THE NAVYS ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE winter 2011 …This time, for the first time, the jet was powered...

T H E N A V Y,S E N V I R O N M E N T A L M A G A Z I N E

winter 2011

Navy Fuels Great Green Fleet VisionSpotlight on the Natural Resources Defense Council

Navy Moves Forward on Compliance Strategy for Training & Testing at Sea

to supersonic

fromseedHow Camelina

Powered the Navy’s

Premier Fighter Jet

How Camelina

Powered the Navy’s

Premier Fighter Jet

Navy Fuels Great Green Fleet VisionSpotlight on the Natural Resources Defense Council

Navy Moves Forward on Compliance Strategy for Training & Testing at Sea

cover

6On Earth Day 2010, for the first time ever, the F/A 18 E/F GreenHornet—the Navy’s premier fighter jet—flew faster than the speed ofsound on a 50/50 blend of camelina-based and petroleum-based fuel.Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.

From Seed to SupersonicHow Camelina Powered the Navy’s Premier Fighter Jet

Currents (ISSN 1544-6603) is the official environmental magazine of the U.S. Navy, Chief of Naval OperationsEnergy and Environmental Readiness Division (N45). Participating Commands include the Naval FacilitiesEngineering Command (NAVFAC), the Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR), the Naval Sea Systems Command(NAVSEA) and the Naval Supply Systems Command (NAVSUP).

This magazine is an authorized publication for members of the Department of Defense. Statements made in theN45 Outlook column reflect the official environmental policy of the Navy. The contents in the remainder of themagazine are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, the Department ofDefense, or the United States Navy. Inclusion of any product or service in any Currents feature article does notconstitute an endorsement by the Navy. The Navy encourages all readers to check with the appropriate supervisingauthority prior to using any product or service mentioned in the magazine.

Article submissions should be submitted through the appropriate Command representative or directly to Currents’Managing Editor, Bruce McCaffrey, using the Currents article template. Command representatives are Jill Lomeli(NAVFAC) at [email protected], Bob Hicks (NAVAIR) at [email protected], Deborah Verderame (NAVSEA) [email protected] and Chuck Curry (NAVSUP) at [email protected].

A public affairs review must be completed before Currents management can consider an article for publication.

Browse the Currents archives and subscribe to the magazine at NAVAIR’s environmental web site at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents. Contact Lorraine Wass, Currents’ Distribution Manager, with any changes to mailing addresses or shipping quantities.

T H E N A V Y,S E N V I R O N M E N T A L M A G A Z I N E

Chief of Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division

DIRECTORRear Admiral Philip Cullom

DEPUTY DIRECTORMr. John P. Quinn

DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL OUTREACHTracey Moriarty

Currents Staff

MANAGING EDITORBruce McCaffrey

Bruce McCaffrey Consulting, [email protected]

773-376-6200

CONTRIBUTING WRITERSKenneth HessKathy KelleyDarryl Nash

ART DIRECTORVictoria Bermel

GRAPHIC ARTISTAmy Jungers

DISTRIBUTION MANAGERLorraine Wass

[email protected]

You can “like” Currents on Facebook by logging onto your account at www.facebook.com,

searching for “U.S. Navy Currents magazine,” thenclicking the “Like” button. You can also find us at

www.facebook.com/navycurrents.

You can follow Currents on Twitter at www.twitter.com/navycurrents.

You can view the Currents photo archive on Flickr at www.flickr.com/photos/navycurrents.

4 4 N45 Outlook

22 Spotlight on the Natural Resources Defense Council

32 Spotlight on Bob Gisiner

53 Regulatory Corner

64 Best Shots

78 Trends of the Environment

18 Navy Fuels Great Green Fleet VisionLatest Milestone on the Road Toward EnergyIndependence

42 Environment in a (High-Tech) BoxNavy Model Simulates Undersea Sound Fields &Marine Mammal Locations to Plan Training

44 Navy Moves Forward on Compliance Strategyfor Training & Testing at SeaThe Latest on Phase I & II Environmental PlanningEfforts

50 Shoreline Project Establishes Healthy Ecosystem inChesapeake Bay WatershedStabilization Protects Mission Critical Infrastructure & Enhances Habitat

56 NESDI & ONR Sponsor Technology to Control Paint OversprayMAEE Helps to Prevent Contaminants from Reaching the Air & Water

60 Xeriscape Project at Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange MallCompleteSecond Phase Expands Planting to Nearly 200,000 Square Feet

66 Trailblazing at GuantanamoVolunteers Come Together to Restore Hiking Trails

74 Time to Get Ready for EPCRA ReportingReporting Deadlines Fast Approaching

18

22

32

features

departments

winter 2011

Ensuring National & NaturalSecurityOVER THE PAST six months I have had the privilege ofleading both the Navy Energy Program and the Navy Envi-ronmental Program. In the Energy Program, the Navy’s goalis to enhance national security by reducing warfighter depen-dence on vulnerable fuel supplies while simultaneouslyensuring we have available sustainable energy for the future.We have had many early successes. In the EnvironmentalProgram, the Navy is also a leader. By minimizing releases toair, land and water, and ensuring effective protection of sensi-tive places and threatened/endangered species in all Navyactivities, we ensure security of another kind, natural security.

It is no accident that I draw a parallel between these twoAmerican values of national security and natural security.As a maritime nation, our way of life depends heavily onour Navy’s ability to assure the free flow of commerce overthe world’s oceans and, where necessary, project powerashore anywhere in the world to protect our national secu-rity. As we look to the future, our quality of life is equallydependent upon how we preserve the natural resourcesvital to the nation, from water to air to flora and fauna, andhow we find ways to mitigate threats like climate change.

This is why we have chosen to pursue both securityrequirements through a future fleet of fuel-efficient shipsand aircraft powered by sustainable, non-petroleum-basedfuels made in America from renewable resources. Thedevelopment of plant and algae-based fuels is rapidlymaking this national security future a reality for the U.S.Navy. In 2010 the Navy demonstrated that tactical aircraftand riverine command vessels can operate to full perfor-mance parameters using these “home-grown” biofuels,which account for far lower carbon emissions than petro-leum-based fuels. As the Navy moves in the biofuel direc-tion, our natural security is enhanced at the same time.

Part of the success of the Navy’s Energy and Environ-mental Programs is due to strong collaboration with otherfederal agencies, industry, academia and non-govern-mental organizations (NGO). In this vein, I am happy towelcome to the pages of Currents Mr. Peter Lehner,

Executive Directorof the NaturalResourcesDefense Council(NRDC). NRDChas long been aninfluential voice in the nationaldiscussion of environmental,energy, andsustainabilityissues. I am sureCurrents readerswill find his comments most interesting.

Looking forward to the New Year, there will be no shortageof opportunities and challenges. We hope to complete PhaseI environmental planning for 14 training ranges and oper-ating areas at sea, while simultaneously developing thefollow-on Phase II documents that will cover the period2014 through 2020. Our environmental restoration (ER) andmunitions response (MR) efforts will continue according toplan, with the goal of achieving remedy-in-place or remedycomplete by 2014, for ER sites, and 2020 for the MR sites.

Through implementation of conservation and alternativefuel efforts ashore, we will progress toward achievement of a34 percent reduction in Scope 1 and 2 greenhouse gasemissions by 2020. We will continue to collaborate withregulators, other agencies, industry, academia, and NGOs incarrying out a world class marine mammal researchprogram with emphasis on understanding behavioral effectsof anthropogenic sound on marine species. In partnershipwith federal and state regulators, the Navy will do its part toachieve a clean and vibrant Chesapeake Bay. We will faceincreasing fiscal challenges in all these efforts, as the federalgovernment moves to address longstanding budgetaryissues. More than ever we must work together to ensurethat every dollar spent, and every man-hour devoted to anissue, returns good value to our ultimate objectives ofnational and natural security. �

Rear Admiral Philip H. CullomDirector, Energy and Environmental Readiness

4 Currents winter 2011

N45outlook

The Navy’s goal is to enhance national security by reducing warfighter dependence on vulnerable fuel supplies.

Navy Earth Day will take place this year on 22 April

2011. Navy and Marine Corps commands worldwide

will participate in activities on and around that

date to celebrate and educate people about the

Earth-friendly projects we manage daily as we per-

form our national security mission. The 2011

theme, “Partnering for a Greener Future,” high-

lights our collaborations with local communities,

industry, government agencies and science institu-

tions as we seek solutions for reducing our eco-

logical footprint and optimizing energy use while

increasing combat capability for the warfighter.

GET F REE P RESS

Tell Currents what activities your command is

doing for Earth Day. We’ll help you spread the word

via our social media presence on Facebook (search

for “U.S. Navy Currents Magazine” and “like” us)

and Twitter (www.twitter.com/navycurrents).

You can contact us on our social media

sites, or reach Chris Dettmar via

e-mail at [email protected]

or by phone at 703-418-3017.

GET F REE S TUF F

If you need posters, factsheets, and other materi-

als to hand out at your Earth Day event, send an

e-mail to Chris Dettmar (contact information

below). Let Chris know:

1. The type of event

2. The planned date(s)

3. How many people you expect, and

4. The mix of adults & children

In turn, Chris will send you a customized package

of outreach materials to support your event.

SPREAD THE GOOD WORD

Whether it’s a school visit, recycling contest, tree

planting, beach cleanup, invasive species removal,

or other creative team activity, Earth Day is a per-

fect opportunity to work with your community

and showcase the ways in which the Navy

and Marine Corps make the envi-

ronment a priority.

NAVY EARTH DAY 2011 : PARTNER ING FOR

A GREENER FUTURE

T E L L U S A B O U T Y O U R P LANS TO CE L EBRATE !

Contact Chris Dettmar, URS Corporation703-418-3017, [email protected]

fromseed

winter 2011 Currents 7

to supersonic

on 22april,How Camelina Powered

the Navy’s Premier Fighter Jet

Earth Day 2010, what appeared to be a routine flight of a Green Hornet—

the F/A 18 E/F, the Navy’s premier fighter jet—attracted hundreds of onlookers,

including Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. This time, for the first time, the jet was

powered with a 50/50 blend of biofuel and petroleum-based fuel. The flight, one of a

series of test flights held in early 2010 at the Naval Air Station (NAS) in Patuxent River, MD

(Pax River), marked the first time ever that an aircraft has flown faster than the speed of

sound on a fuel mix that is 50 percent biomassed derived. And this is how it happened.

The road to the series of test flights started back in 2008when the Navy Fuels Team began to test small quantitiesof biofuels in its Pax River laboratory. Based on thistesting, a procurement specification for the jet propulsion5 (JP-5) biofuel was developed and the team was on the

road to the testing of the F/A-18 fighter jet,also known as the Green Hornet. SecretaryMabus’s announcement of the Navy’senergy goals, designed to lessen the Navy’sdependence on foreign oil, spurred theteam on and they accelerated their effortsin October of 2009.

The Navy’s Procurement

Specification for a Biofuel

“The Navy Fuels Team has thejob of taking the fuels that various manu-facturers and refiners are producing and

getting them approved,” stated RickKamin of the Navy Fuels Team.

“We wrote a procurement speci-fication that specified the perfor-mance properties for the biological

component of the aviation fuelblend,” he continued. Thebiomass component of the new

fuel had to meet the followingrequirements:

1. It had to be a drop-in replacement forthe petroleum-based fuel.

2. It must meet or exceed the performance requirementsof the petroleum-based fuel. (There must be no notableoperational differences.)

3. The biofuel must be able to be successfully mixed oralternated with petroleum fuel.

4. The biofuel must require no modifications or enhance-ments to the configuration of the aircraft or ship.

5. The biofuel must require no modifications or enhance-ments to the Navy’s existing fuel storage or transferinfrastructure.

“Although, we were looking for a sustainable plant—and/oralgae-derived oil—that was not competitive with foodcrops, we did not specify that it needed to be a camelina-based fuel,” explained Kamin. But camelina seemed to bea logical choice.

Kamin sent the procurement specification for JP-5 jet fuelto the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) Energy (formallyknown as the Defense Energy Support Center), which hasthe responsibility of purchasing fuel for the Departmentof Defense (DoD). (For more information about DLAEnergy, see our sidebar entitled, “The Basics About theDefense Logistics Agency Energy.”) An open solicitation

THE NAVY FUELS TEAM IS part of the Naval Fuels andLubricants Cross Function Team. The team is comprised oftechnical experts from across the Navy. Officially charteredin 1999, the team includes representation from the avia-tion, ship, logistics, research and operational communities.The Team’s mission is to provide a single source of fuels-related technical expertise, guidance and solutions to alllevels of the Navy.

the basics about the Navy Fuels Team


An F/A-18 Super Hornet strike fighter, dubbed the “Green Hornet,”conducts a supersonic test flight. The aircraft is fueled with a 50/50blend of biofuel and conventional fuel. The test, conducted at NAS

Patuxent River, drew hundreds of onlookers, including Secretary of theNavy Ray Mabus, who has made research, development, and increased

use of alternative fuels a priority for the Department of the Navy. Liz Goettee

was put forth to the energy industry to develop and produce a suitablefuel, and in 2009, a contract for almost 600,000 gallons of biofuel(190,000 gallons for the Navy and 400,000 gallons for the Air Force)was awarded to Sustainable Oils, Inc.

Because the procurement specification stipulated that the biologicalcomponent of the blend must not compete with food crops, traditionalmaterials or “feedstocks” such as corn or soy were not appropriate.Because it is a dedicated energy feedstock, camelina met the requirement.

This Thing Called Camelina

The oils that come from crushing the camelina (Camelina sativa) seed(a type of mustard plant) are structurally more similar to petroleumthan other bio-based products. Used by the ancient Romans as lampoil, camelina oil was produced in Europe and Asia throughout the19th century for a variety of mostly industrial applications. AfterWorld War II, however, the crop fell out of favor and has since beenlargely regarded as a minor non-food crop in Europe and a weed inNorth America.

Camelina moved to the forefront of the renewable fuelsscene only two years ago. Its advantages include the fact thatit is best grown in rotation with dryland wheat during thepart of the cycle where the land would otherwise lie fallow(uncultivated). As a result, camelina does not compete with

WITH HEADQUARTERS IN FORT BELVOIR, VA, DLAEnergy exercises procurement and sales responsibility forcrude oil for the Department of Energy’s Strategic Petro-leum Reserve, a program used to store crude oil as abuffer against potential national energy emergencies.

DLA Energy’s mission is to provide DoD and other govern-ment agencies with comprehensive energy support in themost effective and economical manner possible. DLAEnergy directs the DoD organization responsible forpurchasing and managing all petroleum resources used bythe U.S. military. In addition, DLA Energy guides thegrowing mission of total energy support by developingstrategies to buy and sell deregulated electricity andnatural gas to DoD and other federal agency customers.DLA Energy also directly supports DoD’s initiative to priva-tize the military base infrastructure that distributes thoseutilities (in addition to lighting, heating, air conditioningand water/wastewater systems).

the basics about the Defense LogisticsAgency Energy

Camelina sativa.USDA-NRCS PLANTS Database / Britton, N.L., and A. Brown.

1913. An illustrated flora of the northern United States, Canadaand the British Possessions. 3 vols. Charles Scribner’s Sons,

New York. Vol. 2: 157. Courtesy of Kentucky Native Plant Society.

food crops, and requires little irrigation. It haseven been shown to enhance the yield ofsubsequent crops by up to 15 percent. In addi-tion, the oil it produces is more cold-tolerantthan other biofuel feedstocks. (Note: For moreinformation about camelina, see the EnergyDaily web site at www.energydaily.com/

reports/Camelina_Biodiesel_A_Reality_999.html.)

In the words of John Williams, spokesmanfor Sustainable Oils, “Camelina

is the world’s first dedicatedenergy feedstock.”

Turning Mustard Seed

into Jet Fuel

Early on, Sustainable Oils recog-nized the potential that camelina oilhad as a feedstock for biofuel. The

company, a joint venturebetween Seattle-based Targeted

Growth (a biosciencescompany) and Houston-

based Green Earth Fuels (abiodiesel production facility),

researched and pioneered the seed’s use for producingbiodiesel.

As scientists and engineers from Targeted Growth weretrying to figure out ways to increase the yield of crops thatwere used for both food and fuel (crops such as corn andsoy), a team of their researchers decided to look at theproblem in reverse. According to John Williams, TargetedGrowth’s researchers realized, “There’s no doubt that agri-culture and biology can play a role here. But we’ve beenlooking at this the wrong way. Instead of looking at whatwe’re already growing, we should be looking at the desiredend product and figure out what we should be growing.”

Camelina is the world’s first

dedicated energy feedstock.

John Williams

RIGHT: Camelina (early stage shown here) requires less fertilizer and herbicides than traditional crops, is an excellent rotation crop

with wheat, and can also grow on marginal land.Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.

Camelina seeds.Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.


Navy & Other Federal Agencyenergy goals THERE HAS BEEN NO SHORTAGE of new federal energy policy in recent years.The Energy Policy Act of 2005, The Energy Independence and Security Act of2007, Executive Order 13423, renewable energy provisions in the NationalDefense Authorization Act of 2007 and the Federal Leadership in High Perfor-mance and Sustainable Buildings Memorandum of Understanding all contributedsubstantial new requirements. The policies invoke wide-ranging and aggressiveenergy and water initiatives, such as:

� Reducing installation energy consumption per square foot 30 percent by 2015relative to 2003.

� Reducing installation water consumption per square foot 16 percent by 2015relative to 2007.

� Requiring Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Silver or highercertification for new facilities.

� Constructing new facilities 30 percent more energy efficient than AmericanSociety of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers standards.

� Reducing fossil fuel use in new and renovated buildings by 55 percent by2010 and 100 percent by 2030.

� Metering all facilities with advanced time-of-use electrical meters.

� Purchasing Energy Star or Federal Energy Management Program-designatedequipment—written justification required to deviate.

� Generating/Procuring renewable energy equal to 25 percent of electricalenergy consumed by 2025.

At the October 2009 Navy Energy Forum, Secretary Mabus announced thefollowing goals for the Department of the Navy (DON):

1. By 2020, 50 percent of total DON energy consumption will come from alter-native energy sources.

2. By 2020, DON will produce at least 50 percent of shore-based energyrequirements from alternative sources; 50 percent of DON installations will be net-zero.

3. DON will demonstrate a Green Strike Group in local operations by 2012 andsail it by 2016.

4. By 2015, DON will reduce petroleum use in the commercial vehicle fleet by50 percent.

5. Evaluation of energy factors will be mandatory when awarding contracts forsystems and buildings.

Camelina seeds typically contain more than 35 percent oil and are high in omega three fatty acids. This makes the energy crop a good fit for jet fuel (as well as biodiesel), but the meal is also a valuable co-product as a good option for livestock feed.Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.

