Maine Army National Guard Earns "Best in Nation" in 2015 Environmental Stewardship Competition

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20151205-Z-UR570-003

BRUNSWICK, ME (12/07/2015)(readMedia)-- The Maine Army National Guard's commitment to good environmental stewardship was recognized as the "Best in Nation" by the National Guard Bureau's 2015 Environmental Stewardship Award competition.

Lt. Gen. Timothy Kadavy, director of the Army National Guard, and Brig. Gen. Gerard Bolduc, acting Adjutant General of the Maine National Guard, were able to present the award to MEARNG's environmental and training site staff at the Brunswick Readiness Center in front of a large audience.

All National Guard facilities are regularly evaluated for compliance with state and federal land use, waste, water quality, and air quality regulations by an independent auditor. The Environmental Stewardship Award competition ranks the 54 state and territorial National Guards on the basis of their overall environmental program compliance.

"This award speaks to the outstanding commitment of the Maine National Guard family that works tirelessly to be good stewards of Maine's pristine environment," said Bolduc.

Maine has received national environmental awards in the past, as recently as 2013, however this is the first "Best in Nation" level award. This singular annual award is presented to the State or territory that is determined to have the best National Guard environmental program overall.

Col. Dwaine E. Drummond, Director of Facilities and Engineering for MEARNG, credits their success to the overall efforts of the entire organization and to the excellent communication between MEARNG, the Maine Department of Environmental Protection, National Guard Bureau, Army Corps of Engineers and other regulatory agencies.

"Our partners are many and equally dedicated to improving our soldiers' readiness posture, while sustaining our environment," said Drummond.

"Our program is only successful when our soldiers, civilian employees, and contractors aspire for the same goals we do. The efforts by our soldiers in the field, in the maintenance shops, and in the readiness centers makes all of the difference in our program."

The award was won during a period of limited resources and increased requirements, Drummond said.

"We had two major military construction projects under construction, one in design, and one in the planning phase. Each of these projects has unique environmental considerations that take considerable time and effort to ensure we comply with our permits, minimize our footprint, and investigate all potential impacts," said Drummond.

As a result of the budget setbacks, the MEARNG environmental team was also challenged to complete a lot of in-house plans and assessments that were previously contracted to highly specialized consultants.

Andrew Flint, the environmental program manager for MEARNG, said "completing projects in house with our qualified staff not only resulted in cost savings, it gives us flexibility to adapt to the ever-changing operational environment."

"Rigorous self-examination is a key part of our continual improvement over the years." Flint said. "Our annual internal, and tri-annual external compliance audits examine the entire range of potential environmental issues, [and] we are not afraid to seek unique solutions."

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20151205-Z-UR570-003 (Cutline): Members of the Maine National Guard Environmental Team were awarded the Army Reserve Environmental Stewardship Award at the 133rd Engineer Battalion Readiness Center in Brunswick on Saturday December 6, 2015. The team earned the award for their exceptional performance for Environmental Compliance, Natural and Cultural Resource Management, and National Environmental Policy. Pictured from left to right are Barry Turcotte (background), Lt. Gen. Timothy Kadavy, Elizabeth Barton, Col. Dwaine Drummond, Andrew Flint (background), Dave Foss, and Timothy Bickford (background) along with family. (U.S. Army Photo by Sgt. Adam Simmler)