Defense Issues: Volume 12, Number 30--
DoD Helps Protect Human Health, Environment
DoD takes
the high road in carrying out the executive order on
environmental justice, involving local communities and
minority businesses in environmental compliance and
cleanup at military installations.
Volume 12, Number 30
DoD Helps Protect Human Health, Environment
Prepared remarks by Sherri W.
Goodman, deputy undersecretary of defense for
environmental security, to the National Conference of
Black Mayors, St. Louis, April 25, 1997.
Good morning. ... I am here today representing the
Department of Defense. Many of the mayors here are very
familiar with the many environmental and economic
programs DoD administers because they have a DoD
installation in their city. Those of you who are
unfamiliar with DoD's environmental programs might be
surprised to learn that we are the third largest
landowner in the federal government. We have a great
responsibility to protect human health and the
environment, and we take this responsibility very
seriously.
Environmental security includes pollution prevention,
conservation, compliance, cleanup, the Explosive Safety
Board and the Pest Management Board.
I would like to tell you about three ways DoD is
supporting you and your communities: DoD's work to
implement environmental justice; economic opportunities
in the environment; and partnering with communities.
DoD's environmental justice strategy focuses on
implementing institutional changes rather than one-time
projects to ensure that a healthy and safe environment
exists around DoD installations. DoD does not have the
authority to issue grants or fund projects specifically
for environmental justice. Rather, our approach is to
identify opportunities within the day-to-day operations
of our installations and in mission-related activities
where environmental principles may be applied. By
integrating environmental justice issues into existing
policy and through the National Environmental Policy
Act, we are ensuring that DoD is meeting our
environmental justice responsibilities and changing the
way we do business.
The military departments have issued or are in the
process of drafting guidance for use in considering
environmental justice issues. They are also educating
and training their personnel on all aspects of
environmental justice.
We are also putting the finishing touches on a
training video that explains to all DoD military and
civilian personnel the requirements of the executive
order on environmental justice. Our goal is to increase
awareness and infuse the spirit and intent of the
executive order into DoD's decision-making process from
the bottom to the very top.
We are making information more accessible to
environmental justice communities through the Defense
Environmental Network Information Exchange, or DENIX. We
added a public menu, which has information on DoD's
environmental justice initiatives. The Navy also hosts
an environmental justice section on their home page for
news and information.
We are also working to preserve the contribution of
African Americans in the U.S. military through the
Legacy Resource Management Program. There are four
projects currently under way. They are:
- A study of the African-American community on the
lands of the Yorktown Naval Weapons Station [Va.] from
1865-1918;
- The black officer's club renovation and archival
project at Fort Leonard Wood [Mo.];
- The Civil War African-American sailors research
study;
- A report on the historic context for the
African-American military experience.
These projects focus on military activities, but
their significance is much larger. Through these
projects, we can reconstruct history and raise awareness
of the role African Americans played in the U.S.
military. Author Dudley Taylor Cornish said, "American
military history, by the very nature of our society and
the organization of our government and of our Army, is
more nearly social and political history than mere
military analysis."
The executive order focuses attention on the
environmental impacts on human health and the quality of
life in minority and low-income populations. One of the
ways we meet this requirement is through the Toxic
Release Inventory. TRI details the toxic releases and
waste management practices of DoD installations. In the
first year, DoD's toxic releases went down 30 percent.
We issued the TRI last year, and the next report is due
in May. For example:
- The Lake City Army Ammunition plant, outside of
Kansas City [Mo.], underwent a 200 percent reduction
of pollutants.
- Robins Air Force Base, near Macon [Ga.], reported
a 26 percent reduction.
- Norfolk Naval Base, [Va.] reported a 60 percent
reduction.
- Norfolk purchased new equipment that uses water
instead of chemicals to clean equipment and ship
parts. The shipyard also replaced a number of paints
that gave off fumes with lower-emission paints to
greatly reduce the number of TRI chemicals emitted.
The shipyard achieved significant reductions in TRI
releases through its consistent use of the
Consolidated Hazardous Material Reutilization and
Inventory Management Program. The program, also called
"Pharmacy" by the military services, limits
distribution of hazardous materials to authorized
users in small quantities only. Unused material is
returned to collection centers for redistribution.
These simple management steps greatly reduce the use
of hazardous material and worker exposure to the
material.
That's just the beginning. We hope to have even
greater reductions as the program progresses. By using
safer alternatives to certain chemicals, we can better
protect communities near our installations.
As DoD downsizes, thanks to the end of the Cold War,
the BRAC [base realignment and closure] program has
focused on transforming former bases into viable
economic and environmental assets by empowering local
communities to chart their own economic futures.
In addition, many DoD installations are the last
bastions for several endangered species and plants.
- Denver is home to two very important institutions:
Mayor Wellington Webb and the Rocky Mountain Arsenal.
A portion of the arsenal has been made into a wildlife
refuge and hosts almost 300 species of wildlife. It is
also one of the best examples of short-grass prairie
left in the West. Fishermen cast for bass in the
refuge's catch-and-release ponds, and school-children
get their first close-up glimpse of a bald eagle. All
of this activity on the largest cleanup project in all
of DoD.
- San Francisco -- home of Mayor Willie Brown and
the Presidio -- is another closure base which is being
transformed. The Army transferred the installation
property to the National Park Service in 1994. While
the Army is performing cleanup activities there, the
Park Service is playing a key role in the management
and care of this beautiful landmark. This national
treasure attracts visitors from all over the world and
is a valuable asset to the city.
