CLEARWATERS: Governor's awards for pollution prevention

The New York State Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention recognize organizations and industries whose innovative efforts have reduced environmental releases through pollution prevention. By doing so, they have contributed to the protection of New York's environment, the safety of its citizens, and the health of its economy.

We would like to hear from you! A packet containing an application form, brochure, and the Governor's letter is sent every year to over 2500 potential applicants including industrial facilities, trade associations, local governments, and not-for-profit organizations in New York State. In addition, the application packet is available at the NYSDEC web site . For more information or to receive an application packet, please contact the Pollution Prevention Unit at 518-457-0774.

On January 14, 1994, the Governor directed the Pollution Prevention Unit of the NYSDEC to establish the Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention program. Since 1994, fifty recipients have been presented with this prestigious honor. They include small, mid-size, and large industrial facilities; a golf course; local and state governments; and educational institutions. The recipients have shown ingenuity in their projects and commitment to the environment. The thousands of tons of hazardous wastes and air pollutants that have been eliminated and the millions of dollars that these companies have saved through pollution prevention are the best reflection of their efforts. Governor Pataki continues to support this awards program through letters of congratulation, press releases and, in some years, appearing at the ceremony to present the awards himself.

Review process

Every year the NYSDEC Pollution Prevention Unit receives between thirty and forty applications for the Governor's P2 Award. These applications are subjected to a series of reviews by NYSDEC staff beginning with a preliminary review by Unit staff and the Compliance Counsel. All applicants must be in good standing with New York State Environmental Conservation Law.

Although NYSDEC staff do not select the awardees, representatives from the Department's environmental quality divisions and a member of the Pollution Prevention Unit review each submission for technical merit. NYSDEC regional staff familiar with the facilities or organizations of the applicants also provide input. The information from these reviews is turned over to an outside committee consisting of members of the business community, environmental groups, and State agencies. This committee - external to the NYSDEC—evaluates and ranks the submissions and nominates the applicants for the awards.

The selection committee judges each application against the following criteria: description of pollution prevention project, program, or technology; reductions in waste volume or toxicity; environmental, economic and other benefits; commitment and leadership; relevance to others; and community involvement. Using a weighted evaluation system, the applications are then ranked, and a subset of candidates is selected to receive the award. The applications of these finalists are submitted to the NYSDEC Commissioner who, in turn, requests approval from the Governor to grant the awards. Awards are usually presented at a ceremony held during the Annual Pollution Prevention Conference.

Winners of the NYS Governor's Awards for Pollution Prevention for 2000 From left: Scott Bard, NYS Office of Mental Health; Morris W. Elkins, Dresser-Rand; Philip M. Schuler, Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics; Richard K. Hall, Jr., Olin Corporation; Patrick A. Blum, Colonial Acres Golf Course; Carl Johnson, Deputy Commissioner, NYSDEC.

In 2000, two outstanding projects were selected for their common-sense approach to working with their suppliers of metal parts. By obtaining pre-cleaned material, both companies eliminated degreasing of metal parts, an important and potentially pollutant-laden step in their manufacturing process. They thus eliminated the wastewater attendant to degreasing.

ITT Automotive-Fluid Handling Systems

ITT Automotive-Fluid Handling Systems employs 162 employees at its plant in the Town of Gates, near Rochester. It received the Governor's Pollution Prevention Award in 1998. Originally founded as Rochester Machine Form, the company became part of ITT in 1990. General Motors is its primary customer, with most shipments going to the Delphi Thermal plant in Lockport, New York. ITT also supplies GM plants in France and Canada and plants belonging to Ford and Saturn. In 1996, ITT entered the Japanese market with a new product line.

