Station wins environmental award
SB NAVAL WEAPONS STATION
Naval Weapons Station Seal Beach has been granted an important Navy-wide environmental award, while at the same time finalizing plans for the last major phase of pile driving in Anaheim Bay, the base announced April 24.
“We are very excited to say that we have won the 2023 Secretary of the Navy Environmental Award for Sustainability,” said Commanding Officer Capt. Jessica O’Brien.
“The award specifically called out the fantastic work of our Environmental Director, Mr. Jeff McGovern, and our Energy Program Manager, Mr. Bruce Delling.”
The award recognizes installation teams and individuals for their accomplishments in innovative and cost-effective environmental sustainment strategies supporting mission readiness, resiliency and conservation.
At Seal Beach and its detachments located in Fallbrook and Norco, California, personnel were able to achieve a 7% reduction in energy usage since 2015, and a 44% reduction in water usage since 2007, all while the base population expanded by 41%.
Other notable accomplishments included diverting over 1,000 tons of waste from local landfills, and working to significantly expand the potential for solar power generation and battery backup systems aboard the base.
“This is a great win for Jeff, Bruce, and really our entire staff across all of our installations,” O’Brien said. “I couldn’t be more pleased at the level of cooperation between our environmental and energy teams and everyone else here supporting our critical mission.”
The base also announced the upcoming start of the last major round of pile driving, part of a project to build a replacement ammunition pier in Anaheim Bay. Over an approximately six-week period, 120 fender piles will be driven along the edge of the new pier. That effort is set to start in early May, after being delayed due to weather conditions earlier in the year.
“We thank the community for their patience as we work towards completing this massive project,” O’Brien said. “As before, it is our goal to get pile driving done as safely and quickly as possible in order to minimize disruptions to our neighbors.”
