Robins Air Force Base Environmental Advisory Board (EAB)

Fact Sheet Volume 5, Issue 2, November 2010

November 2010 EAB Meeting

ENERGY OFFICE LEADING CHARGE TO MEET FEDERAL ENERGY REDUCTION GOALS

The fall EAB meeting was held Thursday, November 4, 2010, at Centerville City Hall in Centerville, Geor-gia. Two topics were briefed: “The Future of Energy at Robins AFB” and “Horse Pasture Site Update”. This Fact Sheet provides a summary of the informa-tion and topics discussed during the meeting. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, Febru-ary 3, 2011.

The Robins AFB EAB

Recognizing the importance of public involvement in environmental matters, Robins Air Force Base (Robins AFB) has established the Environmental Advisory Board (EAB). The mission of the EAB is to encourage participation of surrounding communi-ties in the Base’s environmental programs and allow community members and other stakeholders to have meaningful dialog with Base officials. Specifically, the EAB serves to promote community awareness and obtain constructive community review, comment, and input on current and proposed actions associated with environmental programs at Robins AFB. The EAB supports the Air Force environmental mission of sustaining readiness, being a good neighbor, protecting human health and the environment for the Base and community, and making smart business decisions. Inside this issue…

The vision of the Air Force Energy Plan is to “Make En-ergy a Consideration In All We Do”. It is built upon three pillars that guide energy management within the Air Force: (i) reducing demand through conservation and efficiency; (ii) increasing supply through renewable and alternative energy sources; and (iii) creating a cul-ture change. Mr. Mark Byrd, Engineer with the Energy Office, recently provided the EAB members with an overview of the Air Force’s Energy Plan and discussed the ongoing initiatives at Robins AFB to meet federal energy usage reduction goals.

The Department of Defense (DoD) is the single largest energy consumer within the Federal Government, ac-counting for 91 percent of the total fuel consumption in British Thermal Units (BTUs). Within the DoD, the Air

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Optimization of Remedial System Ongoing at the Horse Pasture Site ............................................ page 3 Environmental Awards ................................... page 3 EAB Schedule Reminder ................................ page 4

The three pillars of the Air Force Energy Plan: (i) reduce de-mand; (ii) increase supply; and (iii) culture change.

sity baseline is the lowest of the Air Force Air Lo-gistics Centers (ALCs) due to energy reduction measures accomplished prior to the creation of the FY 2003 baseline. The challenge is made even greater as the Base continues to grow with new missions. Nevertheless, the Energy Office is rising to the challenge. Dozens of energy reduction initiatives are currently ongoing at the Base. To promote and sustain awareness, the Energy Office has developed training pro-grams and educational cam-paigns. “Commander Kilo-watt” is working to “Stamp out Energy Hogs”. October 2010 was energy awareness month, and employees received daily reminders through computer screen images to conserve en-ergy. Many systems around the Base have been upgraded to increase efficiency, and an Energy Team of volunteers has been established to visit facilities and recommend optimization strate-gies. The Energy Office is also investigating technolo-gies that will increase the supply of renewable and alternative energy sources. A collaborative study with the University of Georgia and Georgia Tech recommended evaluation of several renewable en-ergy technologies, including: biomass steam/cogeneration, biomass gasification, photovoltaic, ethanol motor fuels, remote landfill gas electricity, solar thermal, and geothermal. The Base has part-nered with Georgia Power to receive renewable en-ergy credits by purchasing electricity generated by methane gas from the Dekalb County Landfill. Pri-mary initiatives to develop on-base renewable en-ergy production include production of fuel, heat, or electricity from organic materials (i.e., biomass and plasma gasification), which use high temperatures to break down organic waste material for a net elec-tricity production. A feasibility study and National Environment Polity Act study for further evaluation of these technologies are ongoing.

Page 2 November 2010

ENERGY OFFICE LEADING CHARGE TO MEET FEDERAL ENERGY REDUCTION GOALS (CONT’D…)

Force is the largest consumer at 64 percent of the total fuel cost, as the mission and global operations require a tremendous amount of energy. In Fiscal Year (FY) 2008, the Air Force spent approximately $9 billion to fuel aircraft (84 percent) and ground vehicles (4 percent) and provide utility services, pri-marily electricity and natural gas, to installations (12 percent). Most recent data for Robins AFB indicate that the Base spends approximately $27 million per year on utility services alone, including $21 million on electricity and $6 million on natural gas.

There are a multitude of statutory and policy drivers for reducing energy consumption at Federal facili-ties. Some of the key goals that have been estab-lished by these drives include: (i) reducing facility energy intensity by three percent per year; (ii) gener-ating 25 percent of the required energy with renew-able energy by 2015; (iii) reducing petroleum usage in vehicle fleets by 2 percent annually through 2015; (iv) increasing alternative fuel consumption at least 10 percent annually; and (v) using 30 percent solar power to generate hot water in all new and/or reno-vated facilities. Robins AFB faces a significant challenge in meeting some of these goals because the Base’s energy inten-

Commander Kilo-watt is the Base’s

Energy Mascot crushing Energy

“Hogs”