Targeted Growth’s scientists looked at avariety of different raw materials forfeedstocks for producing biofuelincluding switchgrass, sorghum, differenttypes of corn, and camelina. Theysettled on camelina because it doesn’tcompete with food crops and it is easyto cultivate (with existing equipment) aswell as other factors. “We joke thatcamelina is the meaner, older brother ofcanola,” says Williams. “Camelina oil isvery high in omega three fatty acids. Butfor all its productive qualities, it doesn’ttaste very good. That’s why it’s neverentered the agricultural mainstream.”The “meal” from camelina, however,can be cycled back into the food chainas a feed for livestock and poultry oncethe oil is extracted.

Because camelina fits so well intocrop rotation, “It offers farmers a wayto make some money during a timewhen they would leave their landfallow or planted with a cover cropthat doesn’t generate significantrevenue,” stated Williams.

Targeted Growth proceeded to research the seed,conducting non-genetic breeding tech-niques to produce an “elite” camelinaseed—one that produces more oil per acre,requires less fertilizer, and performs betterunder extreme temperature variationsthan the original seed. The “elite” seedwas introduced to Montana in 2007.

Since Targeted Growth was not in thebusiness of producing biofuels, they real-

ized that they needed to establish a secondcompany to take the “elite”

camelina seed that they had engi-neered and get it into production. For this

task, the company joined with GreenEarth Fuels to form SustainableOils as the marketing arm for the

new seed.

Producing Camelina Oil

Camelina seeds arecrushed using existingequipment and tech-

nology, and are convertedthrough the same refinery

process used for soybean andcanola oils. Called transesterifica-

tion, this process combines natural feedstocks such asvegetable oils or animal fats with a short chain alcohol inthe presence of a catalyst.

Targeted Growth’s original intended purpose for thecamelina oil was for use in vehicle diesel engines but notjet engines. To re-purpose the oil, they turned to Honey-well’s UOP for the knowledge and technologies necessaryto process oils into jet fuels.

The Honeywell/UOP Connection

UOP, LLC—a Honeywell company—develops and licensesprocessing technologies to the refining, gas processing,and petrochemical production industries.

UOP had already established a track record in the biofuelindustry. Its green division, formed in 2006, worked withEuropean energy company Eni, to develop a process toconvert vegetable oils and waste into a green diesel fuel.

Working with the camelina oil provided by SustainableOils, animal fats from Cargill, and algae from Solazyme

Camelina oil is very high in

omega three fatty acids.

John Williams

Farmers harvest a field of camelina on the northern Great Plains near Great Falls, Montana.

Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.


(among others), UOP engineersdesigned a process that utilizes tradi-tional refinery hydroprocessing tech-nology—a process that could easily beadopted by American refineries usingexisting equipment.

Refining the Oil

The refining process for camelina andother plant-based oils works as follows:

First, the oils are cleaned to removeimpurities using standard oil cleaningprocedures. The oils are thenconverted to the shorter chain diesel-range paraffins (chemical compoundsthat consist of hydrocarbon andhydrogen) using UOP’s Green Jet FuelProduction Process. This hydropro-cessing process (called Deoxy-genation) converts naturaloils by removing oxygenmolecules from the oil andconverting any olefins toparaffins by reaction withhydrogen. The removal ofthe oxygen atoms raisesthe heat of combustion ofthe fuel and the removal ofthe olefins increases thethermal and oxidativestability of the fuel. A

Manager of Renew-able Energy & Chemi-cals for Honeywell’s UOP.“First, the fuel had to meet the Navy’sflight specifications. Secondly, the fuelcould not require any changes to theengine or airframe. Finally, theformula had to be generated from asustainable, non-food feedstock.”

The new fuel succeeds on all threefronts:

1. It meets and in some casesexceeds the Navy’s procurementspecification.

2. The 50/50 blend (renewableproduct to petroleum) provides thenecessary aromatics required intoday’s jet engines.

second reaction, called SelectiveHydrocracking, then isomerizes andcracks the diesel range paraffins,breaking them down into smallerparaffins with carbon numbers in thejet range. The third and final ProductSeparation phase separates the prod-ucts of the hydrocracking process intoend products—light fuels, green jetfuels and green diesel.

The end product is a synthetic paraf-finic kerosene fuel that contains thesame types of molecules that aretypically found in conventional petro-leum-based jet fuel.

“Green jet fuel is able to addressseveral requirements,” said JimRekoske, Vice President & General

This particular F/A18F, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Tom Weaver, successfully tested a 50/50 blend of camelina-based and petroleum-based fuel on Earth Day 2010.

UOP’s Green Jet Fuel Production Process

3. The process can be utilized to convert a wide rangeof non-food feedstocks including camelina, jatrophaand algae.

“The camelina used for the Navy flight is only one feed-stock option,” says Rekoske. “It’s available in the U.S.now, but oils extracted from various other sources such asalgae and jatropha [a plant that grows well in tropicalclimates] can also be used as feedstock for biofuelproduction. The process is feedstock-agnostic, meaningthat producers can select the ideal feedstock dependingon their location, availability or cost.”

Rekoske also stated that although the initial formularequires 50 percent petroleum-based fuel, there is a possi-bility of a 100 percent sustainable biofuel in the future—technology could be available as soon as 2014.

The Testing Begins

Per the biofuel procurement specification developed bythe Navy Fuels Team, Sustainable Oils produced the neces-sary amount of camelina oil and shipped it to UOP’s seed

processing plant in Bayport, TX. In turn,UOP used their patented Green Jet FuelProduction Process to refine the camelina oilinto biofuel. UOP produced 40,000 gallonsof biofuel and delivered it to the Navy FuelsTeam in Pax River. Then, it was time tosubject the biofuel to rigorous testing.

“We had a very ambitious timeline,” saidKamin. “From the receipt of the fuel, we

wanted to complete testing in the GreenHornet in less than six months.”

The first step was to conduct a full labora-tory evaluation to compare the biofuel with

the performance parametersoutlined in the procure-ment specification.

Navy chemists blendedthe biofuel with the petro-leum-based JP-5, then initi-

ated a series ofchemistry and propertyanalysis tests to validate

that the blended fuelmatched the performance of

the JP-5 fuel. “This is a two-partprocess,” stated Kamin, “First you

need to conduct ‘performance to specification’ tests andthen ‘fit for purpose’ tests.”

The ‘fit for purpose’ properties testing involved 20 to 30different tests that analyzed properties and chemistriesthat are outside the limits of the specification. “These ‘fitfor purpose’ tests are critical since all of the Navy’ssystems have been designed around petroleum,” Kaminexplained. “There are a number of properties that areinherent to petroleum-based fuels for which we don’t regu-larly test during procurement. It is those properties, notexplicitly referenced in our biofuel procurement specifica-tion, that we needed to test under the ‘fit for purpose’mantle. These tests would cover the entire range ofpurposes for which the fuel may reasonably be used andprovide the fuels chemists and engineers with the confi-dence that the fuels will perform as expected when usedin subsequent component and system tests.”

“We wanted to make sure that the biofuel had the sameproperties that we have come to expect of petroleum-basedfuels,” Kamin continued. “For example, the dielectricconstant of the biofuel is important for the purposes oftank gauging”. The F-18 uses a capacitance gauging system

There is a possibility of a

100 percent sustainable

biofuel in the future—

technology could be

available as soon as 2014.

Jim Rekoske


which is calibrated for the dielectricproperties of petroleum-based jetfuels. If the dielectric constant of thebiofuel is not the same as petroleum-based jet fuel, the F/A-18’s tankgauging systems will provide incorrectfuel quantity readings to the pilot.

After laboratory tests were completed,testing of individual components andthe jet’s engine began. At this stage,the Navy team expanded to includeengine experts, fuel control expertsand combustion experts amongothers. “As you move away from thelaboratory and closer to the aircraft,the composition and size of yourteam expands,” said Kamin. Twocomponent tests and one of the twoengine tests were performed atGeneral Electric—the manufacturer ofthe F/A-18’s F414 engine.

“We conducted a 500-hour test of thefuel control unit to see if the biofuelhad any impact on any of the mate-rials contained in the unit,” saidKamin. “This unit is a complex seriesof valves and orifices that meter andcontrol the flow of fuel to the engine.This system ensures that the rightamount of fuel is sent to the enginebased on the throttle settings set bythe pilot,” he explained.

The other component that was testedwas the combuster. This is where the

Liz Goettee

The Green Hornet’s green initiatives AS THE PREMIERE TACTICAL AIRCRAFT of the U.S. Navy, the F/A-18 GreenHornet is the focal point of various energy and environmental initiatives. Foryears, the team has focused on reducing or eliminating hazardous materials,identifying material reduction and recycling opportunities, and identifying andaddressing environmental health and safety concerns.

New technologies are at work to make the F414 engine more efficient. Testing ofsome engine efficiency upgrades (an advanced aerodynamic compressor and highpressure turbine, ceramic matrix composite turbine blades, and performance seekingengine controls) was conducted in November 2010. Air emission and fuel consump-tion reductions are the goal of the trapped vortex combustor technology. This tech-nology initiative supported by PMA265 has demonstrated reductions in greenhousegases (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides [42 percent reduction], and unburnedhydrocarbons [17 percent reduction]) with no loss in engine performance. Otherefforts to reduce energy consumption include minimized hot pit refueling at NASLemoore and Fallon, and enhanced simulation capabilities. Mike Rudy estimated,“The Green Hornet’s carbon footprint will be reduced from all of these energy initia-tives. We expect fuel consumption reduction by 27 million gallons per year andgreenhouse gas emission reductions by 300,000 metric tons annually.” The use ofthe camelina biofuel reducesconventional aviation fuel useby 50 percent and reducescarbon emissions by 80percent on a lifecycle basis.

For more insights into theGreen Hornet’s other greeninitiatives, see our coverstory entitled “GreenHornet Team AchievesEnvironmental Break-throughs: Program OfficeImplements Green Technologies Without CompromisingAircraft Performance” from the spring 2007 issue of Currents. To subscribe to themagazine or browse the Currents archives, visit the Naval Air Systems Command’senvironmental web site at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.

You can “like” Currents on Facebook by logging onto your account at www.facebook.com, searching for “U.S. Navy Currents magazine” then clickingthe “Like” button. You can also find Currents at www.facebook.com/navycurrentsand follow Currents on Twitter at www.twitter.com/navycurrents.

fuel is atomized and burned providing the energy topropel the aircraft.

The component and engine tests confirmed the initialresults from the laboratory tests. The components andengines didn’t “know” the difference between the petro-leum- and bio-based fuels. “The performance of the bio-based fuel was well within the tolerance that was expected.Everything operated exactly as we expected,” said Kamin.

A flight clearance package was prepared that summarizedall of the technical data that was collected during labora-tory, component and engine testing. The performancemonitors need to be confident based on the results of thetesting and data contained in the flight clearance package,that the aircraft won’t be exposed to any undue risk.

Once flight clearance was obtained, the effort was turnedover to the VX-23 squadron and the Naval Air SystemsCommand’s Flight Test Team who were responsible forconducting the flight test.

Why the Green Hornet Program?

“PMA-265 was a logical program to test thisnew batch of camelina-based biofuel,”according to Mike Rudy, PMA265’s Environ-ment, Safety and Occupational Health Coor-dinator. “We have our own jet engine testcell. We use it to run our engines through allsorts of performance parameters. We also

have lot of experience studying thecomponents of the engine to see what

sort of impact there might have been duringthe course of the tests,” said Rudy.

“The F414 series engine is also known to beextremely reliable,” explained Rudy.

“We have a large databaseof tests on this engine,including things like

the rotors, the turbineblades and thecombustor—those

components have beenanalyzed andreworked where

necessary. Any problemshave been analyzed then

corrected. We also have a rela-tively large number of test

aircraft here at Pax River. And our Green Hornet team islocated here at Pax River and has a recognized environ-mental track record. So it made perfect sense for us to testthe camelina-based biofuel.”

The Earth Day demonstration flight at Pax River on 22April 2010 was one of 16 test flights conducted on the F/A-18E/F that demonstrated the performance of the biofuelblend over the entire aircraft flight envelope. The eventdrew hundreds of onlookers, including Secretary Mabus,who observed the flight from a Project Engineering Stationat the air station’s Atlantic Test Range. After the jet landed,he met the pilot, Lieutenant Commander Tom Weaver, ofBillerica, MA.

“The aircraft flew exactly as we expected—no surprises,”said Weaver, in a Navy announcement. “The fuel works sowell, all I needed to do was fly the plane.”

“We observed no operational difference with the biofuel,”confirmed Mike Rudy. “It accelerated properly, it deceler-ated properly. There were no flame-outs. All functionalchecks were nominal [normal].”

Our Navy, alongside

industry, the other services

and federal agency

partners, will continue

to be an early adopter of

alternative energy sources.

Secretary Ray Mabus


“The alternative fuels test program isa significant milestone in the certifica-tion and ultimate operational use ofbiofuels by the Navy and MarineCorps,” remarked Secretary Mabus.“It’s important to emphasize theNavy’s commitment to reducingdependence on foreign oil as well assafeguarding our environment. OurNavy, alongside industry, the otherservices and federal agency partners,will continue to be an early adopter ofalternative energy sources.”

The flight test report is currently infinal review so it would be prematureto quote results. However, all the dataanalyzed to date have shown that the50/50 biofuel JP-5 blend operated nodifferently in the aircraft than 100percent petroleum-based JP-5.

The Future

The program’s goal is to incorporatethe 50/50 blend into the Navy’s JP-5aviation specification by early 2012.Planning is already underway toexpand testing to a number of otherNavy and Marine Corps tacticalsystems. MH-60 Seahawk helicoptertesting was conducted in November2010 with tests on the V-22 Ospreytiltrotor aircraft and other systems inthe works for 2011.

“The plan is to qualify JP-5 for allprograms,” states Rudy. “These

Energy, Department of Agriculture,Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency, and industry are aggressivelyworking to commercialize the tech-nology and drive the economies ofscale to enable these fuels of thefuture to be produced in quantitiessufficient to make them competitivewith petroleum.

Even more so than camelina, algaecan be grown in the most hostile ofregions such as deserts, so it doesn’tinfringe on land set aside for foodcrops. It doesn’t require fresh water toflourish, and can thrive in salt wateror even wastewater.

The Navy’s Vision

“The Navy has always led in energychange,” Mabus said, noting that itswitched from sails to coal-firedpower in the 1850s, from coal to oil inthe early 1900s and from oil tonuclear in some vessels in the 1950s.“Every single time we did that, therewere people who said we were takingproven technology and trading it foran unproven one, and (putting theoperations at risk). Every single timethey were wrong.” (Source: TheBillings Gazette web site atwww.billingsgazette.com/news/state-and-regional/montana/article_c32a96a2-4cce-11df-ab60-001cc4c03286.html. Used withpermission.) �

CONTACTS

Rick KaminNavy Fuels Team301-757-3408DSN: [email protected]

Mike RudyF/A-18 Program Office (PMA265)301-757-7638DSN: [email protected]

programs will be qualified to use the50/50 blend and will eventually moveto 100 percent biofuel when itbecomes available,” Rudy continued.

Energy & Environmental

Benefits

Though the impetus for the develop-ment of the new biofuel was to lessenthe Navy’s dependence on foreign oil,the new fuel has environmental bene-fits as well.

“Camelina fuel has been demon-strated to reduce carbon emissions by80 percent,” stated John Williams.These emission reductions will berealized over the long run, due to thefact that biomass sources absorbcarbon dioxide while growing and canhave higher energy content thanfossil-based fuel. The use of usebiomass sources as aviation biofuelcould potentially save millions of tonsof aviation greenhouse gas emissions.

The Big Picture

Now that camelina and other sourceshave been successfully tested in theF/A-18 as well as other commercialand military aircraft, the industry hasa challenge to produce enough renew-able fuel to support the eventualdemand for the 50/50 blend.

“Camelina is the first of the biofuelstepping stones,” says Rudy. “It is scal-able today and has been proven. Inthe future, other feedstocks, such asalgae, will complement production toefficient levels. “

At the present time, there is nocommercial scale production infra-structure in place. All the fuel procuredfor testing to date was produced inpilot scale operations, which, as in allnew technology, resulted in highercosts. Currently the Department of

Courtesy of Sustainable Oils, Inc.

ON 22 OCTOBER 2010, in thewaters off Naval Station Norfolk, theNavy reached another milestone onthe road toward energy security.Conducting a full power demonstra-tion of an alternative fuel-poweredriverine boat, the Riverine CommandBoat - Experimental (RCB-X) ran on a50/50 blend of algae biofuel andpetroleum, achieving a top speed of44.5 knots (about 52 miles per hour).

The demonstration marked an impor-tant step toward meeting Secretary ofthe Navy Ray Mabus’ goal of fuelinghalf the Navy’s energy consumptionthrough alternative fuels by 2020.

“Running the RCB-X at its maximumpower throughout this test of a 2ndgeneration marine biofuel was a WrightBrothers moment for the Navy,” statedRear Admiral Philip Cullom, director ofthe Energy and Environmental Readi-ness Division on the Chief of NavalOperations staff, which leads theNavy’s Task Force Energy.1 It was thefirst time a naval surface vessel fromany nation has ever been driven at full

power on biofuel, let alone one derivedfrom algae.

The successful RCB-X demonstrationcame almost one year to the day afterMabus laid out his energy goals for theNavy and Marine Corps. The NavalSea Systems Command’s advancedfuels program office is leading thetesting and demonstration program incoordination with the Task Force

Energy Maritime Working Group. Theriverine demonstration is just one of aseries of progressively larger scaletests and evaluations scheduledthrough 2012. These exhibitions willculminate in 2012 with a Green StrikeGroup of U.S. Navy ships and aircraftoperating locally and in 2016, withdeployment of a Great Green Fleet ofships and tactical aircraft, all poweredby alternative fuels.

The Great Green FleetThe Great Green Fleet is of course atakeoff from the Great White Fleet, agroup of naval vessels that sailed

around the world between 1907 and1909. The purpose of the Great WhiteFleet’s “world tour” was principally toshowcase the Navy’s capabilities andU. S. seapower, though coincidentally,like the Great Green Fleet, it wasmeant to provide an operational eval-uation of innovative energy efficien-cies. The Great Green Fleet willexperiment with hybrid electric driveand other energy saving technologies,

but the main purpose behind thisjourney will be to demonstrate theNavy’s commitment to achievingenergy security, enhancing combatcapability, and reducing greenhousegases.

“Going green is about combat capa-bility and assuring the Navy’smobility,” said Cullom. “By havingreliable and abundant alternatesources of energy, we will no longerbe held hostage by any one source ofenergy, such as petroleum.”2

Tom Hicks, Deputy Assistant Secre-tary to the Navy (Energy), agrees.


Navy Fuels Great Green Fleet VisionLatest Milestone on the Road to Energy Security

The demonstration marked an important step toward meeting Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus’ goal of fueling half the Navy’s

energy consumption through alternative fuels by 2020.


