2014 Elizabeth River Stars

SALUTING THE FINEST ENVIRONMENTAL STEWARDS ON THE ELIZABETH

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SPONSORS media

platinum ($5,000)

Business partners ‘Doin’ right by the river’ You too can be a star

gold ($2,500)

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silver ($1,000) • Accurate Marine Environmental • Bay Environmental • Enviva • General Dynamics NASSCO-Norfolk • Hess Corp.

• Host Terminals, Inc. • HRSD’s Environmental Improvement Fund • Intracoastal Marine, Inc. • Kinder Morgan/Elizabeth River Terminals • Maersk Line, Ltd.

• McLean Contracting Co. • MHI Ship Repair & Services • Perdue Agribusiness Chesapeake • Vane Brothers Co.

bronze ($500) • Lyon Shipyard • Norfolk Redevelopment and Housing Authority

• Norfolk Tug Co. • Tidewater Global, LLC • TransMontaigne • Vandeventer Black, LLC

• Volvo Penta of the Americas • Vulcan Materials Co.

The River Stars program made possible by Chesapeake Bay Innovative Nutrient & Sediment Reduction Grant, National Fish & Wildlife Foundation; and members & donors of Elizabeth River Project

Congratulations, River Stars!

The Elizabeth River Project launched River Stars for business partners in 1997. Since then, River Stars have become the finest environmental stewards on the Elizabeth.

• Pollution reduced: 311 million pounds.

• Wildlife habitat restored, conserved: 1,361 acres.

• Other materials reduced, recycled or reused: more than a billion pounds.

n excavator operator took his grandson to Money Point on the Elizabeth River. The reason for the trip lies at the heart of what it means to be a River Star Business.

“Proud of his work, (he) wanted to be remembered by his grandson as a restorer of the natural environment,” wrote the authors of a new book.

“The Case for Grassroots Collaboration” (2013) documents the powerful results that can be achieved when industries voluntarily join together for environmental aims.

I see this power every day. When I visited a mega new storm water project at Norfolk Southern last week, an assistant division manager there, Ray Jones, similarly told me that in his long career with the company, nothing has made him prouder than the project to reuse rain and reduce runoff to the river.

There are so many great reasons for becoming a River Star Business, from saving money by reducing waste to getting free help from peers and advisers. For me, though, there’s one that’s good for the soul. The local professors who wrote the book (Morris, Gibson, Leavitt, Jones; Lexington Books) captured it. I also heard about it last year on public radio. The show culled through studies of what makes people happy. It’s not money, or things, it turns out. It’s belonging to a group of people working toward a common goal.

Thank you to the 109 River Star Business facilities who together have reduced pollution to the Elizabeth River by 311 million pounds since the Elizabeth River Project began the program in 1997. On Jan. 23, we’ll celebrate your stellar results at our annual River Star Businesses Recognition Luncheon, held this year at the Founders Inn and Spa. At Elizabeth River Project, our goal is to make environmental stewardship the business standard on the Elizabeth. River Star participation is most successful where it can make the most difference – with sites presenting large opportunities to reduce toxic pollution or restore and conserve wildlife habitat. Explore these pages and enjoy the ingenuity of this year’s stars.

“Visible, tangible, flying, swimming, recordable results,” Phil Stedfast, operations manager for Kinder Morgan Elizabeth River Terminals, told last year’s banquet when his facility made our Hall of Fame.

Now that’s what makes me happy.

– Pam Boatwright, River Star Businesses Program Manager River Star Business recognition is awarded once a year by peer review of documented results. River Stars receive free guidance to identify and carry out projects. Find out if your company is right for River Stars.

Contact Pam Boatwright at 399-7487 or pboatwright@elizabethriver.org.

THE EVENT

WHAT’S INSIDE

Annual River Star Recognition Luncheon When Thursday, January 23, 11:30 to 2:00 p.m.

Where The Founders Inn & Spa Cost $25 per person Register at www.elizabethriver.org or 399-7487

River Star Businesses 2014 Best of the Best – Model Level Well-Rounded – Achievement level Start-up - Commitment Level Sustained Distinguished Performance Recertifying Inside Business Hall of Fame

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This year’s best of the best... These River Star facilities lead the community in environmental stewardship through exceptional results in pollution prevention and wildlife habitat enhancement – and mentor others.

