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For Immediate Release Wednesday, December 29, 2004
DIA HONORED BY STATE FOR ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION
EFFORTS
Contact: Lori Maldonado
Public Information Specialist
(303) 692-2028 - Office
(303) 921-8598 – Cell
DENVER - Denver International Airport has been accepted
into the Colorado Environmental Leadership Program because of the airport’s
efforts to improve the environment.
The Environmental Leadership Program, which is administered
by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, is a voluntary
program designed to recognize and reward businesses, municipalities and other
organizations for their commitments that go beyond compliance in meeting
Colorado’s air, water and hazardous and solid waste regulatory requirements.
DIA, which is owned and operated by the City and County of
Denver, has joined 19 other Colorado businesses and industries as members of the
Environmental Leadership Program. At a recent ceremony, Douglas H. Benevento,
the executive director of the Department of Public Health and Environment,
presented Denver Mayor John Hickenlooper with a Gold Level Award, designating
the airport’s entry into the program.
Accepting the award on behalf of DIA were Janell
Barrilleaux, the airport’s director of environmental programs at DIA; and Turner
West, co- manager of aviation.
Benevento said, “DIA is the first airport in the nation to
certify its entire operation to ISO 14001, the international standard for
environmental management systems, DIA’s commitment to continual improvement,
preventing impacts to the environment and addressing environmental issues as
they are discovered sets an example for the industry and the nation and furthers
the goal of sustainable Colorado.”
Upon acceptance of the award, West said, “We are honored to
be accepted into this program. As an airport, we have made a strong commitment
to our environmental policies, and our participation in this program is yet
another way we can be a good partner in the community.”
Examples of DIA’s environmental achievements include:
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Reducing hazardous solid waste between 2002 and 2003 from
20,000 pounds to 3,760 pounds through product substitution and education.
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Remediating 15.5 acres of construction debris on-site through
a voluntary cleanup project.
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Recycling nearly two million gallons of propylene glycol
during the first eight years of the airport’s operation. DIA is the first
airport in the U.S. to operate an on-site recycling facility for propylene
glycol, the major component of spent aircraft deicing fluid.
Requirements for receiving Gold Level status include:
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No evidence of serious violations of applicable local, state
and federal environmental laws and permits for a minimum of three years
immediately prior to the date of submission of the application for
participation in the program.
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No conviction of environmental laws or out-of-court
settlements of formal charges of criminal violations within a five-year period
before filing the application.
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No settlement agreement has been entered into and no
compliance or consent orders have been issued for serious violations of
environmental laws and permits for three years immediately prior to the date
of submission of the application for participation in the program.
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An entity may not be eligible to participate in the program if
there has been a pattern of regulatory or permit violations, notices of
violation, civil penalties and/or criminal penalties that indicate a lack of
commitment to environmental leadership.
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Any entity that applies for the program and is part of a
corporation, partnership, sole proprietorship, municipality, county, city and
county, special district, or state or federal agency or department that has
other Colorado facilities will not be eligible for the program unless all of
the said Colorado facilities are in compliance with applicable state and
federal environmental laws and regulations at the time of application.
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A functioning environmental management system that includes
management-approved environmental policies, relevant procedures to achieve
environmental compliance, employee training programs, an environmental
compliance audit program and internal/external communication programs related
to environmental compliance and use of an environmental management system. The
environmental management system must have gone through at least one
third-party or external audit review cycle, but does not require any type of
registered certification documentation.
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Continual environmental improvement goals that include
specific commitments to significantly reduce releases of pollutants or the use
of resources beyond the reductions required by law or permit;
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Verifiable, quantifiable and qualitative measures or methods
that document compliance with environmental requirements, resource
conservation goals and pollution prevention performance goals; and
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A community outreach or communications plan that informs the
community of important matters that affect the business or industrial
facility.
Others members of the state’s Environmental Leadership
Program include:
Aeroflex, Colorado Springs
Aspen Skiing Company
Ball Aerospace & Technologies Corporation
Ball Metal Beverage Container Corporation
Celestica Colorado Corporation
Dinosaur National Monument
IBM Corporation, Boulder Facility
Kodak, Colorado Division
Lockheed Martin Space Systems
Majestic Metals, Inc.
Management and Engineering Services
National Renewable Energy Laboratory
Raytheon, Aurora Campus
Roche, Colorado Corporation
Rocky Mountain Park Company/Holiday Inn
SAE Circuits Colorado, Inc.
Sanmina-SCI Corporation Plant 432
U.S. Postal Service
Western Area Power Administration
For more information about the Environmental Leadership
Program, visit the Department of Public Health and Environment’s Web site at
http://www.cdphe.state.co.us/el/elp/goldlevel.html.
Editor’s Note: Photo of the event is attached. Individuals
in photo from left to right: Douglas Benevento, executive director, Colorado
Department of Public Health and Environment; Mayor John Hickenlooper; Janell
Barrilleaux, DIA director of environmental programs; Turner West, DIA co-manager
of aviation.
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