“Alternative fuels really give the Navy a chance to divest abit from petroleum to provide some increased insulationfrom a pretty volatile petroleum market.”3

Why Algae?Algae are attracting attention as a fuel source because thestrains can potentially produce at least ten times more fuelper acre than the corn used to make ethanol or thesoybeans used to make biodiesel. Moreover, algae can begrown on virtually any type of land, using brackish water,meaning that fuel production would not compete withfood production.4 Another advantage of biofuels is thatfuels made from biomass burn cleaner than fossil fuelsand require no drilling to acquire, which means fewergreenhouse gas emissions throughout the fuel’s lifecycle.According to Solazyme, the company from which theNavy acquired its algae-based oil, this type of fuel resultsin up to 85 percent less greenhouse gas emissions thanfossil fuels.

Solazyme is one of several companies working to engineerthe “perfect” strain of algae for biofuel production.Jonathan Wolfson, the company’s Chief Executive Officerand co-founder says, “Our unique microbial conversion

technology process allows algae to produce oil in standardindustrial fermentation facilities quickly, efficiently and atcommercial scale.”5

Presently, the company grows algae in tanks inside aPennsylvania warehouse. Fed by sugar beets, switch grassor a host of other plants, the algae is cut and dried intopebbles that resemble couscous. It is then shipped toIowa, where the oil is extracted. After the oil is extractedit is sent to refineries in Texas, where it is blended withtraditional diesel.

In September 2010, the U.S. Navy ordered more than150,000 gallons of ship and jet fuel from Solazyme. Thecompany received a $21.8 million grant from the U.S.Department of Energy in 2009 to build a new refinery inRiverside, Pennsylvania, to help push production tocommercial levels.

Don’t Call it BiodieselThe algae-based fuel used by the Navy is known ashydro-processed renewable diesel (HR-D). Unlikebiodiesel, HR-D does not include water; which is incom-patible with shipboard fuel systems. HR-D is a drop-in

On 22 October 2010, the Navy conducted a full power demonstration of this alternative fuel-powered RCB-X running on a blend of 50 percent algae-based and 50 percent petroleum-based fuel, achieving a speed topping 44 knots (about 52 miles per hour).

replacement for traditional fuel,meaning that the fuel system’sintegrity is not compromised, andthere are no performance or mainte-nance issues. The RCB-X demonstra-tion provided further evidence ofthis. “The boat’s performance wasindistinguishable from what it wouldhave been using standard dieselfuel,” said Cullom.4

The RCB-X is a 49-foot boat which theNavy one day hopes to use for patrolsin rivers and bays. Cullom said it wasan ideal place for the team to beginalternative fuels testing. “It’s alwaysbest, of course, when you’re doingtesting like this to start small. We’ll beable to extrapolate the performancethat we see here into the next seriesof tests,” he said.1

What About Cost?Because the market is still in itsinfancy, the fuel is not yet cost-competitive with petroleum. Initial


Rear Admiral Philip Cullom shows off a container of the algae-petroleum fuel blend.

supplies of the experimental renew-able diesel fuel cost around $400 pergallon, but with time, that price hasdropped to around $60 per barrel,according to Cullom.1

Tom Hicks explains some of thereasons for the high cost. “The quanti-ties we are buying today, there’sresearch and development that isfactored into that—there’s a lot oftesting and certification that we arebuying, and these are very smallbatches. As the Navy, we purchaseroughly 32 million barrels of fuel peryear, so that’s 1.2 or 1.3 billiongallons of fuel. The quantities you aretalking about here are pretty small—20,000, 50,000, 100,000 gallons ofexperimental biodiesel fuel, which ispretty small relative to that. To anextent, you pay for that lack ofeconomy of scale at this point.”3

Cullom feels that the Navy initiative, byincreasing demand for such products,will help drive prices down over time.

What’s Next?The Navy isn’t the only branch of themilitary testing alternative fuels. TheAir Force has tested a biofuel blend inits C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane.

Cullom said that with the successful testof the RCB-X on biodiesel under theirwing, the Navy will expand the test tolarger ships of the fleet. But first, theNavy’s Task Force Energy is turning itsattention to testing the use of biofuelsin one of its workhorse aircraft—theSikorsky MH-60 Seahawk helicopter.

“Our goal, as a Navy, is to be an earlyadopter of new technologies thatenhance national security in an environ-mentally sustainable way,” said Cullom.6

For more insights into the Navy’sdemonstration of alternative fuels, seeour cover story entitled “From Seed toSupersonic: How Camelina Poweredthe Navy’s Premier Fighter Jet” in thisissue of Currents. �1Navy on Course to Meeting EnergyConservation on Ships—Interview byMax Cacas Reporter, Federal News Radio.

2Great Green Fleet—Navy News Service.3The U.S. Navy and Biofuels—by RobertRapier, Consumer Energy Report.

4New York Times, 26 July 2010.5Navy Taps Solazyme for BioengineeredAlgae Fuel by Jason Dearen, AssociatedPress and Navy Unveils Its ‘Mean, GreenRiverine Machine’ In Norfolk by Bill Sizemore, Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.

6Navy to Fuel Half Its Vessels AlternativelyBy 2020 by Natalia Real, Fish Informa-tion and Services, 26 October 2010.

CONTACT

Tracey MoriartyChief of Naval Operations Energy and

Environmental Readiness Division703-604-5412DSN: [email protected]

if you think environmental work is just aboutbirds and bunnies, think again. The Currents

2011 calendar reveals the depth and breadthof the Navy’s environmental efforts—fromfinding new sources of fuel to fueling yourcompetitive spirit via the Chief of NavalOperations (CNO) environmental awards.Ensuring mission readiness while protectingour environment takes research, engineering, hand-on work and commu-nity building. Some of the highlights include:

January: CNO Awards Recognize Exceptional Stewardship

March: New Protocol Helps Evaluate Risks to Frogs, Toads & Salamanders

August: Navy Region Northwest Partnering to Restore Habitats & Species

October: Biofuel Powers the Navy’s Premier Fighter Jet

November: Navy Environmental Sustainability Development to IntegrationProgram Demonstrates Technologies to Enhance Operational Readiness

As the Navy’s official environmental mag-azine, Currents has the privilege to sharethe many ways the Navy’s environmentalpersonnel and Sailors work to find andimplement the best techniques to achievetheir goals. Currents provides a forum inwhich all of you can share your knowl-edge and successes with your colleagues.

Do you subscribe to Currents? If so, youshould have received your 2011 calendarby now. If not, please contact LorraineWass, our distribution manager, [email protected] or 207-384-5249 toreceive your own copy of the calendar,request additional copies and sign up for Currents.

Don’t forget to check us out online atwww.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.

facebook.com/navycurrents

twitter.com/navycurrents

flickr.com/photos/navycurrents

Thanks for all of your great work andwe look forward to seeing more fromyou in the pages of Currents!

2011 Calendar Celebrates the Best of

Currents2011 Calendar Celebrates the Best of

Currents


Peter Lehner once climbed the Cordillera Blanca (the White Range) in Peru. Climate change models show that the Andes mountains are experiencing one of the fastest rates of change.


spotlighton the Natural Resources Defense Council

Executive Director Peter Lehner Identifies Priorities & Future Opportunities for Collaboration with the Navy

oN 9 AUGUST 2010, Ken Hess from the public affairs staff at the Chief ofNaval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division (N45) andBruce McCaffrey, managing editor of Currents magazine, traveled to NewYork City and interviewed Peter Lehner, executive director of the NaturalResources Defense Council (NRDC) as one in a series of Currents interviewswith representatives from environmental non-governmental organizations.Mr. Lehner (pronounced LAY-ner) spoke about NRDC’s top priorities, pastinteractions with the Navy and Department of Defense (DoD), and opportu-nities for future collaborations between NRDC and the Navy.

CURRENTS: Thanks for taking the time to speak with us today. Let’s startwith a discussion of your role at NRDC.

PETER LEHNER: In my role as ExecutiveDirector of NRDC, I manage more than 350dedicated environmental advocates in sevenoffices and guide all of NRDC’s policy posi-tions and advocacy strategies.

Since I assumed this role in 2006, we havestrengthened and rededicated our resourcestowards curbing global warming, building aclean energy future for America, reviving theworld’s oceans, saving endangered wild spaces and lands, stemming thetide of toxic chemicals, and accelerating the greening of China.

CURRENTS: What is the primary mission of the NRDC?

LEHNER: NRDC is working to safeguard the planet and the plants, animals,people, and systems on which all life depends. It is the connectedness of allof these systems that is so often forgotten that we are frequently focusingon. Right now our big priorities are clean energy and climate change.

NRDC is 40 years old this year. We are one of the country’s oldest, mostinfluential environmental organizations with 1.3 million members and

NRDC is working to safeguard the planet and the plants,animals, people, and systems on which all life depends.

Matt Greenslade/photo-nyc.com

offices around this country and in China. We havemembers in every state and virtually every county.

We work through scientific and economic analysis, litiga-tion, lobbying, and a lot of public education, mobilizationand partnerships with companies and governments bigand small including a number of partnerships with DoD.

CURRENTS: What are the primary chal-lenges that NRDC is facing right now?

LEHNER: The biggest challenges we faceright now are climate change and ourenergy system. NRDC is pushing very hardto move to a clean energy system thatdoesn’t pollute our air and water, doesn’tleave us at a trade deficit or a competitivejobs deficit, or endanger national security.We think that a clean energy future ispossible, will provide jobs, will providegreater security and really is clean.

Another one of our big priorities is ourReviving the Oceans campaign. The oceansare acidifying, and a vast majority of the world’s fish-eries are overfished or exploited. So we’re trying veryhard to revive the oceans by advocating for the estab-lishment of marine protected areas particularly off thecoast of California.

The oceans are governed by about 120 different laws andadministered by about 20 different agencies. This meansthat there isn’t much of a coordinated presence, protectionor plan for the oceans. We pushed very hard for and weredelighted with the National Oceans Policy that PresidentObama recently released.

One of our biggest challenges is the fact that much ofwhat we are tackling now is invisible. Climate change—you can’t see it. It’s not like the Cayahoga River catchingfire. Ocean depletion—you don’t see the depletion of fishstocks. You can read about how cod were once so plentifulyou could scoop them up with a bucket in Boston Harbor.

You don’t see that. That’s one of the real challenges wehave. So many of the environmental issues are long-term,diffuse, and not very visible.

That’s why we are delighted that the Navy is gettingengaged. The Navy is an important voice, and people whomight not listen to us might listen to you.

CURRENTS: How might NRDC’s challenges evolve overthe next five years?

LEHNER: We just completed a strategic planningprocess to establish our priorities for the next five years.So we’ll be concentrating on them for a while. Welooked at issues that were the most pressing to peopleand the planet, and issues where we could make adifference. We think we can make a difference with theoceans. We believe that the National Oceans Policy willlead to better management of the ocean in terms ofareas that should be open to offshore drilling or wind orfisheries and other areas that are so special from a fish-eries perspective that they should be protected. We’rehopeful that this process will help to restore some of thefisheries and result in fewer destructive practices,including bottom trawling. I think we’ll make progresson all of these fronts, although I doubt we’ll be done infive years.



The oceans are acidifying, and a vast majority of the world’s fisheries

are overfished or exploited.

CURRENTS: Can you provide us with more insights intosome of your priority initiatives?

LEHNER: Sure. Let’s take global warming, which we referto as the “evil twin” of ocean acidification. Our carbondioxide emissions are vastly in excess of what the planetcan absorb. The more one looks around—whether it be thedrought here in the New York City metropolitan area, theflooding in other places, the wildfires in Russia—climatechange is an issue that is really coming home to roost.

A lot of the wars around the world are fights over resources.As areas dry out, as areas flood, there will be more conflictsover limited resources. And the United States will be called inas the world’s cop and peacekeeper. That’s NOT an easy job.

I have always very much admired the military’s will-ingness to speak out even when it was politicallyunpopular to do so.

CURRENTS: In November 2009, the Navy issued anArctic Roadmap to guide strategy, policy, investments,and training activities now that reduced sea ice ismaking the Arctic more accessible to human activity.

LEHNER: The Arctic is one specific area we are inter-ested in because it is one area that has been particu-larly hard hit by the changes brought on by globalwarming. Areas that used to be covered by ice half theyear or all year are now open for commercial considera-tion—ironically, exploration for oil in areas that wereunreachable before the ice melted—including the competingdemands of the different countries as well as an extremelyvibrant fishery. The same is the case in the Antarctic. TheAntarctic krill fishery supports a vast portion of the world’sfish and marine mammals. As these oceans change, we aregoing to face challenges all around the world.

We are also working very hard to advance clean energy.Right now, clean energy is competing against dirty energy.The benefits associated with clean energy aren’t countedwhen it’s compared to dirty energy, and the harms associ-ated with dirty energy are not counted against or includedin its price.

Here in New York, we’re downwind from the mid-westerncoal plants, and during the Bush administration the U.S.Environmental Protection Agency estimated that 20,000people per year were being killed by coal-fired power plantpollution. Think about the economic drag that creates onthis country.

We also have a public health program we’ve started withthe over 200 different dangerous chemicals inside ourbodies. We try to find, based on medical information,those chemicals for which we have safer, healthier alterna-tives. We then develop strategies to take the worst chemi-cals out of commerce.

CURRENTS: Do you have a top ten list of sorts?

LEHNER: Mercury. Lead—which has been a priority forquite some time. Sulfur from diesel fuel. The organo-phosphates in pesticides, which are nasty. Some recentadditions include phthalates which are plasticizers(added to plastics to increase their flexibility). All ofthese chemicals are turning up, in varying levels, in our blood.

We have had some success in banning the sale of elementalmercury in the United States. The European Union has donethe same, and they are negotiating a world-wide treaty tophase out mercury. That is really terrific.

We call this initiative Protecting Our Health by PreventingPollution, and it is part of our Partnership for the Earthcampaign.



NRDC has had some success in banning the sale of elemental mercury in the United States.

We try to find, based on medicalinformation, those chemicals for which

we have safer, healthier alternatives.

We have two new priorities. One is water—a topic we’vebeen litigating since 1971 when we were first founded—and the recognition that it is water quantity as well aswater quality that is important.

In many parts of the world, it will be in water shortageswhere climate change will first be felt. I once climbedthe Cordillera Blanca (the “White Range”) in Peru. Butthe locals say that this range is not nearly as white as itonce was—the glaciers have been melting fast. Climatechange models show that the Andes mountains areexperiencing one of the fastest rates of change. Thoseglaciers are the water supply, the reservoirs for thosecommunities. So we are studying issues pertaining towater efficiency through a connection we call “greeninfrastructure.” When it rains, very often the goal of theengineers and civic planners is to get rid of thestormwater as fast as possible. And yetstormwater is an extraordinarily valuableresource. We are promoting ways to capturerainwater and use it as a resource. We’re notthere yet, but we really do need a paradigmshift in how we think about stormwater.

Our last new priority is in the area of sustainablecommunities—recognizing that how we shape ourexisting communities in terms of infrastructure,design and urban planning drives how healthy weare and how clean our air and water are.

As a simple matter, you have 80 percent of theeconomic engine of this country in 100 metro-politan areas. Most of those areas are crying outfor more mass transit. It would be a greateconomic and environmental driver to meet the need formore mass transit. We’ve also seen an exodus to thesuburbs where very limited mass transit options exist.According to the American Association of Retired Persons,there are 50 to 60 million Americans who are living inplaces where there is limited access to mass transit. Ofcourse, there is a tremendous potential environmentalbenefit to using mass transit instead of our cars. And itoffers a better quality of life.

CURRENTS: How would you characterize NRDC’s interac-tions with the Navy?

LEHNER: NRDC has been working with, and sometimesagainst, the Navy for 10 to 15 years. We’ve had our ups anddowns, but we are hopeful—particularly with a new admin-istration—that we will be able to find common ground.We’ve had some litigation with the Navy over the use oflow- and mid-frequency sonar. There are different types ofsonar and different exercises in different parts of thecountry. But what’s interesting is that in most areas, after alittle pushing and shoving, we were able to resolve theissues. The Navy was able to do, as is appropriate, itstraining. We have no desire to, in any way, underminenational security and fully believe in the Navy’s mission. Onthe other hand, with a little bit of thinking ahead, planningand flexibility, you can also protect the marine mammals.

We’ve…begun to collaborate with the Navy and otherbranches of the military on sustainable fuels. The energydensity of fuel is such that I suspect ships and planes willprobably be run on liquid fuels for quite a while. Shiftingto sustainable biofuels for those purposes is an importantissue which the military recognizes.

It is very important to look at biofuels throughout their life. Ifyou clear land that had been forested to grow a feedstock to


We’ve begun to collaborate with theNavy and other branches of the

military on sustainable fuels.


An F/A-18F Super Hornet strike fighter is fueled with a 50/50 blend of biofuel and conventional fuel at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. Liz Goettee

make biofuel, you start with a large timber and soil carbondeficit. If you are growing the biofuel crop on land that isotherwise used to plant food crops, that’s not optimal either.We have been working extensively with the U.S. Environ-mental Protection Agency (EPA) on the lifecycle analysisrules that they have just recently issued on renewable fuels.

The military is a major purchaser of biofuels. This sets awonderful example that takes biofuels out of the realm ofthe treehuggers and into the realm of serious nationalsecurity. This is a collaboration that we hope will result inthe development of a good standard for what are trulysustainable biofuels.

NRDC also worked with DoD to resist the purchase of jetfuel made from tar sands. (Note: Tar sands are a combina-

tion of clay, sand, water, and bitumen—a heavy blackviscous oil. Tar sands can be mined and processed toextract the oil-rich bitumen, which is then refined into oil.)Refining fuel from tar sands is an energy-intensive process.We want to make sure that the military resists pressure topurchase jet fuel made by processing the oil from tar sands.

CURRENTS: Can you talk about some particularlysuccessful collaborations between the Navy and NRDC?

LEHNER: Sure. One successful collaboration resulted in theNavy adopting a set of mitigation measures that guidedthe use of sonar during their training exercises. Thesemeasures, devised by experts, allow the Navy to conducttheir training and, at the same time, protect marinemammals. This is almost a text book “win-win.” I hopethat we can get to those types of resolutions more quicklythan we have in the past.

I am hopeful that biofuels will be another area of successfulcollaboration with the Navy. In particular, I hope the Navy isable to look beyond the glib answers that some willencourage them to adopt, and instead consider a real life-cycle analysis of any particular biofuel. I suspect that theNavy will be pressured to adopt biofuels that are not trulysustainable if you look at the impact across their lifecycle.

We are finding that the “renewable” fuels industry ispushing for renewable fuels regardless of whether or notthey are truly sustainable. Renewable fuels done badly canactually take us backwards.


The Basics About the Navy’s Marine Mammal Mitigation Measures

THE NAVY EMPLOYS 29 protective measures to limit contact withmarine mammals while training with active sonar. These measuresinclude the following:

1. Marine mammal awareness training for key shipboardpersonnel;

2. Multiple lookouts aboard sonar-equipped ships during exercises;

3. Special operating procedures, including safety zones forreducing power or shutting off sonar at specified distancesfrom marine mammals; and

4. Coordination and reporting requirements for marine mammal strandings, mortalities or unusual behavior.

The measures were developed in cooperation with the National MarineFisheries Service, the regulatory agency that oversees the protection ofmarine life for U.S. entities. In addition, the Navy funds about half ofthe marine mammal research conducted world-wide. Much of theapproximately $20 million the Navy spends annually (as of Fiscal Year2009) goes toward studying the effects of sound on marine life.

