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Show NEWS Aug. 16, 1991 3 Hilltop Time Air Force plans cleanup by year 2000 $100 billion spent nationally each year by everyone engaged in environmen- by MSgt. Denton Unkford Air Force News Service The Air Force will restore at least 10 percent of its hazardous waste sites e annually, with a goal of cleaning up all 3,600 sites by the year 2000, according to the Air Force's top civil engineer. long-rang- "The Air Force's Environmental Quality Program is beginning to come to full military power," Maj. Gen. Joseph A. Ahearn said during a recent interview with Airman Magazine. "We have the know-how- , our leaders are committed, we have the funding, we know where the throttles are as well as the friction points and the Air Force is 'cocked' to come into environmental compliance and clean up all its hazardous waste sites by the year 2000," he said. The Air Force has already spent $750 million toward cleaning up 600 hazardous waste sites nationwide, he said. With just of the total sites cleaned up, he has assured Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Merrill A. McPeak that all sites will be cleaned, one-sixt- h "as we step into the 21st century." "General McPeak has committed to Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney that the Air Force will be the 'spear tip' within the Department of Defense on environmental quality, compliance and restoration," Ahearn stressed, adding that DOD has assumed the role as leader in the federal sector on environmental quality issues. "General McPeak set the goals that will make the Air Force the federal 66 tal compliance and prevention. "In one sense that's fiscal waste-resouthat we could spend in far better places," Ahearn said. The goal, he said, is to have all of the Air Force's 3,600 hazardous waste sites cleaned up by year 2000 so those resources can be diverted to somerces We've got to get more efficient, and move at a faster pace at cleaning up sites. We've got to get beyond the study stage, and start systematically cleaning up these sites on a timely basis. thing other than cleaning up hazardous waste sites. Six hundred sites have already been cleaned up under the Air Force's Installation Restoration Program its version of the Superfund program. "We've got to get more efficient, and move at a faster pace at cleaning up sites," Ahearn said. Most of the funds to date have been spent analyzing sites and developing alternative 99 Maj. Gen. Joseph A. Ahearn Air Force t top civil cleanups, engineer methods of remediation. "We've got to get beyond the study stage, and start systematically cleaning up these sites on a timely basis," he said. To do that, he said, working relat ionships have been established and melded with the Environmental Protection Agency, state and local regulators. Additionally, commanders now attend environmental training to help them focus on funding, personal liabilities, public sensitivities and working with regulatory agencies. Ahearn believes "a spark through environmental knowledge" will build a team of environmental protectors in the Air Force and help achieve total environmental compliance from top to leader in the environmental arena," Ahearn said. Environmental issues is a item and one that, in a time of downsizing of budgets, most likely will see an increasing budget, making it one of the few growth areas in the Air Force. "Our cleanup budget alone increased 261 percent in one year ($170 million to $435 million)," he said. "In fiscal '92 and '93 we will budget approximately $930 million and $830 million respectively for environmental matters." But that is small potatoes on a national scale. According to Ahearn, the Air Force is spending roughly $500 million a year maintaining its environmental quality program compared to big-tick- et bottom. He said that besides the commanders' course, 20 ROTC scholarships for. environmental engineering have been established along with a graduate program at the Air Force Institute of Technology in environmental and engineering management. Additionally, emphasis on the Air Force's commitment to environmental programs has been melded into technical training schools in the Air Training Command. "By summer '91, we will also have our new Center for Environmental Excellence up and running at Brooks AFB, Texas," Ahearn said. He said the center will focus on actually cleaning up sites that have already been analyzed and studied. "We will streamline our contracting process by having a procurement cadre of professionals that speak the m 'environmental language' that's going to save time, get sites cleaned up quicker and save taxpayer dollars in " the long-run.- Environmental compliance has been aided because of progress in waste reduction and management. "Hazardous waste minimization efforts since 1986 have substantially reduced the amount of wastes the Air Force generates," the general said. He explained that the Air Force presently generates 21,000 tons of hazardous waste annually down by one-thir- d since 1986. "It costs the Air Force more than $25 million annually to dispose of these wastes," he added. T All you can eat lunch it $4-din- $539-- ner Sunday $532 lunch or dinner 7 . wr Si mV V s in. . w 1 fcK ? rj V Golden Choice BuffeitCoupon 1 ' 1 MI fill cwoici iufht only. 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