FRCE celebrates 20 years of environmental stewardship

MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. – Fleet Readiness Center East (FRCE) recently reached a milestone, marking 20 consecutive years of participation in the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative and demonstrating a long-standing commitment to environmental conservation and protection efforts.

Secretary of the North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality D. Reid Wilson recognized FRCE for its 20th year as an Environmental Steward in the program Oct. 14. During the visit to the facility, Wilson presented FRCE Commanding Officer Capt. Randy Berti with a plaque to commemorate the accomplishment.

Berti said the achievement is a testament to the depot’s dedication to environmental sustainability, regulatory compliance and stewardship.

“We have made it a priority to go above and beyond because we understand the importance of taking care of our planet,” said Berti. “We want to do everything we can do be good stewards of the environment and our community. We live, work and eat here and we want to continue to do so safely, well into the future. That is why we do everything we can to protect the health of our workforce and our neighbors, and the natural beauty here on the Crystal Coast.”

The North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative recognizes and supports companies and facilities that go above and beyond to reduce their impact on the environment. The program’s mission is to assist organizations in reducing their environmental impacts beyond regulatory requirements and recognize those that achieve and maintain this commitment.

FRCE Environmental Division Director Andrew Krelie said the depot was one of the earliest organizations in the state to earn the title of Environmental Steward in 2004 and is the only Department of War facility participating in the Environmental Stewardship Initiative. He said maintaining the Environmental Steward title for 20 years has been a collaborative effort among the entire workforce.

“FRC East sets aggressive environmental objectives that go far above the minimum compliance requirements because we are committed to being good stewards of the environment,” said Krelie. “To be able to say we have continued to raise the bar, met all our compliance requirements and gone above and beyond every year for 20years straight is quite the achievement, one that has taken the entire workforce banding together to accomplish.”

The Environmental Stewardship Initiative offers three member levels: Partner, Rising Steward and Steward. Each level is designed to fit the organization’s needs based on the maturity of its environmental management system and performance success. The Partner level is the beginner level for organizations that are interested in developing a systematic approach to improving their environmental performance, whereas the Steward designation is given to organizations that have mature environmental management systems and are committed to exemplary environmental performance beyond what is required by law.

Stephen Azok, program manager for the depot’s environmental management system, said as a Steward, FRCE establishes at least three long-term objectives to improve its environmental performance. The depot’s current objectives focus on reducing the facility’s energy usage, decreasing how much industrial wastewater it generates, and increasing its landfill diversion efforts, he said.

“This year, we are putting two of our three goals in sustainment, which means we have reached those goals, but need to continue monitoring results to make sure we can maintain them,” said Azok. “In the meantime, we are now looking to establish new goals that are more aggressive. For example, we’re always looking to reduce our solid waste. If we find a way to avoid generating solid waste altogether, then we wouldn’t have to recycle it, which aids our landfill diversion efforts. It’s a harder objective to establish because it involves so many elements but if find a way to do it, we are going to.”

Azok said FRCE exceeded its landfill diversion goal for this year, achieving a 64% rate compared to the 62% target. He said FRCE actively seeks opportunities to donate reusable materials to local businesses and groups, which helps reduce waste and support the community.

“We are always looking for ways we can aid the community,” said Azok. “We reach out to local businesses to see if there’s anything that we generate that we can provide them, such as scrap wood or pallets. At one point, we were even donating our toner cartridges to churches and schools because they could recycle them. We are always looking for those kinds of partnerships. They help the community and help us be better stewards of the environment.”

FRCE aims to use 25% less energy in 2025 than it did in 2024, a target the facility is on track to achieve, said Azok.

Krelie said the depot has taken many steps to reduce the amount of energy it uses daily to achieve this goal, many of which have been simple fixes, such as replacing the facility’s old sodium vapor light bulbs with energy efficient LED bulbs. Additionally, FRCE has partnered with Duke Energy to help assess the facility’s energy usage and provide insight to reduce it, he said.

“Part of going above and beyond means doing everything we can to reduce our environmental footprint, even if it’s not required of us by law,” said Krelie. “Replacing the lead-acid batteries with lithium in our battery-powered carts because they are more energy efficient is a great example. With the old batteries, the carts had to be plugged in daily, which constantly used energy. Duke Energy also helped us find that we have lost a lot of energy

in our compressed air system. We are working on getting that replaced now. Not having any leaks in our compressed air system will save a significant amount of energy and cost savings.”