The Navy is currently developing comprehensive environmental plan-ning documentation for its training ranges and operating areas. As partof the environmental planning process, Navy researchers performmodeling of animal movements and acoustic exposure to ensureadequate assessment of the effects of active sonar and have conductedconcurrent studies to ensure that sonar systems will not harm humansscuba diving in the ocean.


For More Information

FOR MORE INFORMATIONabout EPA’s National Renew-able Fuel Standard, visitwww.epa.gov/otaq/fuels/renewablefuels/index.htm anddownload the fact sheet enti-tled, EPA Lifecycle Analysis ofGreenhouse Gas Emissionsfrom Renewable Fuels.

I am hopeful that the Navy remainsinterested and wants to work togetheron sound renewable fuels issues.

CURRENTS: With regard to the miti-gation measures that you discussed,can you explain what NRDC did tohelp get those measures in place?

LEHNER: Yes. Many of the mitigationmeasures are not that complex—having a spotter on the flight deck,not using sonar when whales are inthe area, and so on. What we did istalk to a lot of marine experts so wehad some idea of what measureswere necessary to protect marinemammals. There is a strongconsensus among these experts that



Peter Lehner (standing right) on a boat in Laguna San Ignacio

as a gray whale approaches. Jacob Scherr

Peter Lehner (left) touching a baby gray whale in Laguna San Ignacio, one of the last breeding grounds for Pacific gray whales, which NRDC fought to protect from industrialization and pollution.

by far the most effective mitigation measure is geographicavoidance in training exercises—that is, avoiding areas ofparticular importance to marine mammals when they arepresent. We also increased public awareness of this issueso that there was some appreciation of why we weretaking these actions. We also promoted a fact-based, scien-tifically-driven approach to this issue.

We were able to reach common ground with the Navy ontraining exercises in some areas, but other areas weretougher. But even before we went to the Supreme Court,there were six mitigation measures at issue. The Navyadopted four of them, which left only two as part ofthe Supreme Court case. And the court didn’t saythat the mitigation measures weren’t scientificallybased. In our view, the court’s decision was muchmore a procedural decision about the role of theNavy and national security matters.

CURRENTS: How would you like to see interactionsbetween NRDC and the Navy change?

LEHNER: Generally, I’d like to see us resolve issuesprior to litigation. The National EnvironmentalPolicy Act (NEPA) process gets to the essential informa-tion—information that you will want to have. Yes, some-times it means you may have to change course. But that’swhat life is all about—learning, then adjusting to what youlearn. Don’t try to minimize it—jump into it, hear thevoices and then make the best decision you can. It’s muchbetter to do that than to enter into litigation and be forcedto modify your NEPA documentation. That entire processcan be very messy and stressful. Do it up front. Do it early.You’ll reach a much better decision.

CURRENTS: Are there other changes in the way the Navydoes business that would be valuable for us to consider?

LEHNER: I don’t say this just with regard to the Navy, butwith other branches of government, I would encourage themto be as public as possible with their information. Keepingthings secret slows the process, and ultimately is destructive.When people know something is going on but are not being

informed, they assume the worst. So we encourage govern-ments to be as open as they can be with scientific and otherinformation. Obviously, the Navy has a lot of informationthat they cannot release for security reasons. But the Navyalso has a tremendous amount of information on the marineenvironment. Making more of that information accessible tothe general public would be terrific. We probably don’t evenappreciate all of the valuable information the Navy has.

CURRENTS: Can you characterize the type of projectswhere the Navy and NRDC might be well-suited ascollaborators?

LEHNER: The oceans cover two-thirds of the planet andthe Navy probably knows more than almost anybody elseabout the ocean environment. The ocean is one of ourpriority areas—an area where we would love to engagemore with the Navy.

CURRENTS: How does public perception of environmentalissues affect NRDC’s efforts? How do you change thoseperceptions?

LEHNER: In a very fast-paced media world, people wantdrama. But as I said earlier, many of the challenges weface are literally invisible. And this is not dramatic. So thechallenge is to educate people about important and realissues that are not necessarily visible or dramatic. That’swhere messengers and their stories become more impor-tant so that the issue “sounds right” to folks.

CURRENTS: So where do we go from here?


What we did is talk to a lot of marine experts so we had some idea

of what measures were necessary to protect marine mammals.


LEHNER: Biofuels are going to be acritical element of our energy future.We’re going to be using liquid fuelsfor ships and planes for quite sometime. It would be terrific if the Navycould lead the way on this front.

With regard to the acoustic environ-ment in the ocean and the use ofsonar, the Navy should use its knowl-edge and keep pushing the tech-nology forward.

I think the National Oceans Policythat President Obama just signed,deepwater drilling, and the dramaticchanges in the Arctic environment,provide the Navy with a great oppor-tunity to be a strong voice of scienceand reason. The “land grab” that isgoing on in the Arctic is really fright-ening—where normally restrainednations are being much moreaggressive. I think the Navy couldmake a really powerful statement byconsidering the Arctic as a veryspecial place that should be largelyoff limits.

CURRENTS: From the Navy’s perspec-tive, we are a major funder of marinemammal research so that our policyand operational decisions can bebased on real science. In terms ofdiscussing issues, prior to litigation,how would you propose that thoseinteractions happen?

LEHNER: What I foundfrom my years workingfor the New York Stategovernment is thatthings can be goingalong at a relatively lowlevel without any realcareful, creative orbroad thinking. Litiga-tion is finally whatbumps the discussionup the chain to


Navy & NRDC Participate in Environmental Entrepreneurs Summit

LEADERS FROM THE Navy and the NRDC participated inthe Environmental Entrepreneurs (E2) Summit held in SanFrancisco on 28 October 2010.

Captain James L. Brown, Director of the OPNAV N45Energy Coordination Office and The Honorable JackalynePfannenstiel, Assistant Secretary of the Navy (Energy, Instal-lations, and Environment) participated in a panel called“The Department of Defense as a Market Maker.” Accordingto this year’s summit organizers, the military has becomeone of the strongest advocates for clean, low carbon energytechnologies to enhance energy independence and avertthe national security risks of global warming. DoD and theNavy are already committing resources to develop tech-nologies that might not otherwise survive in this economicclimate, and could be a important customer for successfulnew technologies. This panel discussed DoD’s potential roleas one of the early adopters of clean tech-nology. Panelists, including CAPT Brown, Ms. Pfannenstiel and clean technology entrepreneurs including the chairman ofSolazyme, spoke about the promise of theiremerging partnerships.

E2, born out of NRDC, is a national commu-nity of business leaders who advocate forgood environmental policy while buildingeconomic prosperity. Working with NRDC, E2takes a reasoned, economically soundapproach to environmental issues by relyingon fact-based policy expertise. E2 is cele-brating its tenth anniversary this year.

For more information about E2, visitwww.e2.org.

Photos by Christine Luong


The Honorable Jackalyne Pfannenstiel.

Captain James L. Brown.

Military participants in an E2 Summit panel.

someone who will be thinking more broadly about aparticular issue. People think, “Now that we’re beingsued, maybe we should think about this a differentway.” It is the threat of litigation that often forces thediscussions to be had at higher levels in the organizationand in a more creative and thoughtful way. I’d like forus to have more conversations about marine mammalsor other issues at higher levels in the Navy before litiga-tion looms.

CURRENTS: Anything else you’d like our readers to know?

LEHNER: We had an interview on the use of sonar withJames Taylor, one of our trustees, in a past issue of ourNature’s Voice newsletter. His father was a Navy SEAL andhe grew up believing that the Navy was there to solve the

problems and protect us. From that real affection for theNavy, he was hoping that the Navy would find ways towork with NRDC constructively on issues like sonar. LikeJames, my father was also in the Navy. NRDC respects andvalues the mission of the Navy. And we often find thatwhen all of us are willing to step back a bit and thinkmore broadly about an issue, we can often reach mutuallyagreeable solutions—you can conduct your training ANDprotect marine mammals at the same time. But it doesrequire some new thinking and sometimes that’s hard. It’seasy to dismiss people who disagree. But I hope we canget beyond that.

CURRENTS: Thanks for sitting down with us today, Peter.

LEHNER: Thank you. �


Victoria Bermel



N45’s Marine Mammal Expert Provides Insights intothe Navy’s Knowledge & Future Investments

oN 20 OCTOBER 2010, Ken Hess from the public affairs staff at the Chiefof Naval Operations Energy and Environmental Readiness Division (N45)and Bruce McCaffrey, managing editor of Currents magazine, interviewedBob Gisiner, who joined N45 in May 2010 as head of the marine sciencebranch. Dr. Gisiner spoke about N45’s past and future investments in under-standing the behavior of various species of marine mammals and the poten-tial impact of man-made sounds on those mammals.

CURRENTS: Tell us a little about your background.

BOB GISINER: I am a biologist by training, but a biologist with an unusualbackground. I had a professor, Ron Schusterman, who was a psychologistby training. I learned a great deal from him about how to ask experimentalquestions about animal behavior. This approach differed from that of myprimary background in the field ofnatural behavior of wild animals

and how ecology shapes behaviorand social structures. My Ph.D.was on Steller sea lions and theirsocial behavior. I did some workfor the Navy training dolphins andpigeons, and then did my post-doctoral work with Schusterman on animallanguage learning, complex cognition and linguistics. Eventually, I went backto work with the Navy doing similar work on animal cognition and bio-acoustics before coming to the Office of Naval Research (ONR) in 1994 tomanage ONR’s marine mammal science program.

I have an interest in seeing how science is applied to the practicalities ofconservation and resource management. It’s very difficult at times to under-stand how some scientific findings would actually be implemented in theday-to-day world of rules and regulations. The Marine Mammal Commissionplays a very important role in that process. I left ONR in June 2007 to serveas the Commission’s Scientific Program Director through May 2009. At theCommission, I was interested in a number of issues from fisheries interac-

I have an interest in seeing how science is applied to thepracticalities of conservation and resource management.

spotlighton Bob Gisiner

Dr. Gisiner reviews a draft Navy Integrated ComprehensiveMonitoring Plan.



tions to establishing goals for recoveringspecies that have been depleted fromcommercial exploitation.

CURRENTS: What are your responsibili-ties at N45?

GISINER: I have two primary roles atN45. One is to know the subject matter.I’ve been involved with the science fora long time, and getting the science intothe Navy’s plan for marine stewardshipis a very important issue to the Navy.So, they hired me to be their scientist.

There are challenging science issues,such as when behavioral effects fromunderwater sound become biologicallymeaningful. Cumulative effects assess-ment, space-based management in theoceans, biodiversity—these are all veryinteresting questions to me.

The other responsibility involves turning the science intoenvironmental stewardship practices. How do we take ourscientific knowledge and turn it into effective manage-ment and responsible behavior to minimize our impact onthe natural world? That’s another interesting and chal-lenging question.

CURRENTS: What is the Navy doing with the science thatONR and N45 have been sponsoring to promote environ-mental stewardship?

Dr. Gisiner chats with Linda Petitpas,N45 Ocean Acoustics Lead.

GISINER: A major priority for the Navy is to developscience to inform our environmental planning as we workwith the National Marine Fisheries Service to obtainpermits for our at-sea training and testing. As part of thescientific process, we also encourage peer reviewed publi-cation in public forums, presentations in meetings andpeer review journals. The science is not just for us to use,it’s for everybody to mull over and discuss how to use it.These are matters of interpretation. This science doesn’tspecifically say, “This is the right thing to do.”

One of the first things we chose to focus on, which hasbecome an integral part of risk assessment of underwaternoise, is understanding Temporary Threshold Shift (TTS)—acommon, recoverable partial hearing loss caused by overex-erted cells. Understanding TTS for an animal tells you some-thing about the likelihood of Permanent Threshold Shift(PTS), or permanent hearing loss, at least forthe narrow bandwidth of frequencies towhich the animal is being exposed.

Now, what to do with that information hasbeen an ongoing debate, and will continueto be. TTS is not really an injury, but it’s notsimply a behavioral effect. It has a relation-ship to an injury. A partial loss of hearingcapacity can result if you exceed the PTS. Isthat loss sufficiently injurious to severelyhamper the animal? It’s difficult to say.

These issues are regulated in some wayunder the Marine Mammal Protection Act(MMPA). Both behavioral and injuriouseffects are regulated. They are treated a littledifferently, but you can see that TTS and PTS are in a grayarea. Where some people see TTS and PTS as definitelyinjurious or deleterious to the animal, others see them asminor. They may or may not have biological significancein the course of that animal’s life, or in a population ofindividuals.

CURRENTS: Can you tell us how you see science playing alarger role in what the Navy does to protect the environment?

GISINER: We’re approaching this from two different direc-tions. One is to understand how animals respond to soundin general, and in particular, man-made sources of sound.There wasn’t much man-made sound in the water untilthe industrial age. We’re talking about an experience, interms of the evolution of these animals, of 150 to 200years. The question is, how do animals respond to theseincreasing ways in which we use sound, the increasingamount of sound as human populations grow, and the

increasing use of the oceans? What are the deleteriouseffects versus the innocuous or even beneficial effects?How do we minimize the deleterious effects whilebalancing all the other factors that society balances whenit makes decisions?

Secondly, we don’t really know much about the animalsthemselves. In many cases, we don’t know how manythere are, where they are, or what they need from theenvironment. When you talk about lions and tigers andelephants, people can tell you where they are and whatthey eat. For most marine mammals, we can’t say that. Ifwe went out to the Chesapeake Bay right now, I couldn’ttell you what we might see. But if we hiked the Shenan-doah Trail, I could tell you which mammals we’d expect tosee with some degree of certainty.

Are marine mammals migrating? Are they feeding? Arethey looking for food? It’s very difficult for us to put thebackground in place. A lot of the work we do with tagginganimals, surveys, and acoustic monitoring is simply to findout what’s out there. If you know what’s out there, thenyou can manage your activities accordingly.

CURRENTS: How has tagging and monitoring evolved?



Digital data tag (D-TAG) attached to the back of a male Blainville’s beaked whale. Ari Friedlaender

A major priority for the Navy is to develop science to inform our environmental planning.

GISINER: When I first started as a graduate student around1973, I had the opportunity to put some tags on elephantseals. We put the devices on the animals and stood on anearby hill with headphones on. We intended to listen tothe seals as they meandered around the island and wereeating fish just offshore. We were surprised and dismayed tolose the animals after about ten seconds. We never sawthem again! Fast forward to 2010, and we now know thatelephant seals go halfway out intothe Pacific Ocean. Most of the timethey are out there, they are 400meters or more under the water.

Today’s acoustic data logging tagshave to withstand more than 200atmospheres of pressure to be usedon deep-diving animals like spermwhales and elephant seals. Cellphone technology has allowed us tominiaturize these things. While the original package wasabout the size of a cigar box, the current package is aboutthe size of a cell phone. These devices capture roll, pitch,yaw (side-to-side movement), acceleration, temperature,pressure, as well as stereo broadband acoustics.

What we’re really doing is reconstructing the animal’s dive.If you have the pressure, temperature, acceleration, anddirection, you can basically reconstruct a three-dimensionaltrack from the place it started at the surface to where itfinished. Now you know why the animal is making thesound it’s making, and what it’s doing at that time.

The acoustic data logger tags on beaked whales have beenastonishing. We’ve taken an animal that we knew almostnothing about, known only from museum specimens, andnow we know how they behave 1,000 feet below the surfaceof the water. We really wanted to focus on these animals,and the new technologies have enabled us to do that.

We complement those advances with advances in passiveacoustics, listening to animals that are almost continuously

vocally active when they are underwater. Most of the behav-iors important to the animals—feeding, breeding, migrating,social interaction, avoiding predators, finding food—all ofthat takes place underwater. It’s just not visually accessible.The combination of these two methods is relatively newand has opened up access to the underwater world.

CURRENTS: What progress are we making applying thedata tags?

GISINER: We’ve tagged dozens and dozens of species. Atthis point, we have trouble tagging small dolphins (becauseof the size of tag we think they can safely carry). Andattaching the tags is also a challenge. If you attach a tag witha suction cup, the tag is only going to stay on for a fewhours, and that only tells you so much. If you attach tagsthat penetrate the skin, the tags will stay on for months. Insome cases, they’ve stayed on for over a year. But we onlyfeel comfortable doing that right now with larger whales.There are some new types of attachments—dart-type tags—that stay on for a few days. ONR has issued a Request forProposals to look at new methods to attach tags.

CURRENTS: What other efforts have we implemented tolearn more about marine mammals?

GISINER: We’ve explored some things that have yet towork for us. We’ve looked at infrared as a possible tech-nology, because the Germans have had some successusing it in the Antarctic. It seems to work well with largewhales blowing hot breath into cold, 20-below zero air.



Dolphin hearing test at the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command in San Diego, CA.

The acoustic data logger tags on beaked whales have been astonishing.

We’ve had less success using infrared to detect whales offthe coast of Florida. We’ve tried using ship navigationalradar to detect blows or the body of the whale. But thereare false alarms—it’s hard to distinguish whales fromwaves and other things. We’ve also tried using satelliteimagery without much success.

But there are things that are working really well.Advances in tag technology have been tremendous—

and not just data loggers or video tags—but tags that dosimple things like measure pressure, temperature andsalinity at the same quality that an oceanographicConductivity, Temperature, and Depth (CTD) device does.(Note: CTDs assess the essential physical properties ofsea water.) These tags essentially turn the animals intooceanographers. We’ve actually supplied more and betteroceanographic data from marine mammals in the last

several years than we’ve accumulated fromall the hydrographic surveys accumulatedover the last 150 years.

In addition to being highly effective from anoceanographic data gathering standpoint,tagging marine mammals for that purpose isalso economical. A ship costs tens of thou-sands of dollars a day to operate, and youonly have so many ships. But we can put 50CTD tags on elephant seals and map theentire southern ocean boundary current.

A Global Positioning System (GPS) locationgets the precision of localization down to afew meters, instead of a kilometer or morewith the ARGOS system. (Note: Argos is aworldwide location and data collectionsystem dedicated to the study and protection



Depth and duration of Cuvier’s beaked whale dives (gray line) and echolocation clicks (blue line) over a seven-hour period during a controlled exposure experiment on the Southern California Range Complex. Lowest red dot shows when sonar-like sound source was turned on, and additional red dots represent receive levels of the sound based on the location of the beaked whale in the water column.

A Duke University researcher attaches aD-TAG to an adult male pilot whale. Brandon Southall

Cuvier’s Beaked Whale Dive Profile

of the environment. For more information, visitwww.argos-system.org.) The University of St. Andrews inScotland figured out a way to do fast-lock GPS. It basi-cally receives the signal from a GPS and then interpo-lates a location from the one-way communications path.It’s not as accurate as a perfect two-way GPS fix, but it’spretty close.

