Team wins national awards

A Department of Defense team including researchers at the Construction Engineering Research Laboratory (CERL) has received three major environmental awards: the prestigious White House Closing the Circle Award, the Secretary of the Army Environmental Award for Pollution Prevention, and the Secretary of Defense Pollution Prevention Team Award. CERL employees Michelle Hanson, Sullivan, Robert Lacey, Champaign, and Annette Stumpf, Champaign, were part of a 44-member multi-agency pollution prevention team that worked to achieve a positive balance between Defense readiness and environmental stewardship at military installations.

The team, also consisting of personnel from Headquarters, U.S. Army Forces Command, Office of the Director for Environmental Programs, Army Environmental Policy Institute, Army Environmental Center, and six Army installations, conceived the Installation Sustainability Program, which refocused the Army's pollution planning process to specifically tie mission requirements to environmental issues. The program uses education, outreach, process improvement, and partnering to engage the environmental and Army communities in pollution prevention planning and implementation.

CERL is part of the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center. ERDC is the premier research and development facility for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. It consists of seven laboratories at four geographical sites, with over 2,000 employees, $1.2 billion in facilities, and an annual research program exceeding $570 million. It conducts research in both military and civil works mission areas for the Department of Defense and the nation.