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RODERICK L. BREMBY, SECRETARY |
K A N S A S DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND ENVIRONMENT |
KATHLEEN SEBELIUS, GOVERNOR |
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KDHE Presents Awards for Pollution Prevention Efforts
The 2006 Pollution Prevention (P2) Awards were presented during the annual Kansas Environmental Conference held recently at the Capitol Plaza Hotel/Maner Conference Center in Topeka.
The Kansas Department of Health and Environment (KDHE) sponsors the yearly awards for businesses, industries, municipalities, and individuals who make significant contributions to the prevention of pollution. Award applications are screened by agency staff, and submitted to an independent awards selection committee who recommends final awards to KDHE.
The following companies were selected to receive awards this year:
Columbian Chemicals Company , Ulysses, was awarded for its efforts in energy efficiency. The company produces carbon black, which is a fine powder used as a pigment and as a reinforcing agent in rubber. In its efforts to comply with an EPA regulation, the company went beyond compliance and constructed a waste gas (tail gas) boiler and associated systems. This project resulted in a 90% reduction in boiler natural gas.
North American Salt Company , Lyons, was awarded for its efforts in pollution prevention. The company voluntarily partnered with KDHE and the City of Lyons to implement a project to cleanup a contaminated groundwater plume that is threatening the water quality of the drinking water supply wells at the City of Lyons. The contamination was caused by mining practices at a former salt mine for which a responsible party could not be identified.
Raytheon Aircraft Company , Wichita, received two pollution prevention awards. One award was for the company’s efforts in energy efficiency. The company implemented a “Last One Out” project to encourage employees to turn off the lights enabling the company to reduce a tremendous amount of energy use. The second award was for the company’s efforts in education and outreach. Raytheon hosted an on-site Voluntary Vehicle Emissions Testing and Household Hazardous Waste (HHW) Collection Day. The successful event collected over 15 tons of HHW and educated over 65 automobile owners about air pollution prevention and the importance of non-leaking gas caps, tune-ups and repairs.
Wichita Public Schools , Wichita, received an award for its efforts in pollution prevention. The organization performed a “Clean Sweep” of unwanted and outdated chemicals in the districts old science labs as the labs were being updated. During this process, elemental mercury was eliminated from the science storage rooms, along with a host of other unwanted hazardous chemicals. In addition to cleaning out the labs, the high school labs eliminated mercury thermometers, replacing them with digital and/or red spirit thermometers. The schools replaced over 300 mercury thermometers, disposed of over 70 mercury and mercury compound containers and disposed of over 34,500 mercury-containing lamps.
Additional information on the projects implemented by these award-winning facilities and the P2 awards program can be found on the KDHE Web site at http://www.kdheks.gov/sbcs/p2_pollution_prevention_awards.html.