In this issue

Western sets example with pollution prevention program

Western recycles the carcasses of equipment that is typical of utility waste.

Just about everything we do consumes resources and produces waste, and if we thought about each activity in those terms, we could undoubtedly find plenty of ways to use and waste less.

Several executive orders require Federal agencies, including Western, to do exactly that. Federal pollution prevention programs have their genesis in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. However, any private facility that manages hazardous waste must meet RCRA requirements as well.

Western bases its Pollution Prevention Program on goals set by the Department of Energy. While Western is mandated to comply with Federal goals and regulations, “Protecting the environment is simply sound business practice,” added Western Environmental Protection Specialist Gene Iley.

The Western-wide Pollution Prevention program, or P2 for short, focuses on five strategies:

1. Waste prevention
2. Recycling
3. Reduction of environmental releases
4. Environmentally preferable purchasing
5. Sustainability in design and operation

"You really can't say one aspect is any more important than another," observed Iley. "Each contributes to the whole of the pollution prevention effort."

Successful strategies

The waste prevention component of Western's P2 program has been a great success. Following the three steps of waste prevention—source reduction, reuse and recycling—Western cut sanitary waste by 83 percent over several years. "Sanitary waste is anything you can legally throw in the dumpster," Iley explained. "Our 1993 baseline was 8,068 metric tons annually. By 2006, that figure had dropped to 1,409 metric tons.”

In 2006, Western recycled many types of waste that utilities and transmission providers typically generate:

• 1,243 metric tons of wood poles and cross arms
• 287 metric tons of dielectric fluid 
• 175 metric tons of concrete and asphalt
• 55 metric tons of batteries
• 41 metric tons of transformers

Reducing the source of pollution starts with a Pollution Prevention Opportunity Assessment, said Iley. The PPOA evaluates each facility for opportunities to reduce or eliminate waste generation. For example, one PPOA found that cardboard represented about half of Western's sanitary waste. "We found a recycler for it and were able to reduce the number and size of dumpsters we needed," said Iley. "Savings are a nice fringe benefit of protecting the environment."

Iley noted that regulated substances like transformer oil have to be recycled, but the infrastructure is in place to handle such materials. For non-regulated waste, "It differs from area to area, so it pays to do some checking," he said. "For example, the Montrose area doesn't have a cardboard recycling facility, but there is one in Loveland." He suggested checking with state offices of environmental quality, public health or natural resources to find out more about area recycling centers. 

Finding a business or individual with a use for waste is an alternative to recycling. Landowners often take Western's discarded wood poles and cross arms to use for fences and posts. Since the wood is often treated to inhibit growth of molds and pests, Western requires the recipients to sign a product information sheet before accepting the material.

Improving processes, products

Not all waste can be eliminated, but cutting down on the use of regulated substances or changing processes that use them can reduce environmental hazards and liability.

Here again, Iley recommended performing a PPOA of activities using regulated materials like oil, PCBs and refrigerants. The PPOA can help a utility identify actions to reduce environmental releases.  In the electric power industry, releases from spills and other mishaps are an unfortunate fact of life. Other utilities and customers can be valuable partners in developing plans for spill containment. Also, the Electric Power Research Institute offers many resources to help manage releases. 

Purchasing products that substitute recycled material and biodegradeable ingredients for harsh chemicals is another way to reduce environmental releases. Western's procurement policy calls for purchasing products with a lesser or reduced effect on human health and the environment than comparable products, wherever possible. Environmentally-preferable purchasing can help a business meet environmental goals,improve worker safety and health, reduce liabilities and cut down on disposal costs.

A successful "green" purchasing program requires research, since regional distributors may not advertise that they carry a preferred product, Iley said. "The products may not be available in every area, but at least ask for it. That tips off distributors that there is a demand for the product," he said.

Resources like the Department of Agriculture's list of Biopreferred Products can help purchasing agents identify those products. Green counterparts are available for such industrial products as mobile equipment hydraulic fluids, urethane roof coatings, water tank coatings, diesel fuel additives and penetrating lubricants.

Another way to green your procurement is to look for products made of recovered material. This measure not only reduces the use of new resources, "It creates a market for the materials we recycle, like used paper and oil," said Iley.

The EPA publishes Comprehensive Procurement Guidelines for recovered material content products.  The EPA's Environmentally Preferred Purchasing program is an excellent resource for more information on all types of sustainable products and services.
 
Savings from vehicles, buildings

The Energy Policy Act of 2005 requires government vehicles to run on alternative fuels whenever possible, and Western parking lots show it. Western has 67 fuel-flexible cars that run on E-85 ethanol blend and 363 service trucks that can use B20 biodiesel blend.

Fuel availability continues to be a challenge for operators of alternative-fuel vehicle fleets, Iley acknowledged. "Ethanol fueling stations are more common in some parts of Western's territory than others," he said. "And biodiesel stations can be hard to find."

The Desert Southwest and Sierra Nevada regional offices solve this problem by buying biodiesel in bulk, as New Mexico utility PNM does for its service fleet. The market will adapt if consumers, businesses and municipalities continue to purchase fuel-flexible vehicles to meet their own environmental goals. Until then, any business considering this strategy should research fuel availability in its area.

Perhaps the greatest opportunity for reducing environmental impact, not to mention saving on energy costs, comes from sustainably-designed facilities. "With 'green' buildings, you don't have to play catch-up," said Iley. "They are designed from the ground up to consume fewer resources and produce less waste."

The catch is that those decisions have to be made when a facility is being built, or at least renovated. A new facility or major upgrade may not be in your business plan this year, but you can still improve your building's energy and water use. Putting lights on motion sensors, replacing old lighting ballasts with more efficient models, fixing plumbing leaks and landscaping with native plants are just a few ways to make operations more sustainable. Also, providing energy management training for facilities managers is as good for the bottom line as it is for the environment.

There are many ways to reduce a business's environmental footprint and just as many good reasons to do it. In meeting its Federal goals, Western continues to discover better ways to do business and improve our performance. That's good for the environment and good for our customers.