Hess Corp. – Chesapeake

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HERE’S JUST ONE HESS terminal in all the world that has trees. In Chesapeake, Hess planted 1,200 poplars to take up pollution in their roots – just part of a large-scale, voluntary effort to prevent pollution that’s earned Hess our three stars.

More impressive is a massive steel wall that the fuel terminal installed along all 1,400 linear feet of its shore. The wall drops as much as 40 feet into the ground. Elizabeth River Project recommended the wall to make sure historic contamination – from prior to Hess’ purchase of the site – has no chance of recontaminating a large partnership cleanup offshore.

“Whatever the partnership needed, they’ve done, no matter how large,” says Marjorie Mayfield Jackson, executive director of the Elizabeth River Project.

Hess is not your normal River Star Business. It inherited a legacy of pollution from a defunct wood treatment facility. What makes Hess shine in the program, though, is a transferable commitment to go above and beyond regulatory requirements to show an environmental ethic throughout operations.

A windmill draws raw creosote out of the ground to restore clean soils. Converted boiler systems have reduced air emissions. And while the terminal was recently purchased by Buckeye Partners of Houston, Hess will remain a presence to ensure the long-term success of its cleanup initiatives.

Hess installed a massive steel wall to protect the river from inherited contamination. The Chesapeake terminal is recognized for exemplary voluntary cleanup efforts.

Maersk Line Ltd.

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AERSK LINE LTD., headquartered in Norfolk, has emerged as a global leader for green fleets.

All 56 ships in its cargo fleet are super-certified by third parties for meeting environmental standards. In fact, Maersk is the first company to be certified for a new fuel efficiency standard of the American Bureau of Shipping (ISO 50001).

Having already reached its 2020 goal of reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 25 percent, Maersk Line is now shooting for 40 percent by 2020. Maersk Line was the first participant in Virginia Port Authority’s “Go Vessel” program to switch to low-sulfur fuel while at berth on the Elizabeth.

“They’ve had zero spills for two years in a row – that’s incredible for the risks,” says Pam Boatwright, River Star Businesses Program manager.

A company that sends cargo vessels around the world – yes, the same fleet made famous in “Captain Phillips” – Maersk Line had little opportunity at its Norfolk high-rise to meet River Star Business expectations for wildlife habitat. So company volunteers have been helping restore habitat at other sites, including spending the last five years removing invasive species in Elizabeth River Project’s Paradise Creek Nature Park in Portsmouth.

Maersk Line is mega-certified in environmental management. To restore wildlife habitat, fleet volunteers remove invasive vines at Paradise Creek Nature Park.

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Achievement Level River Stars document significant results in both pollution prevention and wildlife habitat enhancement.

Chesapeake has opened 230 acres as Deep Creek Park, conserving non-tidal wetlands and forest. The city works to connect its parks, including this one, creating contiguous trails and wildlife habitat.

A Neighborhood Watch group turned into keepers of an organic community garden. South Norfolk Harvest Share gives away as much as seven bags of vegetables a week.

The petroleum movement company is proactive in double-hulling 100 percent of its fleet for pollution prevention. The fleet also grows oysters for a reef on Paradise Creek.

City of Chesapeake Parks & Recreation

South Norfolk Neighborhood Watch Group

Vane Line Bunkering

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HE CITY OF CHESAPEAKE last year opened a 230-acre new park, Deep Creek Park, conserving 40 acres of woodlands and non-tidal wetlands near the Great Dismal Swamp – the Elizabeth River’s only source of freshwater.

Chesapeake’s Department of Parks & Recreation is also commended for efforts to create a long system of trails that connect to one another, achieving contiguous habitat and improved public access to nature. Latest efforts include northern and southern extensions of the Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, with the northern effort under way now to connect to Deep Creek Park.

Meeting pollution prevention expectations, the department has installed an ultra-urban stormwater treatment device – “Vortech” – to treat runoff from the parking lot at Dismal Swamp Canal Trail, and treats runoff from the rest of the trail with stormwater swales. Recycled asphalt and concrete are used in trails.

