An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

ARTICLE SEARCH

Fairchild's trash helps fuel up to 13,000 Spokane homes a day

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Sam Fogleman
  • 92nd Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
FAIRCHILD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  Every Air Force base is, in essence, its own city. Every city and/or municipality needs to address the issue of its own refuse in a sanitary fashion as a responsibility to its citizenry. The obligation at Fairchild Air Force Base is no different.

Fairchild is part of the Spokane County Solid Waste program and works with Spokane County and the City of Spokane for solid waste disposal.

Most of the base's waste is taken by a contracted company to Spokane County's main disposal facility, where the Waste to Energy facility is operated by the City of Spokane. The facility burns trash 24 hours a day, enabling Fairchild to help the Air Force meet the goal to divert as much solid waste from landfills as possible. According to KCity of Spokane Solid Waste Disposal education coordinator, the facility has two incinerators that can burn up to 800 tons of trash a day, heating a closed-loop steam generator that powers a turbine creating enough energy each day to power as many as 13,000 homes.

Oversight of the base's trash is the responsibility of the 92nd Civil Engineer Squadron. Within that squadron, responsibilities are divided further based on the nature of the materials being disposed of from base.

"Our office takes care of contracts," said Staff Sgt. Anne Bailey, 92nd CES service contracts contracting officer representative. "We are liaisons between customers and contractors."

There are more than 100 dumpsters on base, giving each workplace a dumpster for its garbage. There are an additional four dumpsters at the Clear Lake Recreation Area. That waste is taken by the contractor to the Waste to Energy facility.

Different roll-off construction dumpsters that facilitate removal of materials from certain work sites go to a landfill in Medical Lake, Washington, which accepts only certain segregated recyclable materials (such as wood, metal, concrete and asphalt), certain wood products, stumps, inert materials, construction and demolition debris, asbestos, tires and other special wastes. Typical household trash and yard debris are not accepted there.

It is imperative for the proper functioning of Fairchild AFB recycling and waste management entities that waste be separated properly. 

"We've seen a fully-made bed in one of the base dumpsters," said Diane Wulf, 92nd CES pollution prevention program environmental engineer. "Those kinds of objects need to go to the landfill."

When materials are separated improperly or are deposited in the incorrect receptacle for their original purpose, it poses a waste of manpower and financial resources. Also, time becomes an obstacle.

Fairchild's recycling program includes a contract operated recycling center. Other entities on base that recycle a variety of products include the Army and Air Force Exchange Services, the base commissary and Defense Logistics Agency Disposition Services (for recycling scrap metal and reutilizing equipment).

For questions related to contractors, call 92nd CES service contracts at (509) 247-5562.

For questions related to the recycling center, call (509) 247-2885.

For locations on properly segregated materials' disposal or how to separate them, visit Spokane County's website at http://www.spokanecounty.org/utilities/solidwaste.