Jefferson County Success Story
16513050 Bagaskoro Meyca Dwiyananda
Putra
16513086 Luminto
16513350 Kevin Ekaputra Yohar
16513356 Adytia
16513362 Fauzan Naufal Ramadhan
Jefferson County, Alabama was the first county in the nation to become
registered to the ISO-14001 standard. During the successful ISO-14001 audit,
the county's EMS was declared a "model program" and an example for
other public sector entities.
ISO 14001 is an environmental management
standard. It specifies a set of environmental management requirements for
environmental management systems. The purpose of this standard is to help all
types of organizations to protect the environment, to prevent pollution, and to
improve their environmental performance.
Introduction
Jefferson County received an EPA grant which offered assistance in developing
an EMS. Only 14 communities nationwide received these grants. The first
participants from Jefferson County included four divisions of General Services
(Crafts, Grounds, Maintenance, and the Print Shop) and Fleet Management. Since
then, it has grown to include Human Resources, the Central Laundry, Information
Technology, and the remaining areas in the General Services Department.
Collectively, the "fence line" of participating EMS departments
involves about 500 employees.
The General Services Department manages the public buildings of the county,
including custodial services, air conditioning and heating, waste disposal,
recycling, and similar tasks. Fleet Management manages the County's rolling
stock, including cars, trucks, and other vehicles. Environmental impacts
include energy consumption, resource recycling, air emissions, biodegradable materials
disposal, pest control, and purchase and disposal of hazardous materials. The
two departments produce such wastes as refrigerants, batteries, motor oil, and
medical waste.
The Central Laundry provides laundering services for linens, clothing and other
washable materials for County and municipal jail facilities; Cooper Green
Hospital, which is Jefferson County's indigent health care facility; and the
Jefferson County Health and Rehabilitation Center, which provides nursing home
care. Environmental impacts here include threats to the environment from
chemical spills and contact with blood borne pathogens in soiled laundry.
As the name suggests, Information Technology addresses all the electronic data
management, business applications, and other technical services. Some of their
environmental impacts include soil and water contamination, as well as negative
impacts on landfill space from disposal of paper, batteries, and printer/toner
cartridges.
The Human Resources Department handles County insurance claims, occupational
health matters, and a growing number of personnel activities. Environmental
impacts include contamination from mercury disposal and contact with blood
borne pathogens.
The Environmental Protection Division, which is under the Human Resources
umbrella, acts as the coordinator of the County's EMS program and has outreach,
education, and a small enforcement role in the issues of ground level ozone,
illegal dumping, mosquito abatement, and scrap tires. These impacts include
contamination for the soil, water, and air, as well as public and employee environmental
health and safety.
Planning and Implementation
Some key drivers for EMS implementation in Jefferson County were the widening
enthusiasm for the EMS concept among environmental professionals, the high
availability of government assistance programs to aid in EMS development, and
the ability to partner environmental management with existing health and safety
programs.
General Services and Fleet Management were selected over other County
departments because of the variety of potential environmental impacts of the
divisions and because of the enthusiastic support for EMS implementation from
the Department of General Services Director, the leadership at Fleet
Management, and the County Commission. Expectations of EMS implementation
included:
1. Financial
benefits, as insurers and bonding agencies could reward the adoption of an EMS
with better rates;
2. Use
of the EMS as a marketing and public relations tool;
3. Increased
compliance with environmental regulations; and
4. Regulatory
benefits.
The labor costs associated with the development of the
County's EMS program totalled $92,734. A total of 3,877 personnel hours were
used. The program underwent an independent review from external auditors and
became registered to the ISO-14001 standard in February, 2002.
Benefits
EMS implementation efforts have resulted in:
1. A
voluntary reduction in waste cardboard generation;
2. A
shift to soy-based inks at the Print Shop;
3. Other
improvements in conservation technologies;
4. A
reduction in garbage disposal costs resulting from a mixed paper recycling
program in several County facilities that captures about 20,000-30,000 lbs.
each month;
5. A
recycling/reuse program that captures other materials including antifreeze,
oil, fluorescent lamps and ballasts, paints and solvents, lead acid and other batteries,
and scrap metal;
6. Reduction
of approximately 28,000 lbs. in total solid waste production due to a
composting program being instituted in 2003;
7. Elimination
of the use of organophosphate pesticides; and
8. Spill
prevention and containment programs in various facilities.
It is estimated that these improvements will
yield an 8% reduction in water use and an 8-12% annual reduction in
electricity. The EMS has also led the County to adopt other sustainable
approaches to the delivery of government services.
"Many people hear 'environmental
management' and immediately think two things: bureaucracy and expense. But the
EMS effort for us yielded dozens of real world, long-term cost savings in areas
like reduced power and water use. Perhaps even more significant is the possible
impact on our bond ratings. Rating agencies recognized that, in taking time to
examine how we did our-day-to-day business, Jefferson County had created a
workplace that was less likely to generate injuries or serious environmental
accidents. Less risk means greater opportunity for return on an investment.
We're told the potential impact of our EMS, taken with other factors, is a
1/16th to 1/8th of a point improvement, which could mean millions of dollars of
taxpayer money saved each time we borrow money for capital projects. Now,
that's the kind of documented savings that makes elected leaders and the public
both very happy."
--Billy Morace, Director of General Services, Jefferson
County, Alabama
Lessons Learned
Jefferson County achieved early success by intentionally starting small and
including only enthusiastic participants. In the long term, the County is
working diligently towards its goal to include other departments, who will be
attracted by the financial and resource savings, the improved morale, and the
safer work environments an EMS has to offer.
Conclusions
Through implementation of the EMS, the County has plainly demonstrated its
commitment to obeying all laws and applicable guidelines relative to
environmental matters. In addition, the EMS has been an opportunity for the
County to hold itself to a higher standard, and to set the example for the
broader local community.
The County will maintain ongoing self-evaluations and goal setting to assure a
steady movement towards their commitment to continual improvement.