One of the other successes we’ve had is with passiveacoustics, or what the Navy would call passive sonar. Itturns out the oceans are quite noisy. People generate noiseas do fish, mammals, shrimp, and all kinds of other crea-tures. These noises are meaningful sounds to marinemammals. So passive acoustics can tell us somethingabout the animals’ environment and help to identify them.

We’ve had a fair amount of success acoustically distin-guishing one species of whale from another. We are ableto tell the difference between a ziphius beaked whale anda mesoplodon beaked whale. We can distinguish a bluewhale from a fin whale, a fin whale from a sei whale, ahumpback whale from almost anything else.

Through sophisticated applications of multiple units ofthese technologies, we can start to answer questionsabout how many animals are in a given area and howthey are using the area seasonally. One of the successfuldevelopments, which was kicked off by ONR but sincedriven by many other users, is the Marine AutonomousRecording Unit (MARU). This is the next generation of adevice called a “pop-up” that was originally developed byCornell University. Approximately 150 of these units aredeployed around the world, from Madagascar to theAntarctic to the Pacific Ocean. The MARU is a broadbanddevice that can listen across a wide range of frequencies.They are small and can be thrown over the side of a boat(attached to a buoy) with a weight attached, and will sitthere for months. They have a lot of memory and cansample at any desired frequency. The devices are eventu-ally pulled back to the surface where their data are down-loaded. They are generating terabytes and terabytes ofdata, so the analysis, storage, and archiving of the data isbecoming a major concern.

CURRENTS: Who is helping us solve the problem ofcollecting and archiving all this data?

GISINER: We have a whole parallel databasing effort goingon, and that too is in the process of maturation. ONR part-nered with the Sloan Foundation, a private foundation, on



A research team deploys an instrument cage housing a CTD instrument and other ocean sensors.

Mark Baumgartner, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Passive acoustics can tell us somethingabout the animals’ environment and help to identify them.

something called the Census of Marine Life. We came upwith a project called Sea Map, centered at Duke Universityto build a database of marine mammal sightings, surveys,tagging and acoustic data. (For more information aboutSea Map, visit http://seamap.env.duke.edu.)

We’ve got another group at the University of St. Andrewsthat does methodology for visual surveys that developedsomething called distant sampling. They are working on aproject now to calibrate the acoustic data collection with asimultaneous standardized visual distance samplingsurvey. So you’ve got the gold standard of visual survey, doyour passive acoustic survey at the same time, then cali-brate one against the other.

CURRENTS: You’ve also invested quite a bit of time andresources in acoustic signal processing.

GISINER: Yes. You get the (acoustic signal) data back, andit’s just wind noise, bubbles, ship sounds, electronic noisefrom the gear itself, snapping shrimp, fish, etc. It comes ina stream as a raw electronic signal, and you’ve got to pickout the dolphin or whale sounds of interest. A lot of invest-ment goes into automating that process so that it is reli-able. We need a low false alarm rate, and a highprobability of detection.

CURRENTS: This is quite a multi-faceted science, fromcollecting the data to compiling the results.

GISINER: You can see that a number of different effortshave come together—building devices to record the

sounds in the first place, getting them out there andgetting the data back, managing the data and archivingit, developing algorithms to process the data, and thendoing these paired calibration studies to interpret themeaning of the analyzed data. These are all taking place

in parallel by multiple organizations,including research organizations, the U. S.Navy, other government agencies, andthe oil industry.

CURRENTS: Is there a goal for what weare trying to do with this science?

GISINER: A lot of the science we’reworking on right now has to do with thebehavioral effects of sound. But we

remain most concerned about are the things that couldkill or injure animals. So we look at the levels of soundthat are likely to produce harm. We are working to under-stand injuries associated with stranded beaked whales.We’re not sure if the injuries to these animals are aproduct of the stranding, or the fleeing from sound. Therehave been hypotheses that the sound could producebubbles in the bloodstream, but bubbles are prettycommon in mammalian circulation in general. In thesedeep-diving mammals, we don’t really know how theymanage these bubbles. Is it a normal healthy part ofbeing a marine mammal, or is it pathological? These areall very open questions, and difficult to address with anexperiment or a study.

What we are finding in the sound exposure studies—theplayback studies in the Bahamas, Mediterranean, andnow in Southern California—is that beaked whales areunusual in how aversive they find sound in general,particularly sonar. They will flee from sounds more sothan other species of marine mammals in the area. Welook at big whales, pilot whales, dolphins and otherthings we’ve tagged, and they do not react as stronglyas beaked whales. We don’t know why that is; it’s aninteresting result.



Researchers aboard North Atlantic Treaty Organization Research Vessel Alliance use passive acoustic arrays to monitor marine mammals.

We are working to understandinjuries associated with stranded beaked whales.

In the Bahamas and Southern California, we can nowsee this taking place regularly with Navy exercises. Theships move through doing anti-submarine exercises withtheir sonar on, and the beaked whales clear out. If wehave tags on the animals, we actually see them moveaway from the source. Within 24 to 48 hours, they areback again, and we don’t know what they do during thistime away.

So we’re still working on this. If there’s a behavioralresponse, what does it mean? What does it take for thatbehavioral response to cross some tipping point where theanimals actually go up on the beach?

CURRENTS: Have you studied other comparably-sizedmammals as well?

GISINER: We have a lot of data for elephant seals, andwe think that when they dive they go into a state that issimilar to hibernation. Their heart rate slows to some-thing like one beat per minute. They have selectiveblood shunts that route the blood away from organs

they are not going to use when diving. They gocompletely catatonic, drift down 1,000 feet, savingoxygen, and then do the same thing coming back up.Now, if the sound interrupts that routine, and thatroutine is physiologically necessary, disrupting theroutine can cause physiological problems.

It has to do with animals pushing themselves to theirphysiological limits to exploit a very specialized butsuccessful niche—they are the only warm blooded animalat 1,000 feet below the surface. The cold-blooded animalsdown there are in the oxygen minimum zone, and thewater temperature is two to three degrees above freezing.Then, here come these big-brained, fast predators, andthey just clean up down there.

We will continue to work on ways to detect marinemammals. One of the things we’re working on is plat-forms. We’ve got good sensors, so how do you get themout there where the animals are and survey the informa-tion? We’re very interested in unmanned platforms, both



Navy and Sonoma State University researchers test a live elephant seal’s hearing.

aerial and underwater. They are a good spin off fromtactical, military applications. Unmanned vehicles havebeen very successful in the Middle East, and a lot offunding is coming into companies to build them. As thetechnology gets better and easier to use, the price goesdown. An additional advantage is that we don’t subjectour researchers to the risks associatedwith field studies in the open ocean.

CURRENTS: What is the potential touse and share all of this information?

GISINER: We intend to make all of thisinformation accessible to the generalpublic. It gets published in peerreviewed journals, and there’s someextra effort to digest the informationand put it in presentable form. All ofthe data we are generating right now,as a condition of the permits, isreported annually to the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration. Everything we saw, everythingwe did is reported and accessible.

One of the ways to make this information most acces-sible is the Ocean Biogeographic Information System(OBIS). (For more information about OBIS, visitwww.iobis.org.) It makes sense to me that, when we’retalking about ecosystem-based management for theoceans, you have to have an inventory of what’s outthere to make wise management decisions.

CURRENTS: Are there other initiatives out there that mightmake this information more digestible?

GISINER: I think there are others out there, and plentyof partnership opportunities. This is an opportunity forgroups to say what it is they need, and what form theyneed it in, and then for us to work on it. There willalways be aspects of military activities that will be classi-

fied for national security reasons, but most of whatwe’re doing here is publicly accessible and available tobe shared.

CURRENTS: Why is the Navy funding research on marinemammals?

GISINER: Our primary responsibility is national security—the defense of our nation. But consistent with that, we willalso be good stewards of our marine environment. That ispart of the mission of every Sailor on every ship. We havethe same stewardship responsibilities for our land hold-ings—Camp Pendleton or China Lake and all of our otherinstallations. Nobody questions the idea that we have tokeep those pieces of property in good shape, because itbelongs to the American people. The same is true of themarine environment.

CURRENTS: Are there any areas that come to mind thatare open to potential improvement?

GISINER: The dialogue is important. So when theNatural Resources Defense Council and others raiseissues, we can discover commonalities and sharedpoints of view. That’s one of the most important thingswe’ve got to work on. �



Autonomous underwater glider funded by Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and ONR.

When the Natural ResourcesDefense Council and others

raise issues, we can discover commonalities

and shared points of view.

IN COMPLIANCE WITH environ-mental regulations, the Navy strives toprotect the ocean environment as itspersonnel train and conduct testing insupport of its national securitymission. To accomplish this, Navypersonnel work closely with theNational Marine Fisheries Service(NMFS) and other government agen-cies responsible for wildlife andhabitat conservation to conduct envi-ronmental planning. (For moreinsights, see our article entitled “NavyMoves Forward on ComplianceStrategy for Training & Testing at Sea:The Latest on Phase I & II Environ-mental Planning Efforts” on page 44of this issue of Currents.)

As part of the environmental planningprocess, the Navy and regulatory agen-cies require scientifically relevant infor-mation about the locations of marinemammals at sea and the likelihood ofthe animals being affected bymanmade underwater sound sources.Because marine mammals are difficultto detect in real time and have variedbehaviors based on species, geographiclocation and time of year, the Navy andNMFS depend on mathematicalmodeling to estimate the number ofmarine mammals that may be affectedby specific training and testing activities.

The Navy has been modeling acousticeffects on marine mammals since1997, using acoustic propagationmodels merged with other methodsof estimating marine mammal loca-tions within the water column. Insimple terms, an effects analysis isthe result of merging a three-dimen-sional (3-D) acoustic sound field witha 3-D profile of diving animals to esti-mate sound exposures on animalsfrom individual sound sources. Themodel input shows energy accumu-lated by the marine mammalscompared to a predefined threshold.

Over the years, the effects analysisprocess has evolved to more accu-rately represent animal placement. ANMFS Center for Independent Expertsreview of the various approaches toNavy effects analysis suggested refine-ments that led to the current effectsanalysis version, known as the NavyAcoustic Effects Model (NAEMO).

NAEMO is a single model now beingused to analyze the effects of proposedNavy actions on marine mammals.The model has standardized inputparameters (e.g., environments, animaldensity, source parameters) and moreclosely reflects marine mammal place-ment within the water column.

NAEMO: A Technical LookThe NAEMO model is comprised offive basic components: 1) ScenarioBuilder, 2) Environment Builder, 3)Acoustic Builder, 4) Marine MammalDistribution, and 5) Scenario Simulator.

1. Scenario Builder module

A graphic user interface (GUI)-basedtool that defines where an operationis taking place, the time of the action,what is occurring and what units areparticipating. Once a platform ischosen to be included in a scenario,all the sound sources typically associ-ated with it are displayed. Thisprovides standardization and repeata-bility in the process of entering data.Platforms can be moved through theoperating area in either a definedtrack or random simulation.

2. Environment Builder module

A user interface that extracts all of theoceanographic environmental datarequired for a scenario simulation.Based on the geographic area, infor-mation on bathymetry, average soundvelocity profiles, wind speeds andbottom properties are extracted froman array of points across the region,using Oceanographic and AtmosphericMaster Library (OAML) databases.


Environment in a (High-Tech) BoxNavy Model Simulates Undersea Sound Fields & Marine Mammal Locations toPlan Training & Testing Activities


3. Acoustic Builder module

A GUI for generating acoustic propagation analysis data. Thismodule reads the scenario file, defines analysis points forpropagation software, and exports the results. The propaga-tion models utilized are Comprehensive Acoustic SimulationSystem/Gaussian Ray Bundle (CASS/GRAB), Range-depen-dent Acoustic Model (RAM), and Reflection and RefractionMulti-Layered Ocean/Ocean Bottoms with Shear WaveEffects (REFMS), depending on the specific application.

4. Marine Mammal Distribution module

Creates a GUI 3-D field of marine mammals, by species andby season (when available) for the specific geographic region.

5. Scenario Simulator module

Combines module numbers three and four above to executea simulation to determine the maximum sound pressure levelreceived by each marine mammal in the exposed area. Thismodule incorporates the scenario, sound propagation dataand marine mammal distribution data, ultimately providingraw data output for each simulation. The majority of Navyscenarios are four to 12 hour segments. Some scenarios arebroken down by platform (e.g., ship, submarine, helicopter,other source), while others involve multiple platforms.Scenarios can be evaluated in multiple locations within asingle range complex. Computation of estimated exposures isbased upon the entire scenario, which may include severalweeks of daily training operations. Once the simulation iscompleted, exposures of marine mammals are calculated byspecies. This allows users to introduce changes to the harass-ment criteria or sound sources within a scenario withouthaving to re-run the entire simulation.

The Post Processor provides a means to look at the outputfrom a simulation or series of simulations. Data are presented

in a series of tables and graphs. Raw output from NAEMO iswritten to a text file. Output from multiple simulations can becombined, and data from individual sound sources can beadded or subtracted from the exposure calculations.

Naval Undersea Warfare Center (NUWC) Division Newport isoverseeing development, upgrades and maintenance of theNavy’s single model. NUWC has put together a MarineSpecies Modeling Team (MSMT) that consists of approxi-mately 25 biologists, engineers and modelers who collaborateto develop the software codes, input data and produce theexposure estimates. There are twenty desktop workstationsbeing utilized for the modeling. Sixteen of those systems havetwo quad core Central Processing Units (CPU) containing 24gigabytes of memory. The other four have dual core CPUswith 12 gigabytes. Over 6,000 simulations will be run,requiring 50,000 CPU hours. So far, more than 55,000 propa-gation runs have been made for proposed Navy training andtesting activities, generating four terabytes of data. The initialround of modeling covering Atlantic and Eastern Pacific oper-ating areas will be completed in the spring of 2011, with addi-tional geographic areas to be addressed afterwards.

By mid-2011, a version of the Navy’s single model shouldbe available for use by organizations doing Navy-specificwork. Thereafter, NUWC, the Chief of Naval OperationsEnergy and Environmental Readiness Division and theOffice of Naval Research plan to release an additionalversion for general unclassified use. �

CONTACT

Tom FetherstonNaval Undersea Warfare Center Division Newport 401-832-5857DSN: [email protected]

Members of NUWC Newport’s MSMT gather data to run analyses for various training and testing scenarios.

THE NAVY’S AT sea compliancestrategy is to produce environmentalplanning documents under theNational Environmental Policy Act(NEPA) and/or Executive Order (EO)12114 “Environmental EffectsAbroad”; consult under the Endan-gered Species Act (ESA); and seekMarine Mammal Protection Act(MMPA) authorizations for at seatraining and testing that is subject tothese requirements.

NEPA requires Federal agencies toexamine the environmental effectsof their proposed actions that havethe potential to significantly affectthe environment. NEPA’s objective isto ensure that pertinent environ-

mental information for majorFederal actions is available to deci-sion-makers and the public. Simi-larly, EO 12114 requires federalagencies to identify, document andconsider environmental effects oftheir proposed actions. The Navy

often addresses NEPA and EO 12114in the same document. Under theMMPA, no “takes” of marinemammals by harassment, injury ormortality can occur unless exemptor authorized under a permit. Underthe ESA, the Navy must consult withthe U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service orthe National Marine FisheriesService (NMFS) on any proposedaction that “may affect” listedspecies or designated critical habitat.As part of the analysis prepared tomeet NEPA, ESA and MMPA require-ments, the Navy conducts an effectsanalysis that predicts the number ofanimals exposed to a NMFS-definedacoustic threshold.

In 2004, the Navy initiated long rangecomprehensive environmental impactstatements (EIS) for 12 ranges andoperating areas (OPAREA), adding theGulf of Alaska and the Silver StrandTraining Complex near San Diego tothe scope in 2007 and 2008, respec-

tively. Over the past six years, the Navyhas been proactively engaged inpermitting actions and consultationswith various federal wildlife agenciesregarding testing and training activitieson all of its sea ranges and OPAREAs.

“So far, the Navy has completed itsenvironmental planning, permitting,and consultation requirements for tenof its sea ranges and OPAREAs,” saidKaren Foskey, lead environmentalplanner for the Chief of Naval Opera-tions Energy and Environmental Readi-ness Division (N45). “The Navy expectsto have initial environmental docu-ments completed for its remaining fourranges and OPAREAs in late 2010 andearly 2011,” said Foskey.

Collectively, the initial 14 EISs andassociated regulatory processes areoften referred to within the Navy envi-ronmental planning community as“Phase I.” Although the Navy hasbeen training at sea for decades,Phase I represents the first time the


Navy Moves Forward on Compliance Strategyfor Training & Testing at Sea The Latest on Phase I & II Environmental Planning Efforts

It’s critical to the mission that we complete these efforts on time, and we will.—John Quinn


Navy has conducted comprehensive, long-term environ-mental analyses for its sea ranges and OPAREAs. Prior toPhase I, Navy environmental planning for activities at seawas done piecemeal, covering single exercises or tests.From a workload perspective, Phase I is a massive under-taking by the Navy, as well as for NMFS, the regulatoryagency that provides oversight to most of the Navy’s at seaenvironmental planning efforts.

“Environmental planning for all Navy training, testingand research at sea, covering activities far in the futureand over large geographic areas, is a daunting chal-lenge,” said John Quinn, N45’s deputy director. “It’s crit-ical to the mission that we complete these efforts ontime, and we will.”

This workload is expected to increase for the Navy andNMFS in 2014, when the original authorizations issued

under the MMPA and ESA begin to expire and new environ-mental analyses, permits, and consultations are required.

Way Forward for Navy Environmental Planning & Compliance The next phase of environmental planning, “Phase II,” willcover maritime activities including but not limited to Fleettraining; Fleet and System Commands pierside mainte-nance locations where sonar testing of hull mountedactive sonar systems occurs; at sea acquisition-relatedresearch, development, test and evaluation activities spon-sored by Program Executive Offices, such as serviceweapons tests and sea trials of new construction vessels;testing of new systems; and Office of Naval Research-(ONR) and Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command-sponsored science and technology activities. Phase IIdocumentation is anticipated to:

� Incorporate sea areas that werecovered in Phase I environmentalplanning and compliance docu-mentation, including expandedareas as needed for transit routes,pierside locations, etc.

� Cover areas within the Mediter-ranean Sea where Navy conductstesting and training

� Include other ocean areas wherethe Navy has historically trainedand/or conducted tests outside ofrecognized Foreign ExclusiveEconomic Zones.