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EIGHBORS IN SOUTH NORFOLK are restoring natural habitat in a ravine on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth, while creating an organic community garden of vegetables and pollinator flowers.

Known as “South Norfolk Harvest Share,” the group grew out of a neighborhood watch effort. Where a house had been torn down, the neighbors came together to reuse lumber from the house for raised beds. They donate an average of seven bags of produce a week, in season, to those in need. A bee box hosts the native mason bee, a gentle, hard-working superbee – one bee pollinates as many plants as 100 non-native honey bees.

To improve habitat in the ravine, the group worked with the Chesapeake Sheriff’s inmate crew to remove 10,000 pounds of debris and invasive vines, and plans to plant native grasses and shrubs.

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T WOULD BE MIGHTY HARD to envision an oil spill occurring when Vane Line Bunkering is transporting petroleum with its fleet of fuel barges and tugs.

The reason: Vane Line, with a port on Paradise Creek in Portsmouth, has doublehulled 100 percent of its fleet, acting three years ahead of a federal requirement.

Such proactive pollution prevention is evident when you visit the Vane port, says Pam Boatwright, River Star Businesses program manager. “Every tug is, like, shimmering with tidiness and cleanliness.”

Vane grows oysters each year for restoration, taking the lead to transport oysters grown by area River Star Businesses by boat for placement on Elizabeth River Project’s reef in Portsmouth. The project invovled 16,000 oysters this year. The company created a .10 acre no-mow zone in its 18 acres of natural area on the river shore.

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Commitment Level River Stars documented significant results in either pollution prevention or wildlife habitat enhancement.

Chesapeake Central Fleet Management

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HE MEASURABLE RESULTS are a wow for a department that has the city of Chesapeake using 40 hybrid vehicles and converting all its garbage trucks to compressed natural gas.

Converting one diesel garbage truck to natural gas is equivalent to removing 225 cars from the road.

Over the last two years, Chesapeake’s Central Fleet Management has reduced air emissions by 217,503 pounds through energy efficiency in warehouses. A noidle policy helps reduce air emissions too. It’s all part of a comprehensive and aggressive pollution prevention plan.

Chesapeake Fleet Management’s energy efficiency efforts have reduced air emissions by 217,503 pounds.

Eastern Virginia Medical School

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ASTERN VIRGINIA Medical School, with a large campus near the main stem of the Elizabeth River, has entered the River Star program with the achievement of green building certification for its education and research building, Harry T. Lester Hall.

The four-story building was awarded silver-level certification in April 2012 by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. Green elements include lowflow plumbing, optimal use of natural lighting, sun shades to reduce heat gain and high levels of insulation.

The Harry T. Lester Hall at Eastern Virginia Medical School has earned silver certification with Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design.

Ecocycling

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IKING HELPS the river more than you might think. Air pollution is actually the third leading source of excess nitrogen in the Elizabeth and Chesapeake Bay. So kudos to Ecocycling, a “can-do” little Norfolk nonprofit that is everywhere these days, promoting biking and other forms of sustainable living.

In its most ambitious effort, Ecocycling is converting a former gas station into a hub – it’s called HUB – for sustainable living education. A community garden there pioneers “soil solarizing” to eliminate weeds, pests and disease. You moisten the soil and cover the area with clear plastic to “cook” the problems.

Ecocycling is everywhere in Hampton Roads these days, promoting a sustainable lifestyle.

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Commitment Level River Stars documented significant results in either pollution prevention or wildlife habitat enhancement.

Smartmouth Brewery

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NEW MICRO-BREWERY in Norfolk is getting smart about beer (Smartmouth Brewery just won a national medal for taste) and smart about the environment.

“It’s obvious that the environment is at the core of almost every decision,” says Pam Boatwright, River Star Businesses program manager. A farmer collects spent grain to feed to livestock.

Steam condensate is recovered from the boiler and reused. And the building itself is energy-efficient with flooring chosen to be petroleum-free.

Porter Hardy, president of Smartmouth Brewery, helps make the facility a success for green practices as well as awardwinning beer. Spent grains are fed to livestock.

Top Guard Security

T Volunteers including the resident admiral planted the shoreline of the naval facility with 845 native grasses and shrubs.

Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Lafayette River Annex

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N 20 ACRES along the Lafayette branch of the Elizabeth, the Navy provides engineering support to its facilities around the world. And now the U.S. Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads, Lafayette River Annex, is supporting the revival of the Lafayette.

The Navy partnered with Elizabeth River Project in November to plant 500 linear feet of shore, including the admiral’s house, with 845 native grasses and shrubs to enhance a “vegetated buffer” for habitat and pollution prevention. Rear Adm. Doug Morton promptly signed up as a River Star Home.

HE LARGEST PRIVATE security firm in Hampton Roads provides security guards for a lot of River Star businesses. So fellow River Stars will be glad to learn that Top Guard Security puts a high priority on environmental-sensitivity training, so that its 600 employees can help clients be on the lookout for both safety and environmental risks.

In fact, every attendee at this year’s River Star Businesses Annual Recognition Luncheon will receive a calendar, titled “Pelican Points,” with 30 days of reminders in the form of environmental tips, meant to be used in the workplace to keep the river in mind.

Top Guard Security’s community involvement efforts include creating an Elizabeth River Project Team with LEAD Hampton Roads, a leadership program of the Chamber of Commerce.

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Norfolk District

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HE REGIONAL COMMAND for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is on the Elizabeth River, where the Army is helping bring back native oysters and healthy wetlands.

The corps’ Norfolk District in 2012 worked with Seatack Elementary School and other partners to build a 623-square-foot oyster reef next to corps offices. The Army designed and constructed the reef and a breakwater.

The students are growing 14,000 oysters a year for the corps to transfer to the reef. Meanwhile, the corps has created two wetland restorations on the Elizabeth, at Old Dominion University and Scuffletown Creek.

The Norfolk District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers built an oyster reef next to its headquarters on the Elizabeth River.

School children grow oysters to seed it.

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S U S TA I N E D D I S T I N G U I S H E D P E R F O R M A N C E Sustained Distinguished Performance is awarded when a River Star completes a significant new initiative with no change in recognition level. The stars reflect their level in the program.

*** BAE SYSTEMS NORFOLK SHIP REPAIR – BAE in 2013 be-

* DOODY CALLS HAMPTON ROADS – This pet waste remov-

came the first shipyard in Virginia to reach Extraordinary Environmental Enterprise (E4) status with Virginia Department of Environmental Quality. BAE also has earned ISO 14001 status (international certification for environmental management systems). New pollution prevention savings include $21,700 saved through more efficient, LED lighting, and $16,000 avoided in disposal costs through paint waste reduction.

al service donates a lot of extra effort to help restore the Elizabeth. Doody Calls maintains 20 pet waste stations at no cost in partnership with Elizabeth River Project. Since 2011, citizens have made use of more than 67,000 bags from the pet stations – that’s a lot of waste not going in the river.

** CHESAPEAKE PUBLIC WORKS – A new storm wa-

ter project in South Norfolk will treat runoff from 158 acres (Phase 1 completed). The robust design includes wetlands to improve water quality, reduce flooding and enhance habitat. ** CHRIST & ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL CHURCH – A Car-

ing for Creation Committee of the church is making progress with restoring the “Hague,” an adjacent finger of the Elizabeth.

The committee tests the Hague for water quality, maintains new pet waste stations along the Hague and agreed to maintain a street-scape of new trees near the Hague. As well, the committee recruited 20 new River Star Homes at an outreach event.

*** GENERAL DYNAMICS NASSCO-EARL – The Ports-

mouth shipyard is exemplary in its conscientious oyster growing, even inventing a way to get more water flow into the oyster floats. As well, the shipyard is implementing a comprehensive new environmental, health and safety management system, including updating waste management procedures for disposal and recycling of solid, hazardous and universal waste. ** GENERAL DYNAMICS NASSCO-NORFOLK – This

shipyard launched a gung-ho Earth Day event, with education and a picnic, attracting 173 volunteers from the Berkley community to pick up 2,380 pounds of trash. The shipyard is implementing an environmental, health and safety management system with a core message: Prevent Injuries, Obey Rules, Reduce Waste and Track Im-

