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U.S. EPA HONORS HICKAM AIR FORCE BASE FOR POLLUTION PREVENTION

Release Date: 9/15/1997
Contact Information: Lois Grunwald, U.S. EPA, (415) 744-1588

     (San Francisco) -- The  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has honored Hickam Air Force Base on Oahu for an outstanding pollution prevention program.    

     "Hickam Air Force Base has demonstrated what is becoming more and more evident at federal facilities and throughout the business community -- innovative pollution prevention methods work and go hand in hand with economic viability," said Felicia Marcus, U.S. EPA regional administrator.  

     Pollution prevention encompasses activities that reduce or eliminate generation of pollutants at the source. These include product reformulation or substitution of materials that are less toxic, the use of new procedures that save natural resources and modified processes that reduce the amount of pollutants released.

     Hickam Air Force Base, which maintains a large vehicle fleet, has replaced hazardous chemicals with less harmful substitutes in its operations, and eliminated all of its hazardous waste streams at the base.

     Its pollution prevention program includes replacing toxic lacquer thinner with a less hazardous and recyclable cellulose nitrate. Non-hazardous or recyclable substitutes were also found for brake cleaners, new parts cleaning machines, and paints. The base also analyzes the oil in its fleet and changes it less frequently, reducing the amount of waste oil that the facility produces. Pollution prevention at the base saves taxpayers about $80,000 per year.