November 2010 Page 3

trations at many locations remained above Reme-dial Levels (RLs). Additionally, concentrations at many locations have rebounded since ISCO was completed. As a result, Robins AFB proactively began a Remedial Process Optimization (RPO) evaluation in 2008 to investigate technologies that will enhance the current remedial strategy. During the RPO, the site conditions (i.e., hydro-geology and contaminant distribution) were fur-ther evaluated and the conceptual site model was refined accordingly. Additionally, an evaluation of enhanced bioremediation as an additional treat-ment strategy for the site was conducted. A bench-scale laboratory treatability study and field-scale pilot testing were completed as part of this evalua-tion. The results indicate that enhanced bioreme-

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Mr. Justin Knight of Geosyntec Consultants briefed the EAB members on the current status of the Horse Pasture Site. Used as a disposal area from the 1950s until the 1970s, soil and groundwa-ter at the Horse Pasture site was impacted by vola-tile organic compounds (VOCs) commonly associ-ated with solvents and lubricants. To address this contamination, a Corrective Action Plan (CAP) for the site was completed in 2005 and subsequently approved by the Georgia Environmental Protection Division (GA EPD).

Initial remediation activities at the site consisted of excavation of the contaminated soil and in-situ chemical oxidation (ISCO) for the contaminated groundwater. In 2004, approximately 72,000 tons of contaminated soils were excavated from the site. The excavated soil was characterized as non-hazardous and disposed of off-site at a landfill. No Further Action status was subsequently granted for site soils. ISCO, which involves injecting oxidants or other amendments into the groundwater to react with the contaminants, was selected as the technology to remediate site groundwater. The ISCO program consisted of three pilot-scale and five full-scale injections, with the last injections occurring in No-vember 2006. While ISCO resulted in notable decreases in groundwater contaminant concentrations, concen-

OPTIMIZATION OF REMEDIAL SYSTEM ONGOING AT HORSE PASTURE SITE

ENVIRONMENTAL AWARDS

During the Fall 2010 EAB meeting, Mr. Lex Stokes announced that Robins AFB Environ-mental Management Branch recently won two 2010 General Thomas D. White Awards from the Air Force Material Command. These in-cluded the Sustainability and the Environmental Quality Awards. These awards were established to honor General Thomas D. White, the Air Force Chief of Staff from 1957 to 1961, who charted the course for the Air Force environmental programs. The awards recognize the efforts of installations, teams, and individuals for environmental quality, restoration, pollution prevention, recycling, and conservation of natural and cultural resources.

View of a Soil Excavation Area (left) and an ISCO Injec-tion Well (right) at the Horse Pasture Site

Aerial View of the Horse Pasture Site

Horse Pasture Site

Luna Lake

Scout Lake

Environmental Advisory Board Members

Mr. Alexander Stokes, Robins AFB Installation Co-Chair

Mr. Fred Hursey Robins AFB Chief, Environmental Restora-tion and Conservation Section

Mr. John Harley, Centerville Community Member

Dr. M.B. Neace, Macon Community Member

Dr. Linda Smyth, Macon Community Co-Chair

Dr. Dan Callahan, Warner Robins Community Member

Dr. Joyce Jenkins, Fort Valley Community Member

Dr. Brian E. Rood, Macon Community Member

Mr. Hugh Hazen, U.S. EPA Region 4 Hazardous Waste Div.

Mr. Ron Carbon, Warner Robins Community Member

Mr. Stephen Johnson, Macon Community Member

Dr. Joseph Swartwout, Fort Valley Community Member

Ms. Mary Brown, GA EPD Hazardous Waste Management

Mr. James Harden, Warner Robins Community Member

Mr. Mike Maffeo, Macon Community Member

Mr. Don Thompson, Macon Community Member

For more information regarding the EAB, please contact Ms. Charline Logue,

Robins AFB EAB Manager, at (478) 327-9268 or visit http://www.robinseab.org

November 2010 Page 4

Acronyms AFB Air Force Base AFCEE Air Force Center for Engi-

neering and the Environ-ment

ALC Air Logistic Center BTUs British Thermal Units CAP Corrective Action Plan DoD Department of Defense EAB Environmental Advisory

Board ERH Electrical Resistance Heat-

ing FY Fiscal Year ISCO In-situ Chemical Oxidation RLs Remedial Levels RPO Remedial Process Optimiza-

tion SVE Soil Vapor Extraction VOCs Volatile Organic Com-

pounds

diation is feasible, but that its ef-fectiveness will be limited by the continued slow release of residual contaminants bound to a tight clay formation. To address the remaining ground-water contamination at the site, the Base is currently investigating technologies that will target the residual contamination trapped in the clay. Electrical Resistance Heating (ERH) is one of these technologies. ERH consists of installing a series of electrodes into the ground and applying electricity to heat the subsur-face. The subsurface soils are naturally resistant to the flow of electrical current, which causes an increase in soil and ground-water temperatures. Once the temperature of the subsurface reaches the boiling points of the

(Continued from page 3) contaminants, the contaminants volatilize. The electrodes also function as soil vapor extraction (SVE) wells to capture the con-taminant and groundwater vapors resulting from heating of the sub-surface. Treatment of the collected vapors is done via above ground treatment systems (e.g., carbon ab-sorption or thermal destruction). Prior to moving forward with this technology, the Base is considering

conducting a pilot test of the tech-nology upon approval of the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment (AFCEE) and approval by the GA EPD.

EAB SCHEDULE REMINDER 2011 Meetings

- Thursday, February 3rd - Thursday, May 5th

- Thursday, August 11th - Thursday, November 3rd

ERH Treatment Area at Another Facility