Department of Defense, 20 pp, 2017

The Secretary of Defense recognized the environmental practices of U.S. Army Garrison Bavaria, Germany, with an Environmental Quality, Overseas Installation award. Among the efforts cited in the award, environmental program staff developed and implemented an innovative technique to decontaminate and clean up RDX residues in a limestone rock quarry within constructed wetlands via molasses-stimulated biological degradation. Compared to other proposed methods, this concept reduced construction costs from $7,375,000 to $2,330,000. The installation also partnered with host nation authorities to conduct and implement a joint study about contamination cleanup at the Class III Yard, which involved replacing groundwater pump and treat with a passive remediation solution that reduced annual costs from $500,000 to $40,000. Travis Air Force Base, California, received an Environmental Restoration, Installation award. The installation built the first-ever subgrade sulfate reactor as a petroleum-only contamination (POCO) technology demonstration that used sulfate-reduction biological treatment to accelerate the cleanup of fuel-soaked subsurface soil and dissolved petroleum contaminants. Scrap drywall destined for a landfill provided a source of sulfate for reactor construction. Travis AFB also used solar panel arrays to generate power for extraction pumps and to recirculate treated water at three Environmental Restoration Program sites and one POCO site. This innovation reduced annual energy consumption by 675,480 kilowatt-hours at an annual cost savings of $37,000. See the awards brochure as well as individual facility fact sheets at http://www.denix.osd.mil/awards/2017secdef/.