SiteWise Tool Assesses Environmental Footprint of Cleanups
The U.S. Navy will begin using a new innovative analytical tool, co-developed by Battelle, to help keep cleanup jobs as green as they can be.
SiteWiseTM is a stand-alone tool that assesses the environmental footprint of remedial actions using a consistent set of metrics to measure greenhouse gas emissions, energy use, air emissions of criteria pollutants, water consumption and worker safety.
In August, Navy Director of Environmental Restoration Division at the Facilities Engineering Command Headquarters Brian P. Harrison notified all remediation managers that the tool was to be used on all feasibility studies performed on environmental remediation sites. The Department of Defense faces large-scale environmental cleanup of many of its sites. The Navy and Marine Corps alone had more than 200 installations with 90 of them undergoing active cleanup work in 2009.
SiteWiseTM allows the selection of a remediation strategy that not only considers standard criteria such as cost, effectiveness, protection of human health and environment, but also can gauge the environmental footprint of the technology.
"We're gratified to see that this innovative technology we developed, partially with funding from the Army and Navy, is going to be put to widespread use," said Godage Wickramanayake, manager of Battelle's Environmental Restoration group. "It can have great impact in the effort to conduct sustainable, fiscally responsible, safe environmental remediation and restoration."
As the world's largest, independent research and development organization, Battelle provides innovative solutions to the world's most pressing needs through its four global businesses: Laboratory Management, National Security, Energy Technology, and Health and Life Sciences. It advances scientific discovery and application by conducting $6.2 billion in global R&D annually through contract research, laboratory management and technology commercialization. Headquartered in Columbus, Ohio, Battelle oversees 22,000 employees in more than 130 locations worldwide, including seven national laboratories which Battelle manages or co-manages for the U.S. Department of Energy and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, and one international nuclear laboratory in the United Kingdom.