division Public Affairs Office.)