Everyday is Earth Day Published April 22, 2008 By Kristin Nester Environmental Compliance Chief FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. - -- Earth Day 2008 will be celebrated around the world, but while Team Fairchild has some activities planned in conjunction with our base youth, the real key is that every day is Earth day. It is often only in preparation for an Environmental Compliance Assessment and Management Program audit or a local, state, or federal regulatory inspection that we take the time to truly scrutinize our processes and choices. However, while an ECAMP occurs once a year and regulatory inspections occur only every one to three years, it is the choices that we make every day that determine our successes during these inspections and our ability to minimize our impact to the environment. The Washington State Department of Ecology hazardous waste compliance inspector recently conducted a no-notice inspection of one operation on the base based upon a whistleblower complaint. While an inspector is not able to completely assess a working operation during such a snap shot in time, what they will focus on is the standard operating procedures and recordkeeping which is a good indication of how daily processes occur. In this instance, the shop being inspected had an outstanding history of records to show the inspector, spotless housekeeping, and solid processes in-place to manage their waste. Thus, though it was a grueling inspection with many pointed questions, all the inspector's initial concerns were satisfactorily addressed. SOPs, training and maintenance records, accumulation logs, and compliance with base instructions and plans must be a part of our daily processes. We are all accountable not only to our leadership, but also our peers, co-workers, families and community to ensure we are minimizing any impacts to our health and the environment. You never know who is watching you and whose health you could be impacting, including your own. As you enter the fitness center, headquarters, medical clinic or child facility today, take a moment to look at the Earth Day posters created by our young people. The 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron environmental flight and Team Fairchild's Youth Center partnered on a poster contest with the theme, "What is one thing you can do to help the Earth?" As you would expect, our future generation has many wonderful ideas on how to make a positive impact, and everyday they are watching their role models.