[CPEO-MEF] Army post is Bay's friend

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Virginia
FREE LANCE-STAR
Army post is Bay's friend
Fort A.P. Hill aims for balance between its mission and the environment
By Rusty Dennen
Date published: 12/2/2003

Fort A. P. Hill earns award for environmental work

Fort A.P. Hill in Caroline County is one of the Army's premier training
venues.

With its vast expanse of woodland, fields, ponds, streams and marshes,
it is also home to abundant wildlife and some endangered and threatened
species.

Balancing the needs of the Army with environmental protection may seem
impossible, but the post has an innovative approach, according to the
Chesapeake Bay Program.

Fort A.P. Hill, occupying 76,000 acres north of Bowling Green, recently
received the bay program's outstanding achievement award for
environmental stewardship among federal facilities.

The work starts even before an Army unit arrives at the fort for
training.

"A lot of environmental programs focus on what people should not be
doing," said Terry Banks, a civilian employee who heads up the A.P.
Hill's 20-member environment and natural resources division. "We tell
them what to do" to protect land and water "and how to do it."

"We brief commanders on what our requirements are, and we definitely
bring out environmental concerns," Banks said. "We publish our
environmental regulations and make sure everyone gets a copy of those."
There's an incentive program to reward employees or Army units that go
above and beyond their duties in protecting the environment.

Military training involves a lot of potentially hazardous materials,
such as petroleum products, solvents and heavy metals.

 "We go out to them in the field and help them [comply]," Banks said.
For example, drums are provided for contaminated rags; dead batteries
are picked up and recycled; any hazardous materials brought on the post
are tracked, stored and disposed of. The hazardous-waste management
program, launched several years ago, has reduced generation and disposal
of toxic materials by 76 percent.

Encouragement and training lead to compliance, Banks said. "What we do
is a gathering of ideas. The Army gives you guidance" on environmental
requirements. "You take that and make it work for you."

This article can be viewed at:
http://www.freelancestar.com/News/FLS/2003/122003/12022003/1179074

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