Phase II environmental planning willalso incorporate lessons learned from

the analyses conducted for the initialranges and OPAREAs. “The Navy iscommitted to incorporating advancesin scientific research into its effectanalysis process as appropriate” saidLinda Petitpas, N45’s ocean acousticstechnical lead. For example, ONRdeveloped the Effects of Sound onthe Marine Environment (ESME)conceptual model as a research toolfor studying anthropogenic soundeffects in the marine environment.We have evaluated individualportions of ESME and incorporatedthem into the new Phase II effectsanalysis.” said Petitpas. The Phase IIeffects analysis has been updated toincorporate standardization of model

input parameters such as environ-ment, animal density, and sourceparameters as well as placement ofthe marine mammals in the watercolumn to more closely reflect theirnatural dive profiles. (For moreinsights, read our article entitled“Environment in a (High-Tech) Box:Navy’s Single Effects Analysis ModelSimulates Undersea Sound Fields &Marine Mammal Locations to PlanTraining & Testing Activities” on page42 of this issue of Currents.) TheNavy intends to put the Phase IIeffects analysis process through avigorous verification, validation, andaccreditation process both internaland external to the Navy. In addition,


The USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN prepares for flight operations in the Gulf of Alaska as part of joint training exercise Northern Edge.

Photographer’s Mate 3rd Class Kittie VandenBosch

We have made significant investments to better understand the behavior of marine mammals and

protect them from potential impacts of Navy training activities. —John Quinn

An MV-22 Osprey flies over the Gulf of Mexico during a two-week exercise that allows aircrew members to train and navigate in an unfamiliar environment.

Senior Airman Andy M. Kin


the Navy is exploring the possibility ofa National Research Council/NationalAcademy of Sciences review of theprocess used to determine the effectsof the Navy’s proposed actions andpublish the results in a National Acad-emies Press document. With each fiveyear increment of permits, the Navywill reevaluate the current state ofscience and update the effectsanalysis process as appropriate.

The Navy initiated Phase II insummer 2010, publishing Notices ofIntent and conducting public scopingmeetings to identify communityconcerns and issues relating to theAtlantic Fleet Training and TestingEnvironmental Impact Statement/Overseas Environmental Statement(EIS/OEIS) and the Hawaii SouthernCalifornia Training and TestingEIS/OEIS. Although Phase I and

The guided missile destroyer USS WINSTON S.CHURCHILL (DDG 81) fires its MK-45 Mod 4lightweight gun mount during an exercise in the Virginia Capes operating area. LTJG Caleb Swigart

Phase II documentation addresses amajority of training and testing eachyear, at sea environmental planningis a long-term proposition required tosupport military readiness.


Engineman 2nd Class Kpaku Palay serves as aft lookout during a simulated escort of high value asset USNS HENRY J. KAISER (T-AO 187) in San Diego Bay. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class R. Jason Brunson

The air boss aboard the USS NASSAU (LHA 4) radios commands to aircraft handlers during deck landing qualifications for V-22 Osprey and AH-1 Cobra aircraft. Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class James R. Stilipec

Marine Mammal Protection A key focus of the Navy’s environ-mental stewardship at sea is theprotection of marine species, including

marine mammals. “We understandand share the public’s concern formarine mammals. Our Sailors andMarines have the amazing opportunityto share the natural environment withmarine mammals in a way that manyAmericans do not,” said Quinn.“Because of our collaborative effortswith regulatory agencies, academia,and non-governmental organizations,we have improved our conservationefforts. We have made significantinvestments to better understand thebehavior of marine mammals andprotect them from potential impacts ofNavy training activities,” said Quinn.

In partnership with NMFS, the Navydevelops and implements appro-priate science-based monitoring andmitigation measures to protectmarine mammals during testing andtraining activities at sea. In additionto area-specific mitigation measuresfor ranges and OPAREAs with


permits, the Navy employs protec-tive measures worldwide to ensurethe least practicable effects on themarine environment. Examplesinclude marine species awarenesstraining for shipboard lookouts,using all available sensor systems toaid in marine mammal detectionprior to sonar use, and ceasingsonar transmissions if marinemammals are sighted within a speci-fied range of ships using sonar.

In support of its environmental stew-ardship goals, the Navy has longsupported a robust program of marinemammal research. The Navy’s marinemammal research program has histor-ically been funded approximately $20million annually, making it one of thelargest single contributors to marinemammal research globally. The Navy’smarine mammal research programinvests in research on the potentialeffects of sound on marine mammalsand develops scientific informationthat supports the Navy’s preparationof EISs and associated regulatoryprocesses under the MMPA, ESA andother statutes. The research programalso goes beyond compliance require-ments to support the development ofimproved marine mammal monitoringand detection technology and overallknowledge about marine mammals.

“The Navy takes its environmentalstewardship responsibilities very seri-ously. We understand that nationalsecurity, like all aspects of life onEarth, requires a healthy ocean envi-ronment,” said Dr. Robert Gisiner,N45’s senior marine biologist.

the Navy to assist NMFS in investiga-tions of stranding events that occuron and around Navy ranges duringmajor training exercises and in certainother circumstances. �

CONTACT

Ron TickleChief of Naval Operations Energy and


Finally, Navy ships, aircraft and instal-lations have long assisted in therescue and/or study of strandedmarine mammals by reporting animallocations and providing assistance toNMFS’ stranding response network.These cooperative efforts with NMFSwill be enhanced in 2011 with thesigning of a Navy-NMFS Memo-randum of Understanding that iscurrently under development. Oncesigned, the memorandum will estab-lish a national framework that allows

Sailors assigned to Strike Fighter Squadron(VFA) 213 remove ordnance from an

F/A-18F Super Hornet aboard the USS GEORGE H.W. BUSH (CVN 77)

during training in the Atlantic Ocean. Naval Air Crewman 3rd Class Joshua K. Horton

NAVAL SUPPORT FACILITY (NSF)Indian Head, MD, is near completionof the second phase of a four-phasedshoreline stabilization projectdesigned to protect mission criticalinfrastructure, as well as enhanceaquatic and terrestrial wildlife habitat

and improve water quality byreducing sediment loading to theChesapeake Bay watershed. Thesecond phase began in March 2010and installation of the stabilizationstructures was completed inNovember 2010.

The Navy partnered with theSouthern Maryland ResourceConservation and DevelopmentBoard, the Charles County SoilConservation District, CoastalDesign, and Coastline Design toconduct this project while reducing


Shoreline Project Establishes HealthyEcosystem in Chesapeake Bay WatershedStabilization Protects Mission Critical Infrastructure & Enhances Habitat

Close up of barge work on the first sill spur.


The sills were designed with windows to facilitate the move-ment of flora and fauna from open water to the fill areasbehind the structures. The currently slumping shorelinebanks will now be able to reach equilibrium and naturallyrevegetate as they are protected from the continuous waveactivity on the Potomac River, fueled by a four-mile fetch insome locations and northeasterly winds.

Approximately 600 linear feet of sills will be installed inthe Mattawoman Creek. As a result, NSF Indian Head haspulled these sill structures landward to mean high water to

Sediment fill in place behind the first sill structure. Work in distance is on the cobble beach area.

Sediment fill approaching final grade behind sill.

costs to the Navy and ensuring that shoreline stabiliza-tion expertise is provided through the use of a coopera-tive agreement. The total awarded funding for thiscooperative agreement was $5 million.

The project goals were met by installing sills and breakwatersapproximately 55 to 70 feet offshore and filling in behind thestructures with sediment to create intertidal wetland andriparian floodplain habitats along approximately 5,400 linearfeet of the eastern shore of the Potomac River and theconfluence of the Mattawoman Creek and Potomac River.

For More Insights

FOR MORE INSIGHTS into the first phases of this shoreline restoration initiative, read our articles entitled “Navy Initiates Potomac Shoreline Stabilization: Off-shore Breakwaters & Sills Will Prevent Erosion at NSF Indian Head” and “Conservation Groups Partner in NSFIndian Head Shoreline Planting: Stabilization Project is Largest in Chesapeake Bay Watershed” from the summer 2008 and spring 2009issues of Currents. The entire Currents archive is available on-line at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.


LEFT TO RIGHT: Glenn Gass, Charles Soil Conservation District; CDR Dennis Quick, Naval Support Activity South Potomac ExecutiveOfficer; Robert Summers, Deputy Secretary of the Maryland Departmentof the Environment and Seth Berry, NSF Indian Head Natural ResourcesProgram Manager discussing the shoreline project and planting efforts.

Volunteers work to plant trees in the riparian floodplain habitat created during the shoreline stabilization project.

reduce impacts to existing submerged aquatic vegetationbeds and anadramous fish spawning areas. These 600linear feet will only have riparian floodplain habitatcreated behind the structure as a result of the landward

The currently slumping shoreline banks will now be able to reach equilibriumand naturally revegetate as they are protected from the continuous wave activity on the Potomac River,

fueled by a four-mile fetch in some locations and northeasterly winds.

movement. A cobble beach is also being installed withinthe 5,400 linear feet in an area that receives a large quan-tity of groundwater seepage to reduce erosion associatedwith the seepage and add variety in the design of theproject for wildlife purposes.

In October 2010, the National Aquarium in Baltimorerecruited volunteers from the AmeriCorps, MarylandConservation Corps, Charles County Master Gardeners,Aquarium Conservation Team, local community and Navymilitary and civilian personnel to support the planting oftrees, shrubs and grasses in the riparian floodplain areas.The Aquarium staff and volunteers plan to return in May2011 to plant native wetland plants in the intertidalwetland areas and replace damaged or dead trees andshrubs from the fall planting effort.

Currently, the design for the final two phases is in progressand installation of these two phases is anticipated in late2011 or early 2012. The final two phases will concentratestabilization efforts at NSF Indian Head’s Stump NeckAnnex along the confluence of the Mattawoman Creekand Potomac River, and at several locations along theeastern shore of the Potomac River where eroding shore-line banks have begun to compromise the integrity ofmission critical infrastructure.

The design of the final two phases will remain the same asthe previous two phases, however, several areas will requirebank grading to stabilize banks below buildings andgroundwater discharge will be intercepted and transportedto the toe of the sill or breakwater structure. The totalawarded funding for the final two phases is $10 million. �

Photos by Seth Berry

CONTACT

Seth Berry Naval Support Facility Indian Head 301-744-2273DSN: [email protected]


Developments of Interest:July 2010 through September 2010THIS ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS significant environ-mental regulatory changes and indicators suggesting futurechanges to the regulatory landscape.

In September 2010, the U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA) released a draft Total Maximum Daily Load(TMDL) addressing sediment and nutrients for the Chesa-peake Bay watershed.

As the largest estuary in North America and formerly afantastically productive commercial fishery, the Chesa-peake Bay has been a prominent test case for whetherthe Clean Water Act (CWA) “fishable and swimmable”goals could be realized. The effort of trying to attainthese goals is providing additional impetus for environ-mental changes ranging from better control of oxides ofnitrogen from power plants to requiring low impactdevelopment (i.e., stormwater management that empha-

sizes infiltration to reduce runoff) in public and privatesector development. Already mandatory for federal agen-cies, low impact development is being explored as afuture requirement for private sector construction andrenovation. Executive Order 13508 in May 2009 taskedfederal agencies with multiple actions to protect andrestore the Chesapeake Bay, including strengtheningstormwater management.

The watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay coversmore than 64,000 square miles, encompassing parts ofDelaware, Maryland, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginiaand West Virginia, and the entire District of Columbia.The Chesapeake Bay TMDL allocates to each portion(segment) of the watershed an allowable daily contribu-tion of nutrients and sediment. The draft TMDL willcontain at minimum 92 segment specific point (waste-load) and non-point (load) allocations for nitrogen, phos-phorous and sediment that will assure the attainmentand maintenance of all applicable water quality stan-dards for each of the 92 segments. EPA has worked withBay jurisdictions, to assist them in developing individualjurisdiction-specific Watershed Implementation Plansthat identify specific nutrient and sediment reductiontargets and actions that the jurisdictions will take toachieve these reductions.

As an example, the State of Maryland Watershed Imple-mentation Plan addresses nutrient management plans onfarms, upgrades to large wastewater treatment plants andair pollution controls on coal fired power plants to reducenitrogen emissions, and nutrient removal technology fornew and failing septic systems located within 1,000 feet ofthe Bay. The state requires site design to reduce storm-

Easy Access

FOR EASY AND direct access to many of the web addressesincluded in this regulatory summary, select the “Digital Currents”button from the Currents page on the Naval Air Systems Command’s environmental website at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.

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water runoff on all new development, and stringent MS-4permitting Best Management Practices. The state is spon-soring trading programs, including between point andnon-point sources. Links to watershed implementationplans, and other information are available at http://www.epa.gov/chesapeakebaytmdl.

The Chesapeake Bay TMDL, along with EPA efforts inFlorida, is a prominent pilot for nutrient control efforts inUnited States waters. The hypoxic zone that appearsannually in the Gulf of Mexico near the Mississippi deltasuggests the extent and significance of excessive nutri-ents in our aquatic ecosystems. Because excessive nutri-ents and sediments are the most common causes

identified for impairment of waters throughout thenation, the types of regulatory controls that are beingapplied in the Chesapeake Bay and in Florida will estab-lish patterns likely to be copied to protect other estuariesand water bodies.

Atmospheric nitrogen deposition may contribute 30percent of total nitrogen loadings in the ChesapeakeBay. The secondary National Ambient Air Quality Stan-dards (NAAQS) for nitrogen oxides (NOx) are currentlyunder review and EPA documents suggest that thesecondary NAAQS may be tightened—which if itoccurred would, for NOx, set the secondary NAAQS—which protect the environment—at lower values thanthe primary NAAQS which protect human health. Formore information, visit http://cfpub.epa.gov/ncea/cfm/recordisplay.cfm?deid=198220.

Additional regulatory and environmental news items of interest (26 June 2010 through 30 September 2010)include:

Air

Reviews of the Secondary NAAQS for NOx and SulfurOxides—Notice (21-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-23540.htm

National Emission Standard for Hazardous Air Pollutantsfor Reciprocal Internal Combustion Engines—Final Rule(20-August-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-20298.htm

Water

Ninth Circuit Court Rules Runoff from Logging RoadsRequires National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System(NPDES) Permitting (17-August-10)http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/08/18/BAMV1EVF36.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

NPDES Electronic Reporting (01-July-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-15885.htm

Guidelines Establishing Test Procedures for the Analysisof Pollutants under the CWA (23-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-20018.htm

Water Quality Standards for the State of Florida’s Lakesand Flowing Water (03-August-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-19140.htm

Pesticide NPDES General Permit (02-June-10)http://cfpub.epa.gov/npdes/home.cfm?program_id=410

Energy

External Power Adapters No Longer Available for EPA’sEnergy Star Label—Notice (17-September-10)http://yosemite.epa.gov/opa/admpress.nsf/0/C1D81E1692F0771E852577A10048E953

Health & Safety

Occupational Safety and Health Administration Cranesand Derricks in Construction Standard—Final Rule (09-August-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-17818.htm

Presidential Memo on Protecting Our Workers andEnsuring Reemployment; POWER Initiative (22-July-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-18176.htm

The watershed draining to the Chesapeake Bay covers more than 64,000 square miles, encompassing parts of Delaware, Maryland,

New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia, and the entire District of Columbia.

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Materials

Best Management Practices for Unused Pharmaceuticalsat Health Care Facilities—EPA Guidance (08-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-22325.htm

Navy Guidance on Pharmaceutical Waste Managementhttp://www-nehc.med.navy.mil/environmental_health/environ_qualdocuments_backup.aspx

Revisions to the Total Coliform Rule—Proposed Rule (14-July-10) http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-15205.htm

Multi-Walled and Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes;Significant New Use Rules—Final Rule (7-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-23321.htm

Formaldehyde Standards for Composite Wood ProductsAct—Public Law (07-July-10) http://frwebgate.access.gpo.gov/cgi-bin/getdoc.cgi?dbname=111_cong_bills&docid=f:s1660enr.txt.pdf

Greenhouse Gas Reduction & Sustainability

EPA’s Role in Advancing Sustainable Products—Noticeand Request for Comments (16-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-23123.htm

Strategic Sustainability Performance Plans per ExecutiveOrder (EO) 13514—Notice (10-September-10)http://www.whitehouse.gov/administration/eop/ceq/sustainability/plans

Recommendations on Sustainable Siting for FederalFacilities—Notice (26-May-10)http://www.fedcenter.gov/_kd/Items/actions.cfm?action=Show&item_id=15263&destination=ShowItem

General Services Administration (GSA) Supplier GreenhouseGas Emissions Inventory Pilot—Notice (20-September-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-23391.htm

Greenhouse Gas Reduction Target Established for FederalScope 3 Indirect Emissions—Presidential Memo orProclamation (20-July-10)

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/president-obama-expands-greenhouse-gas-reduction-target-federal-operations

Federal Greenhouse Gas Accounting and ReportingGuidance for EO 13514—Council on EnvironmentalQuality Notice and Request for Comments (16-July-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-17352.htm

Greenhouse Gas Reporting of Scope 3 Vendor andContractor Emissions EO 13514 GSA Recommendations—Notice (01-April-10)http://www.gsa.gov/graphics/admin/GSA_Section13_FinalReport_040510_v2.pdf

Other

Navy Electronic Signature Policy Released—Notice (30-August-10)http://www.doncio.navy.mil/Download.aspx?AttachID=1343

Emergency Response Guidebook—Notice and Request forComments (23-July-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-18134.htm

Stewardship of the Ocean, Our Coasts, and the GreatLakes—EO 13547 (22-July-10)http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-18169.htm

Interagency Ocean Policy Task Force; Interim Frameworkfor Effective Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning—Notice(03-August-10) http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/2010/2010-18950.htm

The Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center provides afree Weekly Federal Regulatory Summary that Departmentof Defense (DoD) personnel or contractors supporting DoD may receive by e-mail. To subscribe or unsubscribe,contact [email protected] or 805-982-2640. �

CONTACT

Paul McDanielNaval Facilities Engineering Service Center805-982-2640DSN: [email protected]

To subscribe or unsubscribe, contact [email protected] or 805-982-2640.

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ENGINEERS FROM THE NavalSurface Warfare Center, CarderockDivision (NSWCCD) have introduced anew prototype device—the MotionAssisted Environmental Enclosure(MAEE)—to mitigate the release ofcontaminants into the environmentduring ship hull painting operations.

The hull coating process is critical to thepreservation of the ship’s hull. The moreefficient the hull coating is, the greaterthe fuel economy of the vessel, and theless future maintenance will berequired—resulting in less time in drydock and reduced ownership costs. Forthese reasons, anti-fouling coatingscontaining copper and zinc are utilized.

Unfortunately, some of these heavymetals are released during the paintingprocess through overspray and paintwaste. Current commercial paintingmethods can result in greater than 30percent (by weight) of the appliedpaint going to waste through over-spray. This overspray can settle ontothe dry dock floor and surroundingareas, where it has the potential to beincorporated in dry dock industrialoperations or discharges associatedwith flooding or storm water runoffinto nearby waterways.

In an effort to address these challenge,NSWCCD in conjunction with Concur-rent Technologies Corporation (CTC) andNORX, LLC, has developed the MAEEprototype to capture paint overspray.