In 1989, ITT recognized that changes would have to be made to reduce emissions of hazardous waste to the atmosphere to and the wastewater stream to protect the health and safety of the employees and community. At that time, parts in process were cleaned using 1,1,1-trichloroethane and/or acid wash tanks. The company set a goal to eliminate the use of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) from the vapor degreasing process and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from the wash process. The plant implemented a two-pronged plan:

Replacing the use of 1,1,1-trichloroethane with an aqueous wash system doubled the wash process time from 5 to 10 minutes. In addition, the parts now had to be processed through a drying operation. The RFM plant purchasing and engineering departments worked with the suppliers to produce pre-cleaned raw material and brazeable and evaporative oils. Another major improvement was the change to plastic tooling so that machines run without requiring oil to bend parts. The change from salt bath brazing to flame brazing with an ultrasonic rinse eliminated the use of the acid lines that had been used to clean parts brazed with the old salt bath processes. The use of flame braze equipment and water rinse stations to remove flux yielded process water that could meet Monroe County's pH discharge requirements without the addition of neutralizing chemicals.

Through process changes and with the help and cooperation of customers, vendors, management and the hourly production staff, ITT met its goals. These were its milestones:

1994 use of 1,1,1-trichloroethane ceased

1996 the last acid wash line eliminated

1997 plant classified as a conditionally exempt generator of industrial waste. This classification eliminates many of the filing requirements under SARA, the Superfund Amendments and Reauthorization Act.

ITT eliminated the release of over 700,000 pounds of chloroethane emissions and over 500 tons of wastewater emissions. In addition, employees are no longer subjected to these hazardous chemicals and hazardous wastes in their working environment. Finally, by eliminating the use of CFC and VOC processes, ITT realized savings of almost $650,000. The payback period for the project was 1.68 years.

Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems

Delphi Harrison Thermal Systems (formerly Harrison Division of General Motors Corporation) is located in Lockport, Niagara County. The Governor's Pollution Prevention was awarded to this company in 1995. At Delphi, some 6800 employees are responsible for the research, development, and manufacture of automotive heating, ventilating, air-conditioning, and engine-cooling systems. In 1987, a Process Development Team was formed to investigate alternatives to chlorinated solvents and CFCs and to recommend changes that would address concerns for employee health, safety, and the environment. At the same time, the team was charged with improving manufacturing efficiency and product quality. To achieve these diverse goals, the team recommended complete replacement of the cleaning process with more benign alternatives.

Aqueous washing

The company altered its process to use aqueous washing. As a result of this and related modifications, the plant's product quality is up significantly since 1987. The improvements included enhanced process controls on the new cleaning operations. Reduction in background levels of solvents mitigated the presence of chlorinated solvents and CFCs in the plant air. The vapors had interfered with certain final product-quality testing procedures, but plant personnel may now use more accurate and repeatable testing procedures.

No clean

In some areas, plant management changed process and equipment to eliminate the need to degrease parts. The new process, known as "no clean," eliminated manufacturing steps and chemicals. The result was improved quality and greater efficiency. The change to "no clean" was integral to the movement to synchronous manufacturing. Less handling and immediate feedback about quality information are the cornerstones of synchronous manufacturing. New equipment, process technology, process sequencing, and handling procedures were required to implement the alternatives. In addition, employees receive training specific to the materials in their work places.

Overall, implementing the aqueous washing and "no clean" resulted in the reduction of environmental releases of tetrachloroethylene, trichloroethylene, and CFC-113 to air and water; over 6 years, the emissions went from 2.7 million to 88,000 lb/yr. During the same period, hazardous waste generated from the same process declined from 851 to 158 tons/yr. Forming oil and metal chips are recovered as by-products and recycled on-site and off-site instead of being disposed as hazardous waste. Chlorinated solvents and CFCs are no longer transported, stored, or used in the manufacturing operations, thus eliminating a potential source of concern to workers and the community. For product lines that were historically cleaned with solvents, production increased 23% between 1988 and 1994 yet the quality of the products was maintained or increased.
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Carlos Montes is a Research Scientist and works as a Special Programs Coordinator with the DEC Pollution Prevention Unit.