Culture Change and Environmental Leadership at Ft. Lewis Washington
The Organization
Fort Lewis, part of Forces Command (FORSCOM), trains active and reserve soldiers to provide a strategic, power-projection ground force capable of responding rapidly and successfully to crises worldwide. The largest active military facility in Washington State, Ft. Lewis is the home of I Corps, one of 15 U.S. power projection platforms. With more than 86,000 acres under management, Fort Lewis has abundant training areas, including 115 live fire ranges. Fort Lewis includes shopping centers, theaters, restaurants, laundries, a hospital, an airport, office buildings, garages, motor pools and maintenance facilities, as well as vast areas of pristine wilderness. Ft. Lewis operates its own fire department, electric utilities, water system and sewage treatment system and maintains more than 700 miles of roads. More than 19,000 soldiers, 29,000 family members, 120,000 retirees and approximately 5,000 civilian personnel train, work and live at Ft. Lewis. Fort Lewis is a self-sustaining city, and a significant factor in western Washington State's ecosystem.
Fort Lewis was the first Army installation to strategically enhance its existing programs through the implementation of an internationally certified systems approach to environmental management. The Public Works Directorate's EMS received ISO 14001 certification in September 2000.
The Challenge
At the outset, the roles and responsibilities within the environmental management program at Fort Lewis were spread across nine divisions within Public Works. Approximately 500 full-time employees shared portions of various environmental programs, initiatives, projects, and plans, affecting every aspect of life at Ft. Lewis. Coordination was difficult, and communication sometimes was misdirected or delayed. Projects initiated by organizations outside of Public Works were, on occasion, at cross-purposes. Direction was top down, with a strong regulatory focus. Although consistently meeting regulatory and Army environmental requirements, top management's commitment to continual environmental improvement challenged the organization to raise the bar to higher levels of performance. The EMS implementation team exhibited courage and determination in championing the EMS effort at Ft. Lewis and addressing the huge number of environmental aspects within its diverse organizations.
EMS Implementation
Installation-unique environmental objectives include reducing the amount of waste generated in the motor pool environment; increasing the installation's recycling percentage; enhancing the unit mission through more efficient use of soldiers' time and labor; and saving money by reducing procurement, handling, administrative and disposal costs. The EMS implementation introduced strategic cultural and systemic changes along with tactical changes to operations with both immediate and long lasting benefits detailed below:
Preventative and Corrective Action System
The Preventative and Corrective Action Request (PCAR) system implemented within the EMS provides the Public Works and Environmental and Natural Resources (ENRD) Divisions with a systematic and coordinated approach to anticipating potential problem areas and implementing corrective actions that deter regulatory or environmental concerns. The PCAR system has been so successful that management has expanded the identification and tracking database to include both environmental and non-environmental "opportunities for improvement." Early in the EMS implementation phase, the system demonstrated significant process improvements and identified additional cost avoidance opportunities.
The Director of Public Works stated, " . . .the benefits already realized by the corrective action program alone have made the ISO 14001 EMS effort well worthwhile."
Internal EMS Audits Identify Hidden Issues
The EMS audit's focus on system problems rather than individual symptoms represented a cultural change with significant benefits. The narrow, regulatory focus of the Public Works Division's compliance self-assessment system has been significantly expanded. Pollution prevention and preventive action opportunities identified during internal EMS audits have rearranged resource allocation and management priorities. Many of the more than 200 PCARS issued represent opportunities that had not been identified previously by the Army Environmental Compliance Audit (ECAS) program or by any federal or state regulatory agency.
Internal notices of violation actually increased as a result of the EMS implementation efforts. Previously overlooked and hidden environmental problems surfaced as a result of the internal audits and increased employee awareness. Process and procedure changes triggered further root-cause analysis and identified similar and systemic problems in other areas. These were hidden problems that would have eventually surfaced, with unknown and potentially more serious consequences.
