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JBSA News
NEWS | Oct. 4, 2012

Civil engineers: No room for environmental complacency

By Alex Salinas Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph Public Affairs

Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph implements a number of Air Force-mandated strategies to prevent pollution and promote a cleaner environment. One tool in executing the strategy is the carefully-monitored Hazardous Materials Management Program, which Tiffany Evans, Randolph Hazardous Materials program manager, called "the cradle" of hazardous material procurement and disposal.

The day-to-day operation of the program is managed by Michelle Benavidez and Luis Rosadoayala, 902nd Civil Engineer Squadron members.

In compliance with Air Force Instruction 32-7086, the hazardous materials team inspects numerous shops to ensure Randolph meets Hazardous Material Management Program objectives with the products it uses.

"We see and track every hazardous material brought onto this installation by government entities and civilian contractors," Benavidez said. "We can identify products that can be replaced with greener ones and recommend those products to the user."

Take the 571st Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Operating Location A, an organization on Randolph that repairs T-38s.

"The 571st AMXS uses an environmentally preferable and recycled content product to clean up hazmat spills," Rosadoayala said. "The product's absorbent technology encapsulates a spill as soon as it touches the liquid so there's no need to wait before finishing cleanup. It contains microorganisms that bioremediate hydrocarbons into carbon dioxide and water."

The use of bio-friendly products, especially on aircraft, is also practiced by the 12th Flying Training Wing.

Two materials 12th FTW shops air blast to remove paint from T-1, T-6, T-38 and F-16 aircraft are plastic and corn starch, which have been deemed environmentally safe by the Air Force.

However, during the process of aircraft paint removal, Randolph produces excess product - essentially leftover plastic and corn starch - but there is a "green" plan for that: recycling.

John Harris, 12th FTW maintenance technician, did research to discover Randolph generates about 20,000 pounds of plastic and 28,500 pounds of corn starch annually that is recycled.

The excess plastic is shipped to Canton, Ohio, where it is manufactured into products such as simulated marble tiles and dog bowls. Surplus corn starch is sent to Hannibal, Mo., where it is used to make a biodegradable absorbent product, Harris said.

Evans said the presence of executive orders that bear in mind protecting the environment bolsters the impact of pollution prevention, or P2.

Evans cited a monthly presentation she gives to multiple organizations called "Green Purchasing for Government Purchase Cardholders."

"If we, as stewards of government funds, push the use of greener products, we're making our environment safer," she said, especially those making government purchase card transactions. "The more green products we incorporate into our processes, the less negative impact we leave on our environment."

"There is no room for environmental complacency among government employees," Evans said.

Evans plans to promote the use of more green products on Randolph and said the P2 program is in the preliminary stages of designing a green product exposition - the idea being that organizations will have the opportunity to see various green products available to them in markets.

Using green products will not only have an impact on hazardous waste disposal, but it also may save the military dollars it would spend disposing of hazardous waste otherwise, Evans said.

To view the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment's guide to green procurement, visit the eDash website https://eis.af.mil/cs/edash/aetc/randolph/default.aspx.