DATE: Thursday, September 25, 1997          TAG: 9709240462

SECTION: LOCAL                   PAGE: B3   EDITION: FINAL 

TYPE: Military 

SOURCE: BY ALVA CHOPP, CORRESPONDENT 

                                            LENGTH:   91 lines

HAZARDOUS SUPPLIES MOVE MUCH MORE QUICKLY, SAFELY STREAMLINING ORDERS SAVES GOVERNMENT MILLIONS OF DOLLARS

Regional warehouses and a formal system of ``swapping'' hazardous materials is streamlining orders at Norfolk Naval Base and saving the government millions of dollars.

The ``Hazardous Material Minimization Program'' run by the Fleet and Industrial Supply Center in Norfolk has taken the burden of lengthy paperwork, federal regulations and cost away from individual commands and consolidated it into a one-stop system.

With a single regional inventory, the program can deliver material to its customers in two hours instead of two weeks, and can provide excess material free of charge.

Developers of the system, a prototype for other supply centers, first tried to include all shore-based commands. Now, they're working to include ships.

Ruben Soliman, deputy materials officer for the Norfolk Naval Air Station Supply Department, said the new system has been a big improvement.

``In the past, if you needed less than one gallon of paint, you still received one gallon because that's the only way it came,'' he said. ``The extra was disposed of by the Public Works Center and the disposal costs were usually more than the cost of the item itself.''

No more.

Craig Hughes, site manager at the Norfolk office, said the new program is a major improvement over the delivery, storage and disposal methods used in the past. The local program has developed partnerships with regional bases and single units of the Navy, Army, Air Force and Coast Guard.

For years, each command or unit had sole responsibility for its hazardous material. When paint, cleaning solvents, acids, lubricating fluids or anything that fell under the hazardous material guidelines was needed, a special requisition was sent to the supply center in Norfolk.

The process often took weeks before the item was in the hands of the person who needed it.

Once delivered, the command then had to meet federal regulations regarding the use, storage and disposal of the substance. Additional personnel were assigned to ensure the safety of fellow workers. The environment and special storage units were built to ensure that everything was handled properly.

If the command had more material than was needed, the excess could sit on shelves for a long time until it was sent to disposal. This system proved costly as duplicated material was stored by commands next door to each other.

Under the new system, hazardous material is used instead of stored, eliminating costly disposal.

``Now, instead of each command doing all the work themselves, we're doing it for them,'' Hughes said. ``Commands can now use their people and funds in other ways. Their budget money can be used in new equipment instead of in storage warehouses.''

Hughes said his inventory is stored in specially designed FISC warehouses on each base. Instead of lengthy requisition forms, commands may now call, fax or e-mail their orders and expect delivery in two hours.

Another major change has been the development of a ``re-use store.'' If a command fails to use an entire order, the remainder is picked up by FISC personnel and stored in the warehouse. The next command that needs the same item can get it for free, eliminating the cost of obtaining new materials and disposing of old ones, as well as removing environmental hazards.

``We formalized the swapping of material,'' Hughes said. ``Any command that needs the excess material may use it for free. The more I can turn over our inventory, the better it is.''

Since the program began in 1993, it has saved more than $30 million in government funds and has turned the use and disposal of hazardous materials into a regional partnership.

Under the old system, each command had to assign about half a dozen workers to manage its hazardous material departments, but FISC is able to operate the program for the whole region with only 35 people.

Lt. Jeff Davis, deputy director of the program, said the first goal was to include all shore commands in the area. Now, they're working to get ships included in the system.

``Ships have their own hazardous minimization centers onboard, but we're trying to get them to use our system when they're in port,'' he said. ``We're currently doing what we call pier sweeps to collect any reusable material from them and they can use excess material free of charge from our inventory.''

Davis said the Norfolk Supply Center is helping other centers develop similar programs without the growing pains.

Some commands are reluctant to give up control of their inventory. But, Davis said, once they see how the system works, they are eager to join.

Soliman said there are obvious benefits. ``We've saved a lot of money,'' he said. ``And now we don't have to carry paints and other hazardous materials in our inventory.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo

RICHARD L. DUNSTON/The Virginian-Pilot

Warly Lavarias, at the Hazardous Materials Recycling Center at

Norfolk Naval Base, prepares to put some of those materials on a

truck. KEYWORDS: HAZARDOUS CARGO & WASTE U.S. NAVY

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