MAEE’s PredecessorIn some regards, the MAEE concept isthe second generation solution devel-oped by the Navy for overspraycontainment. In 1997, NSWCCD

personnel began thedevelopment of anAutomated PaintApplication,Containment andTreatment System(APACTS). The tech-nology was designed toapply paint robotically to hull surfacesand to capture and retain the over-spray emissions.


NESDI & ONR Sponsor Technology to ControlPaint OversprayMAEE Helps to Prevent Contaminants from Reaching the Air & Water

APACTS, a predecessor of the MAEE, was designed to be an automated system using anintegrated dome-covered nozzle and vacuum technology to help minimize overspray at its source.


APACTS was designed to be an automated system utilizingan integrated dome-covered nozzle and vacuum tech-nology to help minimize overspray at its source. Thesystem, while technically innovative, particularly in itsability to increase paint transfer efficiency and mitigate therelease of overspray, was costly due to hardware and soft-ware complexities associated with the robotic control plat-form and treatment system components of the system. Asubset of the motion control technology developed forAPACTS has been incorporated into the overall MAEEsystem development. MAEE technology is designed to bea much simpler, significantly lower cost adaptation ofAPACTS that retains a painter in the operating loop.

MAEE technology is a portable, light weight, inexpensiveenclosure that allows a painter to manually or semi-autonomously apply coatings with conventional sprayequipment, on a boomlift or man lift with little or no over-spray. The containment unit, or shroud, covers a smallportion of the hull, allows operator access to the surface tobe painted, draws and circulates air from within the enclo-sure to contain the overspray, and generates a positive,contact-free seal with the hull to prevent the oversprayfrom escaping. The seal around the shroud is a pressur-ized zone created by a flow of air similar to an air curtain.Blowers on each side of the operator window clear paintoverspray and fumes away from the painter and depositthem into the enclosure’s filters.

The operator commands a desired direction (up, down orsteady) and a speed based on their particular expertise

and coating application capability. A system of sensorsand computers on the work platform detect the positionof the hull as well as the positions of the aerial work plat-forms’ joints. The control system’s micro-computerconverts the operator’s instructions into precisecommands that follow the hull’s surface at a fixed standoffdistance of four to six inches. As the paint is applied, theshroud constantly moves along the surface, exposing moreof the surface to be painted. The painter simultaneouslypaints and relocates the basket, thereby eliminating a plat-form operator from the process.

MAEE DevelopmentMAEE was designed to be used on submarines and thehulls of surface ships.

The maturing MAEE enclosure technology has been testedand evaluated in a series of four, progressive shipyardoperational assessments conducted by shipyard andresearch and development personnel under representativeproduction conditions. The evaluations began in March of2009 at Atlantic Marine Shipyard (now BAE SystemsSoutheast) in Jacksonville, Florida.

Following each test, prototype modifications and refine-ments were made based upon recommendations fromoperators trained on the system and shipyard processmanagement personnel. Blotter tests and high definitionvideo were used to determine capture efficiency as wellas overall system performance. Capture efficiencyassessments conducted to date indicate that efficiencies

The MAEE control system’s micro-computer converts the operator’sinstructions into precise commands that follow along the ship’s hull.

on the order of 90 percent can be achieved. Thetargeted goal is to capture more than 95 percent of thepaint overspray.

The most recent full scale test and evaluation of the MAEEunit was conducted on an active ship hull in August 2010 atthe BAE Southeast Shipyard. This evaluation exercised fournew integrated component technologies: a flat faced highefficiency filter, a bottom-mount basket mechanism, acable driven tilt mechanism, and a modified blower distrib-ution. The current unit mounts to the bottom of the boom-lift basket in order to enhance safety and to comply withlift manufacturer restrictions.

Results to date indicate that a peripheral air seal, light enoughto be carried on a standard aerial work platform, can besuccessfully configured and operated to block the discharge ofoverspray into the environment during representative hullcoating application on relatively flat hull surfaces.

Advanced prototype development is ongoing and musttrade off goals for increased performance with require-ments for expanded system functionality on curvedsurfaces while continuing to address safety requirements,limits on overall enclosure weight, and requirements forstructural sturdiness.

MAEE technology will require more extensive shipyardtesting on actual hull surfaces to further refine and hardenthe system by exposing it to the rigors and full breadth ofproduction level operations needed for full demonstration,validation and integration.

The ultimate goal is to demonstrate a production-ready MAEEthat is available to all Navy and commercial shipyards byeither purchase or lease agreement.

BenefitsThe primary benefits of MAEE are:

� Virtually eliminates paint overspray and associatedcontaminants such as heavy metals into the atmos-phere and waterways

� Enhances environmental compliance and reduces asso-ciated risk and liability associated with potential permitrequirements and burden associated with by-productwaste generation and management

� Increases productivity and reduces total ownership costas a simple, sustainable, inexpensive and versatileproduction enhancement that is interchangeable andsynergistic with existing coatings application systemsand processes

� Maximizes use of existing shipyard assets, expertiseand work flow characteristics to increase industrialproductivity and enhance compliance with existingenvironmental requirements

� Enables expanded capability and use within thegreater shipbuilding and repair industry

The MAEE’s modular design also supports alternative tooldevelopment. The enclosure concept has the potential to bemodified and used for hull hydro-washing operations as well


The MAEE can be assembled on a conventional boom lift in about an hour.


as capturing smoke emissions duringhull cutting and welding operations.

The MAEE system consists of threesubsystems:

1. Integrated sensors and controlsoftware to semi-autonomouslycoordinate and control themotions of a boomlift

2. A portable, light weight air curtainframe or enclosure carried by theman lift that redirects andcaptures un-adhered paint sprayfrom the painter

The ultimate goal is to demonstrate a production-ready MAEE that is available to all Navy and commercial shipyards

by either purchase or lease agreement.

3. A means of communicationbetween the enclosure and theboomlift controller.

To reduce system costs and improvesafety, the controller does not requireany significant or permanent modifi-cations to the boomlift. Modificationsare easily assembled and can becompleted in approximately onehour. The boomlift is then readilydeployable for other shipyard activi-ties or it may be returned to a rentalcompany without incurring any addi-tional charges. The boomlift’s

intrinsic safety systems remain fullyintact and functional.

Project SupportPrimary funding for this project isprovided by the Chief of Naval Opera-tions Energy and EnvironmentalReadiness Division’s (N45) Navy Envi-ronmental Sustainability Developmentto Integration (NESDI) program toaddress mature system configuration,demonstration, validation and initialintegration efforts.

The Office of Naval Research isfunding research to better understandand optimize enclosure characteristicsand to develop technology forachieving efficient operations over thebreadth of curved surfaces likely to beencountered within the shipyard drydock environment.

Initial interest and support for develop-ment of MAEE technology has beenprovided by Navy and commercialsources including the Naval Sea SystemsCommand 04XP and 04RE offices, aswell as the National ShipbuildingResearch Program via their SurfacePreparation and Coating Panel and theirEnvironmental Technologies Panel. �

Photos by Naval Surface WarfareCenter, Carderock Division

CONTACT

Jim HowellNaval Surface Warfare Center,

Carderock Division301-227-5178DSN: [email protected]

The Basics About the NESDI Program

THE MISSION OF the NESDI program is to provide solutions by demonstrating, vali-dating and integrating innovative technologies, processes, and materials, and fillingknowledge gaps to minimize operational environmental risks, constraints and costs whileensuring Fleet readiness. The program seeks to accomplish this mission through the eval-uation of cost-effective technologies, processes, materials and knowledge that enhanceenvironmental readiness of naval shore activities.

The NESDI program just released a manual which contains all of the documents essential tothe timely and successful execution of demonstration/validation (Dem/Val) projects spon-sored by the program and/or other projects lever-aged with funding from other Dem/Val programs.This manual is intended to provide Principal Investi-gators and other program personnel with the neces-sary guidance and templates for completing thedocumentation required for each program project.For a hardcopy of the NESDI ProgramManual, contact Barbara Sugiyama [email protected] and805-982-1668.

For more information, visit theprogram’s web site atwww.nesdi.navy.mil.

NAVAL FACILITIES ENGINEERINGCommand (NAVFAC) Hawaii completedthe second and final phase of a large-scale, drought-tolerant xeriscape projecton 2 August 2010 for the NavyExchange (NEX) at Pearl Harbor.

Xeriscape is a form of landscapingthat conserves water through the

choice of hardy, drought-resistantplants and creative landscaping. Thecombination of drought-tolerantplants, efficient irrigation, groundcover and balanced soil will producea landscape that requires half (orless) the amount of water to main-tain than traditional landscaping.Over 45,000 plants, ranging from

crown of thorn shrubs to dwarf sugarcane, were planted.

Work officially began on Phase I ofthis project in April 2008. The firstportion of the project included herbi-cide applications, the demolition ofexisting shrubs, weeds and groundcover, the replacement and repair of


Xeriscape Project at Pearl Harbor NavyExchange Mall CompleteSecond Phase Expands Planting to Nearly 200,000 Square Feet

An overhead view of the elaborately planned green space next to the Pearl Harbor Commissary that allows patrons to walk around and look at the different plants used in the water-saving design.

irrigation system heads, the replace-ment of a malfunctioning irrigationbooster pump and rain sensing shut-off devices, tree pruning, soil prepara-tion, and plant installation.

The second phase began in October2009, and expands the approximately96,000 square feet of work done inPhase I to nearly 200,000 square feet.“Phase II incorporates both theplanting of a host of new, nativeplants, synthetic turf, and drought-resistant plants, as well as the removaland treatment of weeds and otherundesirables,” said Matt Flach,NAVFAC Hawaii landscape architect.

Over the past several years, aggressivefederal mandates have been issuedrequiring federal agencies to reduceenergy and water consumption. Begin-ning in fiscal year 2008, all federalagencies, including the Department ofNavy, were required to reduce theirwater consumption by two percentannually through fiscal year 2015.

“Xeriscape landscaping is a practicalwater management tool that will helpthe Region attain federal waterconsumption goals,” states GregGebhardt, energy and utilities servicesmanager, NAVFAC Hawaii.

NAVFAC Hawaii awarded the$470,569 contract to Hawaii-basedKN Lawn Service. The project wasawarded and completed in twophases to allow the landscapingcontractor enough time to gather thelarge quantity of plants from localnurseries and to repair and prepareareas before any work could begin.

“The contractor completed prep workon the soil prior to December 2009to ensure that most of the weedswould be germinated for theirremoval in the summer and to allowtime to grow enough plants for the

KN Lawn Service personnel talk with Matt Flach, a landscape architect at NAVFAC Hawaii, about planting Norma Crotons (Codiaeum Varigatum “Norma”), which provide

instant color and height to the planter beds as well as help conserve water.


To Learn More

TO READ MORE about the initial phases of this project, read our cover story entitled“Pearl Harbor Navy Exchange Employs Practical Landscape Design: Xeriscaping to HelpRegion Meet Water Reduction Mandates” from the spring 2009 issue of Currents. Theentire Currents archive is available on-line at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.


Over 20 different species of drought-tolerant plants make up an elaborately designed landscape which includes a walking path allowing patrons to take a closer look at the plants.

project,” said Flach. “In addition, 12,000 square feet ofsynthetic turf was added into the design because itrequires little maintenance and virtually no water, whilepreserving the look of real grass, saving time and moneyfor the customer.”

Native Hawaiian plants account for eight of the 20different species used throughout the NEX complex,totaling about 22,000 plants. Their role in xeriscaping isessential to the project, because they are naturally accus-tomed to Hawaii’s temperate climate and unpredictableweather patterns.

After completing the installation project, the contractorentered a mandatory 120-day maintenance period toguarantee the new plants mature and weeds stay at bay.During this time they will be fertilizing, weeding,watering, and maintaining the grounds until the finalinspection in January 2011.

After the maintenance period is over, KN Lawn Servicewill resume its previously standing grounds maintenancecontract with NAVFAC Hawaii to perform normal upkeepof the NEX’s landscaping.Bird of Paradise (Strletzia Reginea).


One of the 13 completed raised planter beds that fronts the NEX complex contains ground cover and a myriad of plants.

Red Dwarf Crown of Thorns (Euphorbia mili ‘Red’) recently planted at the Radford Drive entranceto the NEX complex provide a vibrant red hue.

As with any new landscaping job, thenew plants will require constantwatering despite their drought-resis-tant qualities. However, NEX willbegin to see water savings upwardsof 50 percent once the plants havematured, contributing to the Navy-wide push to become environmen-tally responsible and energy efficient.

In addition to this project, designplans are being finalized for similarxeriscaping projects at Camp H.M.Smith and at the main gates toJoint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. �

Photos by Thomas Obungen

CONTACT

Denise EmsleyNaval Facilities Engineering Command,

[email protected]

Submit your own Best Shot to Bruce McCaffrey, Currents’ managing editor, at [email protected].

Douglas Millison � Naval Radio Station (T) Jim Creek � 425-304-5374 � [email protected]

S O M EO FM Y Best Sh ts

Naval Radio Station (Transmitter) Jim Creek, outside of Arlington,Washington is one of those areas that seem to turn up the color

volume in the fall. The Station consists of approximately 5,000acres of mostly forested wildlife habitat, 250 of which are oldgrowth forest. These pictures reveal the variety of colors and land-scapes on Station in October and November. The Jim Creek wilder-ness area is designated for recreational use for Department ofDefense personnel and has a lodge, cabins, recreational vehiclehookups, and camping areas.

I took these pictures with a Canon Power Shot SD 10 (4 megapixels),and a Canon Rebel SXi (10 megapixels).

A VOLUNTEER ORGANIZATIONaboard Naval Station GuantanamoBay, Cuba (GTMO) brings volunteersand hikers throughout the commu-nity together to revitalize the hikingtrails, beaches and wildlife viewingareas in a summer restorationproject. This group, known as the“Breakfast Club,” was founded by

and is part of the West Indies andGreater Antilles island chains in theCaribbean. In December 1903, theUnited States began leasing GTMO’s45 square miles of land and water foruse as a fueling station from theCuban government. On 1 January1959, access to Cuban territoryoutside the confines of the base was


Trailblazing at GuantanamoVolunteers Come Together to Restore Hiking Trails

Jose Montalvo

personnel from Joint Task Force (JTF)—Guantanamo’s Navy ExpeditionaryGuard Battalion’s (NEGB) VolunteerProgram, and the GTMO Naval Facili-ties Engineering Command (NAVFAC)Public Works Department (PWD) Self-Help and Environmental Offices.

Established in 1898, GTMO is the U.S.military’s oldest overseas installation


declared off limits to U.S. militarypersonnel and civilians. Five yearslater, Cuba’s government cut offwater and supply sources to the base.Since then, GTMO has been self suffi-cient with its own energy and watersources. GTMO’s isolation from therest of Cuba is the reason it has animportant wildlife sanctuary.

Outside the Naval Station’s fence line,forested areas have been convertedto pastureland and wildlife is huntedfor food. In contrast, the Naval Stationprotects many of its animals in an“animal refuge” on much of GTMO’sunderdeveloped and primarily undis-turbed land.

Conducting research on the flora andfauna of Cuba is almost impossiblebecause U.S. travel sanctions and theCuban government severely restrictresearch in the country. Instead,researchers gain access to those areasthrough the Naval Station. Severalpartnerships exist between organiza-tions such as the Naval Station PWD’sEnvironmental Office and the ToledoZoo, the National Oceanic and Atmos-pheric Administration (NOAA), theApplied Conservation Division of theZoological Society of San Diego andthe United States Geological Survey(USGS). These partnerships advanceresearch in plant and wildlife speciesunder protected and isolated condi-tions which are not common else-where in the world. Dr. Peter Tolson,the Director of Conservation andResearch at the Toledo Zoo, and hiscolleagues have been studyingGTMO’s wildlife for over ten years. Dr.Tolson was fundamental in estab-lishing an integrated natural resourcemanagement plan (INRMP) for thebase and holds annual wildlife semi-nars raising awareness of their impor-tance within the GTMO community.

The Antillean nighthawk camouflages its nest in a bed of rocks. (Egg laying in nest.)

The Cuban rock iguana, one of the largest reptiles in the West Indies and belonging to

one of the most endangered groups of lizard, makes upapproximately five percent of the total population of Cuba.

Cuban Tody. CSCS Carlos Rodriguez

Cuban Pygmy Owl.


Through the base’s intricate trailsystem, hikers have access to seeplants and wildlife many people inthe West Indies cannot. On GTMO,193 plant species have been identi-fied—51 are endemic to Cuba, andfour to the Naval Station itself,including an extremely rare and prim-itive cactus tree, Pereskia zinniiflora,of which only one single tree hasbeen found. In addition, 167 speciesof birds reside on base including fivethat are endemic to the West Indiesand five to Cuba. The Cuban rockiguana population, one of the largestreptiles in the West Indies andbelonging to one of the most endan-gered groups of lizard, makes up aconservative estimate of five percentof the total population of Cuba. Theestimate is considered a significantfact given the small footprint the basehas on the island. Recently, Dr. Tolsonwas contracted by NAVFAC to conductan iguana survey to verify populationdensity and develop a managementprogram to meet requirements of theINRMP. Other reptiles such as theCuban boa can sometimes reach tenfeet or more in length on base, aphenomenon that rarely occursoutside the fence line. Additionally,there are 24 other reptile species, fourof which are sea turtles.

A keen observer might be able to spotsome of the birds endemic to thearea. Some birds seen are Cuba’s rarebee hummingbird, the world’ssmallest bird, the Antillean nighthawkwho camouflages its nest in a bed ofrocks, the Cuban Pygmy Owl or thecolorful Cuban Tody.

Most of the current trails areremnants of former “tank trails” fromthe Cold War era. Some of GTMO’strails were initially constructed as ameans to get to observation posts in


the early 1900’s whenadjacent areas wereused as firing ranges.Later they were used bymilitary forces to defendGTMO from possibleCuban attack. Until theearly 1990’s, these trailswere off-limits. Many ofthese trails remainclosed due to opera-tional requirements. In2000, the Naval Stationintroduced the Ridgelinetrail to the community,which helped the baseachieve the Commanderin Chief, U.S. AtlanticFleet’s 1999 BronzeHammer award for asmall activity’s achievement in Self-Help with no Construction BattalionUnit in the area. In early 2009, theU.S. Coast Guard Port Security Unit

degraded to the point where the trailshave become confusing to navigate insome areas.

This past summer, JTF NEGB trooperssurveyed the trails, identified loca-tions with excessive trash, missing ordegraded signs and trail overgrowth.Some of the problems with the trailsinvolved part of them being unrecog-nizable; hikers mistakenly travelinginto off-limit areas and others are notaware of their existence.

Revitalizing the Marina Nature Trailwas the first project to tackle. TheMarina Nature Trail is a quarter-milestretch of coastline and mangroves.In the late 1950’s, this location wascalled Deer Point Beach, but with thegrowth of several mangrove trees,over time the beach coastline disap-peared and an interesting trailemerged. Eventually the trail becameovergrown, forgotten, and clutteredwith trash.

