ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - To many it will come as a surprise to find out that this year will be the 40th anniversary for Earth Day. The Joint Munitions CommandAca,!a,,cs installations plan activities for Earth Day, and are working on ways to make their installations greener and more environmentally friendly.
How Earth Day Got Started
Earth Day was originally known as the National Environment Teach-In, but most of the country wanted a name more easily remembered. The term Earth Day was gaining popularity, and like the birthdays we all celebrate, it was to occur every year. April 22 was the day chosen to remind us to take care of this big blue rock we call home.
The first Earth Day took place on April 22, 1970. On that initial Earth Day, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate for a healthy, sustainable environment. It appeared Earth Day was off to a great start; many great environmental policies, laws and regulations were established in the 70Aca,!a,,cs.
It wasnAca,!a,,ct until Earth DayAca,!a,,cs 20th anniversary in 1990 that celebrations went global with participants in more than 140 countries, mobilizing 200 million people, lifting the status of environmental issues onto the world stage, and giving a huge boost to recycling efforts worldwide.
Ten years later in 2000, hundreds of millions of people in 184 countries celebrated the 30th anniversary of Earth Day with a focus on clean and renewable energy. The world saw one of the largest Earth Days to date in 2007, with an estimated billion people participating in the activities in thousands of places around the world.
JMC Installations Practice Pollution Prevention
As of December 2009, all JMC facilities met International Standards Organization 14001:2004 standard, ensuring they have a management system in place that minimizes harmful effects on the environment.
Some of the installations have taken this a step further and are third party certified (a declaration by their suppliers they meet ISO requirements) for some portion of their facilities. Holston Army Ammunition Plant, Scranton Army Ammunition Plant, Tooele Army Depot and Pine Bluff Arsenal are third party certified fence-to-fence. This shows that the Army believes in sustaining the environment and is diligently working on reducing its environmental boot print.
Installation Green Initiatives
Aca,!Ac Holston AAPAca,!a,,cs contractor, BAE Systems, is having an environmental award lunch on Earth Day and will give Earth Day T-shirts to BAE personnel who have made significant environmental contributions to the installation.
Aca,!Ac Crane Army Ammunition Activity, in conjunction with their host Naval Support Activity Crane, Naval Facilities Engineering Command Midwest, and Naval Surface Warfare Center Crane, will be holding an open house on Earth Day. The open house will be held at the newly redesigned Natural Resources Center and will consist of various displays detailing Crane's efforts in the areas of environmental compliance, pollution prevention, natural resources management, energy conservation and Crane's Environmental Management System. Many Crane personnel will also be participating in cleanup efforts at several of the roadsides inside the base.
Aca,!Ac Blue Grass Army Depot is planning to police around buildings and along roadways removing trash and debris. The Muddy Creek watershed, which flows through the depot, will be receiving additional cleaning at each of the six creek crossings and seedlings will be planted to control erosion. Director of Services and Support/Environmental Divisions will be supplying dogwood tree seedlings for employees to plant at the depot or at home. Blue Grass is also organizing areas to establish and promote paper, cardboard, plastics and aluminum can recycling stations.
Aca,!Ac Scranton AAP started a new process last February that collects rainwater from its production shop roof and uses it for its production cooling tower. The Energy Star rated and Cool Roof Rating Council certified roofing membrane system will supply the production shop cooling tower, reducing water use and sewer discharge by a projected 2.5 million gallons a year. The 2.2 acres of roofing membrane collects the rainwater and stores it in three 23,688 gallon storage tanks. General Dynamics is also looking at how they can feed two additional cooling towers with rainwater to reduce costs even further as well as reduce the impact on the environment.
Aca,!Ac Lake City Army Ammunition Plant has four projects underway
Aca,!Ac Recycling. During the last year, Lake City has worked hard to reduce its overall dependence on landfills. There have been a number of programs to start recycling, reusing, and reducing high volume, high tonnage items. In 2009 Lake City recycled:
Aca,!Ac 1,108,000 pounds of cardboard
Aca,!Ac 754,200 pounds of wood
Aca,!Ac 215,400 pounds of paper
Aca,!Ac 11,200 pounds of plastic bottles
Aca,!Ac 1,590 pounds of aluminum cans
Starting in early 2010, Lake City began striving to make dramatic reductions in tonnage going to the landfill. Lake City is doing this by identifying wastes produced in each area of the plant and finding ways to recycle. The pilot area for this program was ATKAca,!a,,cs metal stamping business. In four weeks, the landfill was reduced by 97 percent.
Aca,!Ac Green Cleaning Technology. The Lake City AAPAca,!a,,cs garage has reduced its solvent usage by almost 50 percent since it started using a solvent-free parts cleaner in 2009. The cleaning unit is a safe, efficent and sustaninable solution for cost-effective green cleaning technology. It eliminates hazardous chemical waste and breaks down oil, grease and other hydrocarbons. Because the unit was successful, another operation at Lake City has placed an order for a one.
Aca,!Ac Wood Scraps to Mulch. Lake City started a recycling project last June to converts its wood scrap into landscaping mulch. Until recently mountains of scrap wood crates and pallets have been crushed and transported to a landfill for disposal. Now a company removes the metal banding and nails and shreds the scrap wood into the mulch. Since the project started Lake City has recycled 414 tons of wood scrap at a cost savings of $7,880.
Aca,!Ac Natural Cartridge Cleaner. Lake City has switched from using a lacquer thinner to walnut shells for cleaning 5.56mm and 7.62mm cartridges. Use of the lacquer thinner causes volatile air emissions and produces volatile organic compounds, while the walnut shells do not.
While it is important to celebrate Earth Day on April 22, we must remember to do our part to reduce, reuse, and recycle every day. JMCAca,!a,,cs installations are committed to being good stewards of the environment through recycling, green technology, pollution prevention and energy conservation.
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