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NEWS | April 29, 2013

JBLE continues commitment to conservation during Earth Day projects

By Senior Airman Jason J. Brown 633rd Air Base Wing Public Affairs

Members of the Joint Base Langley-Eustis community rallied to support environmental conservation and sustainability efforts in a week-long celebration in honor of Earth Day April 22 through 26.

More than 230 volunteers joined environmental protection officials at Langley Air Force Base and Fort Eustis in a series of clean-up and educational projects on each installation. Projects included shoreline and tree plantings, woodland trail clean-up and maintenance, storm drain marker installation, preservation of historical areas and rain garden maintenance.

Additionally, educational displays, including rain barrel system demonstrations, environmental presentations and poster displays, promoted the spirit of conservation and responsibility to the installation community.

The celebration of Earth Day began in 1970, when U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson of Wisconsin introduced the idea for a "national teach-in on the environment," eventually building a national staff to support his vision nationwide.

On April 20 of that year, 20 million Americans took to the streets, parks and auditoriums to demonstrate the necessity of a healthy, sustainable environment in massive coast-to-coast rallies. The first Earth Day led to the creation of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Air, Clean Water and Endangered Species Acts.

Mike Mallozzi, 633rd Civil Engineer Squadron water quality manager, said the JBLE events give installation leadership the opportunity to communicate the significance of environmental responsibility and conservation of natural resources.

"People can actually put eyes on the positive impacts generated by planting trees, creating rain gardens and picking up litter. It raises awareness about important issues like global warming, deforestation, recycling, water conservation and pollution, among others," he said. "It's about preserving the earth for the current inhabitants and the many generations to come."

According to Susan Miller, 733rd Civil Engineer Division environmental element chief, this year's events saw the strongest volunteer turnout in Fort Eustis' 19-year history of celebrating Earth Day.

As witnessed by the division's recent receipt of the 2013 Virginia Governor's Environmental Excellence Gold Medal Award for their sustainability program, Miller said Earth Day presents the perfect opportunity to reinforce the installation's commitment to environmental protection while engaging the community to support positive environmental practices.

"Fort Eustis has five significant environmental aspects that drive our efforts: conserving resources, such as water and energy; restoring contaminated areas; reducing waste, both hazardous and non-hazardous; preventing spills; and storm water improvements," Miller explained. "Earth Day not only allows us to showcase our efforts, but also provides an opportunity for individuals to take an active part in improving the health and well-being of the JBLE natural environment."

Collectively, Langley and Fort Eustis encompass more than 11,000 acres, with both installations situated along major waterways and boasting thousands of acres of wetlands.

"Earth Day reminds us to conserve and protect today's natural resources for many, many future generations to come. We teach our children about the importance of protecting our air, land and waterways from pollution, and cleaning up and learning from our past spills and industrial practices," said Emma Watterson, a 733rd CED pollution prevention support specialist. "JBLE will continue sustainability initiatives to protect and celebrate the Earth not only on Earth Day, but throughout the year, and ensure both installations can protect and serve for many future generations."