After meeting five mornings in athree-week period, 75 volunteers fromten commands all over the base cameout to show their support for theproject. The volunteers were a clearrepresentation of the base’s diversecommunity, ranging from civilians toofficers throughout every branch ofservice, including a Seaman on histwo weeks of reserve training, a park

ranger, a teacher, an inter-preter, dozens of JTF Troopers,Naval Station Sailors andseveral senior enlisted andcommissioned leaders.

In the first two days, volun-teers removed 60 bags oftrash, in addition to severalold boat batteries, fire extin-guishers, a F-250 truck-bedfull of brick, 10 dump truckloads of trees and brush, a

305 from Fort Eustis, Virginiaconducted extensive work to build upa trail sign infrastructure to help hikersnavigate the formerly restricted trails.Unfortunately, that infrastructure has

GTMO introduced the Ridgeline trail to the community in 2000.

For More Insights

FOR MORE INSIGHTS into Peter Tolson’s work with GTMO’s Cuban boas and hutias,read our articles entitled “Toledo Zoo & Navy Partner to Study Cuban Boa: ResearchersUse GIS & Other Technology to Collect Biological Data” and “Homing in on Hutias atGTMO: The Navy & The Toledo Zoo Partner to Study Little-known Rodent” as theyappeared in the winter 2007 and summer 2008 issues of Currents. You can browse theentire Currents archives at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents and “like” us on Facebookat www.facebook.com/navycurrents.

20-foot concrete slab, several over-sized sewage pipes and othermiscellaneous scrap metal. On thethird day, volunteers from NavalMobile Construction BattalionTwenty-Five (NMCB-25) brought inheavy equipment to haul awayeverything collected. They usedheavy equipment to define the pathand establish three picnic/rest areasalong the trail. The remaining dayswere used to fine tune the trail’sappearance. Volunteers found anoversized piece of driftwood theywere able to reuse as an interestingbench alternative for one of the restareas, and the local communitydonated two picnic tables.

Added benefits to the Marina NatureTrail project are the improvement of

In the late 1950’s, this location was called Deer Point Beach, but with the growth of severalmangrove trees, over time the beach coastline disappeared and an interesting trail emerged.

Navy Equipment Operator 2nd Class Battease from the Naval Station’s PWD, Self-Help Leading Petty Officer, uses a chainsaw to fell a tree, openinga path for the volunteer working party to come in and remove the accumulated trash and overgrowth on a nature trail at GTMO on 1 June 2010. EN1 Matthew Bodenner



A Seabee from NMCB-25 uses heavy equipment to reestablish the Nature Trail

as part of the “Breakfast Club” trail project. EN1 Matthew Bodenner

soil quality and the proper disposal ofhazardous materials. Any groomingof the trail’s vegetation ensured thatthe roots were left in place to aid inerosion prevention and recruitmentof mangroves. Mangroves act as anatural buffer to protect shorelinesand improve the quality of water andwildlife habitat.

Regular and consistent grooming isrecommended for any trail system.(Frequency and scope is dependenton your environment). Groomingconsists of identification andremoval of any garbage, invasiveplants, safety hazards, and any infra-structure issues. Lack of trail mainte-nance and awareness can easily leadto trail abandonment and abuse.There are different ways to managea trail system and the group chose tostart from the ground up.

The Breakfast Club, in conjunctionwith the JTF’s Joint Intelligence

Naval Station volunteers removed several tons of debris from the Marina Nature trail. EN1 Matthew Bodenner

Navy Damage Controlman 2nd Class Joab Estrada, Army Master Sergeant Sheryl Mason, Navy Aviation Maintenance Administrationman 1st Class Ligia Velezquez, Aviation Maintenance

Administrationman 2nd Class Andrew Roberts, and Fire Control Technician Christopher Hamilton,from JTF—Guantanamo’s NEGB, haul away a truckload of bricks accumulated after the

day of clean up from the Breakfast Club’s inaugural event, revitalizing the quarter mile Marina Nature Trail at GTMO on 2 June 2010.

EN1 Matthew Bodenner

Group, accurately mapped the entiretrail network using Global Posi-tioning System (GPS) andGeographic Information System(GIS). Using a handheld GPS unit,the trail network was mapped outcollecting hundreds of waypoints.Additional waypoints were collected,identifying existing trail signs, loca-tions where repairs or needed signswould be placed, safety issues, trailovergrowth as well as locations withexcess garbage. Interpretive signlocations were identified to raisecommunity awareness on theimportance of the local flora andfauna as well as the trail’s historicalvalue. These data were inserted intoArcGISTM, advanced mapping soft-ware, to produce a trail map with allthe discrepancies mapped.

Once these locations were identifiedand mapped, volunteer events werescheduled throughout the summerto work through the list. Neededsigns were available from the base’sexisting sign inventory, additionalsigns were identified and the base’sMoral, Welfare and Recreation


GTMO’s hiking trail guide.

Seabees from NMCB-7 make repairs to GTMO’s hiking trails as part of the “Breakfast Club” trail project.

EN1 Matthew Bodenner


general trail safety information, implementing the newtrail guide, and offering a monthly calendar with beachand trail clean-up events in addition to various outdoorrecreation opportunities. �

CONTACT

Jose MontalvoNaval Facilities Engineering Command Public Works Department011-53-99-4466DSN: [email protected]

(MWR) Office isfunding theirpurchase. Thesame map usedto collect all the infrastructure data has been publishedthrough the MWR program to provide hikers in thecommunity a comprehensive guide to the trails.

In an effort to provide a long-term solution preventingfuture degradation of the trails, there are plans to increasehiker awareness of authorized recreational trail routes andprovide the community information needed to helpprotect and view this unique wildlife habitat. Severalmeasures have been put into place, including establishingstreet level trail head locations with oversized maps and

ABOVE: The MarinaNature Trail beforevolunteers restored

the trail.

RIGHT: The MarinaNature Trail after

volunteers restored the trail. The Marina

Nature Trail was calledDeere Point Beach in

the 1950’s beforemangroves covered

the shoreline. EN1 Matthew Bodenner

THE EMERGENCY PLANNINGand Community Right-to-Know Act(EPCRA) reporting deadlines are fastapproaching. Emergency andHazardous Chemical Inventory,Section 312, reporting is due in a fewweeks and the Toxic ChemicalRelease (TRI), Section 313, Form Rreporting deadline is right around thecorner. If you haven’t already, it istime to make sure you have the mostcurrent guidance from your state, the

U.S. Environmental ProtectionAgency (EPA), and Navy for thisreporting cycle.

Section 312 Tier II reporting is due 1March 2011. Many states will sendupdated reporting packages to facili-ties that have reported in the past.These packages are available via e-mail and contain a link to thereporting web site. Alternatively,states often post the packagesdirectly on their web sites. Forsubmissions, states are following the

lead of EPA and developing electronicreporting systems. Many states willaccept the electronic files generatedby EPA’s Tier2 Submit software, havedeveloped their own software basedon Tier2 Submit, or have developedweb portals into which their facilitiesenter data. See EPA’s Tier II ChemicalInventory Reports/Tier2 Submit website for further information atwww.epa.gov/osweroe1/content/epcra/tier2.htm.

Reporting Year 2010 Section 313Form Rs are due to EPA on 1 July2011. Most states will be utilizingToxics Release Inventory—Made EasyWeb (TRI-MEweb). Navy installationsin TRI-MEweb participating states willonly have to submit the form(s) oncevia TRI-MEweb. TRI-MEweb will auto-matically forward the Form R(s) tothe state (i.e., a separate submittal tothe state is not needed or required). Ifyour state does not participate in theTRI State Data Exchange, submittingvia the Internet does not satisfy your

state reporting requirements for yourfacility. In that case, a separatesubmittal to the state is needed andrequired. TRI-MEweb will assist yourfacility in preparing materialscontaining your TRI data and in therequired format specified by yourstate (i.e., diskette, paper, etc.). Becertain you have your username andpassword for TRI-MEweb, keep EPAe-mail correspondence (e.g., the e-mail with the facility Access Key or

other TRI-MEweb access informa-tion), and check to make sure yourCertifying Official has not changed(and has their username and pass-word for TRI-MEweb).

EPA Will Not Accept UncertifiedSubmissions via TRI-MEwebWhen submitting your Form R(s) viaTRI-MEweb, the facility’s registeredCertifying Official must electronicallysign the submission before it can beentered into the TRI database. The


Time to Get Ready for EPCRA ReportingReporting Deadlines Fast Approaching

It is time to make sure you have the most current guidance from your state, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency,

and Navy for this reporting cycle.


Form R must be certifiedon or before 1 July for thesubmittal to be consid-ered on time and incompliance. EPA will notaccept any uncertifiedsubmissions via TRI-MEweb. Be certain thatyour Certifying Official isapproved within TRI-MEweb in time for thereporting deadline.

In the Facility Data Profile(FDP) that is sent to thetechnical contact given onthe Form R, EPA willinclude a Notice of Signifi-cant Error (NOSE). Afacility must respond to aNOSE within 21 days ofreceipt. Failure to respondwithin the initial 21-dayrequirement could resultin the issuance of a Noticeof Noncompliance (NON).A NON requires a facility to take corrective action within 30days and respond to the Agency that correction action hasbeen taken. Because a Navy installation is a Federal facilitycomplying with an Executive Order, if an NON is receivedit should be forwarded up the chain of command for reso-lution between the Navy/Department of Defense and EPA.If a facility fails to respond to the NON within a requiredtime period, the Agency may take further action. A NON isnot included in a FDP but is mailed separately.

TRI-DDS UpdatedThe Toxics Release Inventory Data Delivery System (TRI-DDS) web-based system for the calculation of Section 313thresholds and releases from munitions and range activitieshas been updated and improved. There is a new user inter-face to allow for easier identification and execution of the

All About the Navy EPCRA Helpline

1. The Navy’s EPCRA Helpline ([email protected]) isavailable to answer your EPCRA questions.

2. The Helpline is staffed by Naval Civil Engineer Corps OfficersSchool (CECOS) Navy EPCRA training instructors from URSCorporation that have extensive knowledge of DoD and NavyEPCRA policy and much experience supporting Navy installa-tions with EPCRA compliance.

3. EPCRA questions may be emailed to the Helpline at any timeand a response will be sent the next business day.

4. The voluntary Form R technical review service is availablethrough the Helpline. If interested, send an e-mail to theHelpline with the name, phone number, and e-mail addressof the Form R contact at the installation and a list of expectedForm Rs. Once a Form R is ready for review, send a notifica-tion e-mail to the Helpline. The reviewer will then contactyou to discuss accessing the Form Rs in TRI-MEweb.

A facility must respond to a NOSEwithin 21 days of receipt.


for the EPCRA Section 313 reportingdeadline of 1 July are scheduled for8–9 and 29–30 March 2011. Allupcoming EPCRA course offerings arelisted on the CECOS web site athttps://www.netc.navy.mil/centers/csfe/cecos/ under the courses tab. �

CONTACT

Bob NeumannChief of Naval Operations Energy and


How to Consider Range & Munitions Activities Under EPCRA Section 313

needed functions. For example, func-tions for generating a report orimporting/uploading data into TRI-DDShave been streamlined. In addition,close to 1,000 munitions items havebeen added to the system so be certainto confirm any munitions items whereyou needed to assign a substitute.

Upcoming EPCRA TrainingOpportunities and ResourcesThe CECOS EPCRA no-cost, no-travelweb conferences are in progress. Tohelp with the upcoming reporting

deadlines of 1 March and 1 July,CECOS is again offering Sections311/312 and Section 313 refreshercourses. These refresher courses brieflyreview the regulations with a focus onDoD and Navy-specific scenarios.Course participants may submitfacility-specific questions in advance ofthe training for discussion. Refreshercourses for the EPCRA Sections311/312 requirements are offered priorto the Section 312 reporting deadlineof 1 March—one was conducted on 6January 2011 and another will be heldon 9 February 2011. Refresher courses

THE CHIEF OF Naval Operations Energy and EnvironmentReadiness Division is further expanding its “Getting Startedwith the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-KnowAct (EPCRA): A Primer for Navy Facilities” (May 2009) guid-ance with a new section on range and munitions activitiesspecific to Section 313. This new section is expected to bereleased in early 2011.

The new section, titled “How to Consider Range and MunitionsActivities under EPCRA Section 313,” will provide detailed guid-ance on:

� Defining your facility when there are adjacent, contiguous,encompassed, or geographically separate ranges.

� Distinguishing between a range activity (that is reported on aseparate Form R) and a munitions activity (that is reported onthe installation Form R).

� Establishing areas in TRI-DDS to support separate range andmunitions reporting.

� Collecting the necessary data for threshold determinations.

� Using TRI-DDS and the TRI Information Summary Report forthreshold determinations.

� Collecting additional data needed for the Form R.

� Using TRI-DDS and the TRI Information Summary Report forrelease estimates on the Form R.

� Preparing and submitting EPCRA Section 313 reports for rangeand munitions activities.

Once available, an email will be sent using the Navy EPCRA e-mail list and the document and any spreadsheet files will beposted to:

� The TRI-DDS web site at https://dod-tridds.org/tri-web/ (login required)

� The Naval Facilities Engineering Command’s Enterprise Document Library web site at https://portal.navfac.navy.mil/portal/page/portal/NAVFAC/NAVFAC_DOCS_PP

� The CECOS web site at http://www.cecosweb.com/handouts/EPCRA/FuelsUnderSection313.pdf

The TRI-DDS web-based system for the calculation of Section 313 thresholds and releases from munitions and range activities

has been updated and improved.

Souda Bay, Naples, Oil SpillResponse Capabilities Tested & Ready

Two-Day Oil Spill Exercise a Complete Success

Long before U.S. and world headlines were filled withimages of the spill of national significance from the Deep-water Horizon oil drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico, the U.S.Navy recognized the importance of developing robust,capable oil spill response capabilities for Navy facilities andvessels worldwide. Recently these capabilities were evalu-ated and exercised in the Mediterranean Sea whenCommander, Navy Region Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia(CNREURAFSWA) conducted a Navy On-Scene Coordinator(NOSC) exercise in Souda Bay, Greece and in Naples, Italy.

The NOSC Exercise (NOSCEX) 2010 was a coordinatedmulti-level, two-day exercise that simulated the accidentaldischarge of over 50,000 gallons of distillate Diesel Fuel,Marine from a Military Sealift Command Combat LogisticsForce replenishment vessel while pierside at the MarathiPier Complex in Souda Bay, Greece. The scenario wasdesigned to exercise the tiered transition of incidentmanagement roles and responsibilities from (1) the PortOperations’ first responders, responsible for minor inci-dents on the waterfront, to (2) the Souda Bay EmergencyOperations Center (EOC) for incidents that exceed thecapabilities of PortOperations, to (3) theRegional OperationsCenter (ROC) inNaples when thesimulated oil pollutionmoved from areas ofSouda Bay withinmilitary control tocivilian areas, greatlyincreasing the poten-tial for negativeimpacts. This migra-tion, involving sensi-tive areas, host nationcivilian authorities,and a significantincrease in resourcesrequired, escalatedthe scope of the

response from local to regional. Key elements of the tieredtransition are the integration of consistent oil spill guid-ance at each level of incident management, and connec-tivity among the various operations centers.

At the start of the exercise, Naval Support Activity (NSA)Souda Bay Port Operations immediately and effectivelydeployed its Tier I response equipment in an attempt tocontain the simulated release, but it quickly became clearthat the magnitude of the incident would exceed its capacity.The Souda Bay EOC was activated, and brought additionalcapabilities to bear including the assistance of Hellenic Navyassets, Naval Sea Systems Command’s Office of the Super-visor of Salvage and Diving technical guidance, and


trendsof the environment

For More Insights

FOR MORE INSIGHTS into the Navy’sspill response capabilities and exer-cises, read our story entitled “NavySUPSALV Participates in the CoastGuard’s “Spill of National Significance”Exercise: Simulated Disaster BringsTogether Nearly 600 Personnel” in thesummer 2010 issue of Currents. Theentire Currents archive can be found on-line at www.enviro-navair.navy.mil/currents.

NSA Souda Bay on-water spill response team deployment at NOSCEX 2010.

MC3 John Martinez

contractor support. The volume of the simulated release, andthe speed at which it spread to non-military areas outside ofSouda Bay, led to the decision to activate theCNREURAFSWA ROC in Naples to manage Tier II responsecapabilities, supporting the local incident commander withappropriate, scaled regional resources. The exerciseprogressed seamlessly over two days from emergency opera-tions to coordinated response, through the recovery phase,demonstrating the capabilities of organic Navy assets,Hellenic Navy support, and Greek environmental supportcontractors. Additionally, environmental representatives fromin-theater installations participated and received training onrequired environmental unit tools such as shoreline clean-upassessment team operations and contingency waste

management plan development, which are critical to asmooth transition to recovery. The CNREURAFSWA NOSCEX2010 oil spill exercise was considered a success by all whoparticipated, and the superb planning and organization forthe event is viewed by the Chief of Naval Operations Energyand Environmental Readiness Division as a model for state-side and overseas NOSCs to emulate. �

CONTACT

John OwensCommander Navy Region Europe Africa Southwest Asia 011-39-568-3721DSN: [email protected]

trendsof the environment

C E L E B R A T I N GAmerican Indian&Alaska Native

H E R I T A G E M O N T H

ommander, Navy Region Hawaii celebrated NativeAmerican Heritage in November 2010 by hosting

a Native American presentation of dance, music and traditions.

This year’s theme was “Life isSacred, Celebrate Healthy

Native Communities.”

In 1990, President George H. W.Bush designated November as

National American Indian HeritageMonth. Today, National American

Indian and Alaska Native HeritageMonth is celebrated to recognize

the intertribal cultures of NativeAmericans and to inform the public

of the rich heritage, history, andtraditions of American Indian and

Native American peoples.

Native Americans and Alaska Nativeshave served honorably in the United

States Navy for more than 200 years and have made remarkablecontributions to our naval history

and the legacy of our nation.

� Native American seamen served on Continentaland state vessels during the War of Independence.

� During the Civil War, as many as 20,000 Native Americanscontributed to Union and Confed-erate forces as auxiliary troops.

� More than 44,000 American Indiansserved during World War II, includingLt. Cmdr. Ernest Evans, of Cherokeeand Creek ancestry, who wasposthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during theBattle of Leyte Gulf. In the Pacificfrom 1942 to 1945, Navajo CodeTalkers transmitted messages bytelephone and radio in their nativelanguage, saving the lives of countless troops and helping winnumerous island battles.

A showcase of American Indians andAlaska Natives from the Navy Historyand Heritage Command can befound at www.history.navy.mil.

Native American Dr. David Bevettperforms a traditional inter-tribal

dance during the Native Americanheritage observance at Lockwood Hall

on Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.Mass Communication Specialist

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THE NAVYS ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE winter 2011 …This time, for the first time, the jet was powered...

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Transcript of THE NAVYS ENVIRONMENTAL MAGAZINE winter 2011 …This time, for the first time, the jet was powered...