Training, Tracking and Document Control On-line
Fort Lewis was quick to embrace technology to reduce costs. The required EMS awareness and competency training requirements were addressed via an intranet on-line tutorial including instruction, self-testing and record retention. The PCAR system is also on-line; any employee can initiate a request when a potential system problem exists and preventative action is required. Actions are entered, tracked and updated automatically. One of the persistent problems facing most modern organizations is non-value added paperwork. The EMS Implementation Team placed all EMS documentation, including manuals, procedures, and forms, onto the Public Works Intranet. No paper copies are maintained, and all changes are updated and communicated automatically. The Document Manager estimates that hundreds of labor hours have been saved through avoidance of annual document updates and changes, not to mention the paper saved. ENRD has placed all MSDSs on the installation Website, saving $375,000 in labor and reducing solider lost training hours by 39,000 annually. This approach has been so successful that other, non-environmental programs also have adopted the EMS document control model within their programs.
Review of Legal and Other Requirements Produces Operational Changes and Cost Savings
A review of legal and other requirements per a new EMS procedure identified several cost saving opportunities. For example, review of the Washington Administrative Code (Section 351) which applies to the operation of sanitary landfills, revealed that individual cells or units present on one site could be grouped together and monitored accordingly. By studying the closed landfill under a Multi-Unit Monitoring System and using "in-house" staff to sample and produce the groundwater monitoring reports, Fort Lewis Public Works will save approximately $1.5 million over the monitoring lifetime of the landfill.
It was also determined that the Fort Lewis storm-water system could be regulated under the Multi Sector General Permit (MSGP) as opposed to the multiple, individual NPDES permits then in place. The MSGP encourages pollution prevention measures rather than numeric effluent limits, and provides a proactive framework that curbs accidental spills and discharges into the environment. Elimination of sampling, monitoring and paperwork associated with multiple NPDES permits resulted in a significant labor reduction. This opportunity was identified too late to avoid a $2.5 million upgrade in the stormwater system, but will eliminate the need for such expenses in the future.
According to the Chief of the Utilities Division, the EMS helped identify potential problems with the air emission permit for the incinerator. As a result of a monitoring program established because of an EMS audit finding, Ft. Lewis personnel discovered that the minimum temperatures required in the permit were not being consistently met. A problem with the natural gas regulators on the secondary burners was discovered and repaired.
Finally, the review also identified a previously overlooked requirement to have a sanitary survey from the State Department of Health. That survey uncovered calibration problems in the chemical feed system that purifies the drinking water, which were corrected.
Changes to Classified Document Destruction
The long held practice of burning classified documents in a dedicated incinerator was identified in the planning phase of the EMS as an activity with a significant aspect impacting the air quality at Fort Lewis. The purchase of highly efficient, fine particle paper shredders eliminates the need for incineration; saving $72,000 a year in incinerator operating costs and eliminating a permitted air emission source. The shredded paper will be recycled.
Process Consolidation
Fort Lewis unique activities included the maintenance of seven different locations for the storage and issuance of gravel for various building and road projects on the installation. Hauling materials from these various locations created truck traffic and dust. An employee initiated a preventative and corrective action request identifying the opportunity to reduce the impact on the land, and reduce traffic congestion, noise and dust by consolidating the seven areas into one central distribution location. Fort Lewis was able to accomplish this within the budgets previously authorized and approved.
Cost Savings and Achievements
Benefits already realized through the installation's efforts include cost savings and avoidance of more than $1.0 million. Ft. Lewis reduced green house gases by 155,510 pounds (78 tons). The installation already has achieved a 70% reduction in hazardous waste; a 68% reduction in hazardous material usage and a 60% reduction in purchase and use of Class I ODC chemicals. Fort Lewis also has implemented an Affirmative Procurement Program encouraging the use of recycled products. Fort Lewis has started several new programs including $6.2- million in capital improvements for energy conservation. The Energy Savings Performance Contract is expected to reduce energy costs by more than $5.0 million. Upgrades to the existing boilers already produced a 50% reduction in natural gas usage. Total Savings to date are still being accumulated, and will continue year after year
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