Restoring excellence: Dover program wins best in AF Published Dec. 19, 2006 By Staff Sgt. James Wilkinson 436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- The 436th Civil Engineer Squadron environmental restoration staff competed with installations Air Force-wide to win the 2006 Air Force General Thomas D. White Environmental Restoration Award, one of the Air Force's most prominent environmental awards, Nov. 28. The award recognizes the installation with the best environmental restoration program throughout the Air Force during the fiscal year. "This award acknowledges the hard work, staunch dedication and impressive achievements of the Dover Restoration Team," said Jo Anne Deramo, 436th Civil Engineer Squadron Environmental Restoration Program manager. "They overcame complex technical and regulatory challenges to achieve environmental cleanup milestones six years ahead of Air Force goals." Base Environmental Restoration Programs address environmental contamination from historical spills and waste-handling practices, which occurred more than 20 years ago, prior to development of current environmental practices. For the award, each installation is judged on its plan to close or have remedies in place at all contaminated sites by 2012, the Air Force's environmental goal. Bases are also judged upon the innovative actions they take to expedite the remediation process. The 436th CES has identified 59 locations on Dover AFB where contaminants were historically released into the environment such as landfills, underground pipe leaks and spills from industrial activities, according to Mrs. Deramo. "The Dover Restoration Team achieved the remedy-in-place goal for all 59 environmental restoration sites in fiscal year 2006 - six years ahead of the Air Force goal," said Mrs. Deramo. Historical contaminant releases at Dover AFB were mainly from jet-fuel spills from aircraft operations and chlorinated solvent releases, which were chemicals that were used for cleaning metal parts before the mid-'70s. Soil cleanup actions here, which were completed in the 1990s and early 2000s, consisted of unearthing contaminated soil and sending it to a licensed facility for treatment and disposal. The restoration team here is using an innovation to remediate chlorinated solvents in groundwater, according to Mrs. Deramo. The team's remedy was to inject a mixture of emulsified soybean oil and sodium lactate, fertilizer and potable water into the groundwater to "feed" the bacteria, which then biodegrade the solvent contamination. However, Mrs. Deramo says the contaminated groundwater does not affect base drinking water, which is derived from an entirely different source. "Groundwater contamination underneath Dover AFB does not affect the base's drinking water supply, which is obtained from much deeper aquifers," said Mrs. Deramo. "In FY06, we injected over 10 million gallons of the organic carbon mixture into groundwater over an area of 620 acres," she said. "These injections will be repeated over the next several years as needed to sustain the biodegradation activity." The Dover AFB Restoration Team consists of members of the Dover AFB Environmental Flight, Air Mobility Command Environmental Programs Division, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region III, Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, Department of Energy/Environmental Sciences Division, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers/Omaha District, and the URS Group Inc. "The Dover Restoration Program is a model for other Air Force installations to follow," said Robert Hofelich, Air Mobility Command Environmental Restoration Branch, Directorate of Installations and Mission Support chief. "Team Dover has proven their commitment to AMC's environmental restoration mission of ensuring compliance with environmental requirements while restoring natural resources for re-use in support of the Air Force warfighting mission." Dover AFB has won four Air Mobility Command Environmental Restoration Awards throughout the past nine years, and the 436th CES will be recognized for their latest accomplishment at the Air Force Environment Awards ceremony April 19 at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Dover will now move forward as nominees for the Secretary of Defense Environmental Awards held June 6, 2007. Environmental award winners Environmental Restoration Award Dover AFB, Del. Environmental Quality Award Tinker AFB, Okla. Environmental Quality Award for Reserve/Air National Guard Bangor International Airport, Maine Environmental Quality Award for overseas Misawa Air Base, Japan Pollution Prevention Award Luke AFB, Ariz. Natural Resources Conservation Award Arnold AFB, Tenn. Cultural Resources Management Award Eglin AFB, Fla. Pollution Prevention Award Tinker AFB, Okla. Cultural Resources Management Award for individual/team Gary O'Donnell, Hickam AFB, Hawaii National Environmental Policy Act Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.