thedrifter
12-18-05, 08:32 AM
Hazardous material center moves forward
Air station effort fosters safety, savings
BY LORI YOUNT, The Beaufort Gazette
Published Sunday, December 18, 2005
BEAUFORT -- With a recently opened Joint Hazardous Material Center, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort officials hope to set national standards and save tax dollars.
The $800,000 project combines the hazardous materials programs from several units on base under one warehouse roof. The center handles the ordering, issuing, storing and disposing of potentially hazardous materials used every day on the base, such as paint, batteries and hydraulic fluid for aircraft, center supervisor Carol Jordan said.
The station's hazardous materials program annually handles about 500 items sold to the base by local small businesses and the military. Jordan said a central location will make it run more efficiently.
For example, if one section uses only half a can of paint, it can be taken back to the center and used by another section later instead of buying a new can, Gunnery Sgt. James Cainguitan said.
The combining of programs also has freed up about six Marines to go back "to doing the business of Marines" instead of keeping track of supplies, said Wayne Donaldson, air station deputy supply officer. Four civilians and six Marines work at the new center.
Safety also will be improved with more centralized tracking of materials, Donaldson said.
"If there's a mishap, we can tell them what's in that location," he said. "It gives them up-front awareness."
Everyone who works and does business with the center must be certified at some level in the handling of hazardous materials, Canguitan said.
"There are checks and balances to make sure nobody does anything crazy," he said.
After the supplies are used, they are recycled or disposed of by the Natural Resources Environmental Affairs Office, which hires contractors to ship the materials to recycling and disposal areas throughout the nation, environmental compliance manager Gary Dukes said. Most of the waste goes to Alabama.
The center is unusual because all commands at the base are working together, environmental affairs officer Alice Howard said. The Corps will be watching the center as a pilot program to see if this cooperation works to reduce expenses and redundancies.
Contact Lori Yount at 986-5531 or lyount@beaufortgazette.com. To comment on this story, please go to beaufortgazette.com.
Ellie
Air station effort fosters safety, savings
BY LORI YOUNT, The Beaufort Gazette
Published Sunday, December 18, 2005
BEAUFORT -- With a recently opened Joint Hazardous Material Center, Marine Corps Air Station Beaufort officials hope to set national standards and save tax dollars.
The $800,000 project combines the hazardous materials programs from several units on base under one warehouse roof. The center handles the ordering, issuing, storing and disposing of potentially hazardous materials used every day on the base, such as paint, batteries and hydraulic fluid for aircraft, center supervisor Carol Jordan said.
The station's hazardous materials program annually handles about 500 items sold to the base by local small businesses and the military. Jordan said a central location will make it run more efficiently.
For example, if one section uses only half a can of paint, it can be taken back to the center and used by another section later instead of buying a new can, Gunnery Sgt. James Cainguitan said.
The combining of programs also has freed up about six Marines to go back "to doing the business of Marines" instead of keeping track of supplies, said Wayne Donaldson, air station deputy supply officer. Four civilians and six Marines work at the new center.
Safety also will be improved with more centralized tracking of materials, Donaldson said.
"If there's a mishap, we can tell them what's in that location," he said. "It gives them up-front awareness."
Everyone who works and does business with the center must be certified at some level in the handling of hazardous materials, Canguitan said.
"There are checks and balances to make sure nobody does anything crazy," he said.
After the supplies are used, they are recycled or disposed of by the Natural Resources Environmental Affairs Office, which hires contractors to ship the materials to recycling and disposal areas throughout the nation, environmental compliance manager Gary Dukes said. Most of the waste goes to Alabama.
The center is unusual because all commands at the base are working together, environmental affairs officer Alice Howard said. The Corps will be watching the center as a pilot program to see if this cooperation works to reduce expenses and redundancies.
Contact Lori Yount at 986-5531 or lyount@beaufortgazette.com. To comment on this story, please go to beaufortgazette.com.
Ellie