- DoD's Office of Economic Adjustment supports the
formation and operation of local redevelopment
authorities to promote economic revitalization. A
successful reuse plan depends on a community's ability
to form alliances that should include workers,
businesses, civic leaders, local government, interest
groups and traditional underrepresented populations.
The LRA's responsibility is to formulate a base
redevelopment plan that reflects the community's
prescription for economic recovery. The primary goal is
usually job creation, balanced with the need to expand
the tax base, diversify the local economy, promote
environmental quality and meet affordable housing needs.
- The Office of Economic Adjustment tracks the
number of civilian jobs created and lost at 48 (out of
97) BRAC bases. Since 1993, 30,892 new jobs have been
created.
- President Clinton's five-part Community
Reinvestment Plan emphasized fast-track cleanup at
BRAC bases. After almost four years, we believe the
program is working because DoD works in partnership
with the community, the state, local government and
other federal agencies to reach the mutual goal of
economic reuse.
Around the same time the environmental justice
executive order was issued, I directed my office to find
new ways to increase minority business participation in
our environmental programs. As a result, the two have
become intertwined, but we didn't embark on this
initiative because of a presidential directive, we did
it because it was an area that we wanted to improve
upon.
In 1994, I issued a memo to my counterparts in the
military services encouraging them to maximize
opportunities for small disadvantaged businesses in DoD
contracts for environmental services. Since
environmental cleanup is one of our largest programs, a
small business work group was formed to improve access
by small businesses to environmental cleanup
opportunities.
- An environmental cleanup homepage was established
on the Internet.
- Small businesses need exposure. For the past two
years, we sponsored the Environmental Cleanup/Small
Business Awards. Last year's recipients included a
woman-owned business, Human Factors Application, Inc.,
and two minority business firms, Oarga Services, and
the other, also headed by a woman, is Peer
Consultants.
Finally, the statistics speak for themselves. The
number of environmental contracts awarded to small
businesses, small disadvantaged businesses and
woman-owned businesses are all up compared to last year.
U.S. businesses received about $1.7 billion in
cleanup contracts. Of that, small business received 16
percent, or $271 million; small disadvantaged business
received 7.5 percent, or $128 million; and women-owned
businesses received 3.5 percent, or $60 million.
(1995 Cleanup stats [statistics]: U.S. business
received about $1.3 billion; small business received
$194 million, or 14 percent; small disadvantaged
business received $99 million, or 7.2 percent; and
women-owned business received $25 million, or 1.8
percent.)
Community participation in DoD's cleanup program is
key to our success. We take great care to keep the
public informed and involved in environmental cleanup
decisions which impact them. Restoration advisory boards
are our primary outlet to foster this communication.
A RAB is a forum through which members of nearby
communities can provide input to DoD's environmental
cleanup program at active, closing or realigning
installations and formerly used defense sites. RABs
include members of the local community and
representatives of the installation, the EPA
[Environmental Protection Agency], the state, tribal and
local governments.
It is DoD policy to have a balanced and diverse
representation on a RAB to reflect the diversity of
interests within a community. More than 250 DoD
installations are participating on a RAB. I encourage
every one of you who have bases in your cities to get
involved with your RAB or to work with the public
affairs office on the base to determine if there is
enough community interest to establish a RAB.
As a side note, DoD is developing the Technical
Assistance for Public Participation program to help
community members of RABs participate more effectively
in the restoration program at local installations.
Through TAPP, community members will have the resources
to obtain objective, independent analysis of technical
cleanup issues. The Congress authorized DoD to spend $6
million for the TAPP program. We plan on having a final
TAPP rule completed by the end of this year. (For more
information, please visit our Web site
[http://www.dtic.mil/envirodod/envirodod.html].)
In addition to RABs, another community-based
partnership is with the Naval District Washington. The
National Urban Tree House is a cooperative,
community-based program involving natural resources
education, urban forestry, outreach and research. The
program includes education and outreach programs for
at-risk youth living in the Anacostia-Congress Heights
neighborhood of Washington. There are five research
projects in progress, focusing on human and natural
environmental relationships and cooperative planning
research.
I wanted to touch on the role of training and how DoD
is integrating environmental justice training into our
own internal community through education and outreach
programs. We are in the process of developing a
curriculum about environmental justice for incorporation
into all DoD environmental training programs and for our
senior leadership. In addition, DoD administers the
Environmental Scholarship, Fellowship and Grants
Program, which provides environmental education and
training partnerships among public universities.
DoD is supporting environmental training to
disadvantaged young adults through the Clark Atlanta
University and the Minority Institution Consortium. They
also offer hazardous waste training courses and degree
programs in environmental sciences and engineering.
To summarize DoD's progress in implementing the
executive order, we are focusing on four areas:
- Incorporating environmental justice issues into
existing policy and guidance;
- Promoting economic opportunities in BRAC
communities and small business opportunities for
minority businesses;
- Encouraging impacted communities to participate in
environmental cleanup decisions that affect them; and
- Training DoD personnel and raising their awareness
of environmental justice.
Published for internal information by the
American Forces Information Service, a field activity of
the Office of the Assistant Secretary of Defense (Public
Affairs), Washington, D.C. Parenthetical entries are
speaker/author notes; bracketed entries are editorial
notes. This material is in the public domain and may be
reprinted without permission. Defense Issues is
available on the Internet via the World Wide Web at
http://www.defenselink.mil/speeches/index.html.