Krelie said FRCE has reduced its wastewater generation by 65% this year, nearly doubling its original reduction goal of 36%. He said they were able to achieve such a significant reduction by closely monitoring each building’s usage and identifying areas of overuse.

“One of our buildings was using upwards of 70,000 to 80,000 gallons of processed water a day,” said Krelie. “The clean lines in that building were using a lot of rinse water when cleaning aircraft parts, and the water was running constantly. We were able to reduce that down to less than 10,000 gallons a day by simply analyzing the input and output and implementing simple controls, such as having the artisans shut the water valve at the end of the day.

“We smashed our wastewater reduction goal with just the savings in that building,” he continued. “Even though we met our desired end state, we need to stay aggressive. We don’t want to hang our hat on the fact that we met our goal early when we know we can do more. We tweaked that goal a little bit because it became easy once we saw how simple it was to effect change.”

Not only have these changes helped FRCE become more environmentally friendly, but many of them have helped save the depot money, allowing additional funds to be refocused on supporting warfighter readiness, said Krelie.

“There’s a huge financial benefit to all of this,” Krelie said. “We received a significant credit on our utility bill when we reduced that 70,000 gallons of wastewater per day to 10,000 gallons. And replacing the lightbulbs with LED meant our electric bill went down. Because we are a working capital fund, these savings go back to our total operating expenses at the end of the year. We remain good stewards of the environment so we can continue to do what we do best, and we love hearing the sound of freedom in this local community.”

Azok said the facility has developed and implemented many workflows and regulations into its operations to mitigate their potential effect on the environment.

“We have strict controls in place in our shops that use these materials to control their usage,” said Azok. “There’s a lot of testing involved to make sure we’re not sending out anything that could negatively affect the wastewater treatment plant. We also have emission control devices, such as the air filtration system in our aircraft paint barn, to help protect our air from any chemicals. All chemicals are strictly managed so that no one can check them out unless they are trained, authorized and have demonstrated that they can maintain positive control over them from the time they are purchased, to when they are used and disposed.”

FRCE also requires employees to complete annual environmental training courses to increase awareness and effectiveness, said Azok.

“Everyone, no matter what they are hired as, has to participate in annual environmental training,” said Azok. “There is the environmental management system training that offers a high-level overview of the environmental regulations that we have here at FRC East, and the hazardous communication course that teaches you how hazardous materials interact with each other, with the environment and how they are managed. There are also

many other required courses that many of us take, depending on our job descriptions and the areas we work. Our goal with these is to teach employees about the products we work with and our processes so we can properly identify and mitigate any potential issues and continue to be good stewards of our environment, all while keeping the workforce safe.”

Being a part of the Environmental Stewardship Initiative offers FRCE many benefits, Azok said, including mentorship and collaboration opportunities with other businesses within North Carolina.

“At the Steward level, not only are you at the highest level in the program, but you also have the opportunity to coach those who are in the lower levels and problem solve with other companies at the Steward level,” said Azok. “It opens up the ability to reach out and get information from other members. For example, another Steward reached out to us and asked how we manage our lithium batteries, since we’re one of the few organizations in the state that deal with that amount of those size and type of lithium batteries. We provided that information, along with some of our emergency procedures. It’s a great avenue for networking.”

Krelie said although FRCE has seen many environmental successes this past year, the focus remains on continuous improvement.

“We take a proactive stance because we want to make sure that we are not doing anything that can cause damage,” said Krelie. “Our first priority is to protect and preserve our environment, our workforce and the people in our community. We stay on top of new technology and research because if we can make changes to improve our green procurement of chemicals or find a better way to dispose of something, even if it’s not a regulatory requirement, we want to do that. We don’t want to have to play catch up later on down the road.”

FRCE is North Carolina's largest maintenance, repair, overhaul and technical services provider, with more than 4,000 civilian, military and contract workers. Its annual revenue exceeds $865 million. The depot provides service to the fleet while functioning as an integral part of the greater U.S. Navy; Naval Air Systems Command; and Commander, Fleet Readiness Centers.