provement (PORT). The yard is phasing in waterless urinals. *** HERMITAGE MUSEUM & GARDENS – New habitat en-

hancement efforts include a new “sunken” garden with mostly native plants, 25 additional oyster reef balls ( concrete structures to provide oyster habitat and reduce erosion), and a new wetland planting to discourage geese. *** HRSD – The wastewater au-

thority in 2013 expanded its free pump-out of boater sewage to reach every marina in Norfolk during the summer and fall. The result: The team pumped out more gallons of boater sewage, and made more contacts, than any team in the 16 years of the program’s existence (9,257 contacts, 625 pump-outs and 13,471 gallons of sewage). HRSD plans to expand the effort year-round in Norfolk in 2014 (call 460-4253), an important part of a plan to restore the Lafayette branch of the Elizabeth. The authority also replaced three miles of aging sewer pipes along the Lafayette. *** LAFAYETTE WETLANDS PARTNERSHIP – This nonprofit

completed the second phase of a wetland restoration in the Riverview neighborhood on the Lafayette, adding 3,000 square feet of native grasses where rubble and invasive species once dominated,

and helped a River Star Home pioneer management of invasive phragmites, or common reed. * MARINE OIL SERVICE –

The marine transporter of oils sets a high bar for storm water management – each year adding a new method of runoff control. Most recently, Marine Oil installed a filter cloth barrier to capture sediment before it reaches an inlet, adding to prior filtration that already featured hay bales and sediment filter inserts to protect the river. *** NAVAL STATION NORFOLK – The Navy completed Virginia’s

largest solar project in 2012, a 10-acre field of more than 8,000 photovoltaic panels that now help run station operations, at a cost of $21 million. This and other conservation measures resulted in an astounding 28 million pounds of greenhouse gases reduced by the naval station from 2011 to 2012. ** NORFOLK ENVIRONMENTAL STORMWATER MANAGEMENT – The city is installing 30

new pet waste stations to reduce the risk of harmful bacteria reaching the river. Restoration efforts include a stream bank improvement on Peterson Avenue that has created a more natural floodplain. This department » CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

RECERTIFYING 2014 These River Stars “recertified” achievements documented three years ago by peer review. The stars reflect their level in the program. * CHESAPEAKE ENVIRONMENTAL IMPROVEMENT COUNCIL * THE FOUNDERS INN & SPA

** MARINE HYDRAULICS INTERNATIONAL * NORFOLK YACHT & COUNTRY CLUB

* TRANSMONTAIGNE PRODUCT SERVICES, NORFOLK COMPLEX * WATERSIDE AND NAUTICUS MARINAS

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I N S I D E B U S I N E S S | R I V E R S TA R H A L L O F F A M E The Inside Business River Star Hall of Fame recognizes one business each year that best exemplifies the spirit of the River Star business program. Documented results can be cumulative over multiple years.

Old Dominion University, 2014’s Brightest Star

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am Boatwright was coordinating a shoreline restoration at another site when the nursery delivered three “crazy big” trees – way too big for volunteers to handle. Manager of the River Star Businesses program, she called Old Dominion University.

“I’m on my way home. I’ll turn right around and meet the truck,” she recalls hearing, with relief, from Chad Peevy, ODU’s grounds manager. In short order, he had his heavy equipment installing the trees at the university, named a Tree Campus USA in 2013.

That’s just an example of how bought-in ODU has become since joining River Star Businesses in 2004.

There’s now hardly a green practice that can’t be found on the campus, from rain gardens, to wetland restorations, building efficiencies, un-

derground cisterns, green roofs and a weeklong Earth Day celebration, Blue Goes Green Week.

“They don’t say, ‘Why?’ They say, ‘Why not?’” notes Boatwright. The cando approach to comprehensive environmental stewardship makes Old Dominion University this year’s inductee for the Inside Business River Star Hall of Fame. A peer review committee picks one facility each year that best exemplifies the spirit of the River Star business program.

Big Blue’s latest green project is a rain garden, completed in partnership with Elizabeth River Project, at the new Diehn Fine and Performing Arts Center. The site formerly had standing water after a rain. “Now it’s gorgeous, and the flooding problem is fixed,” says Boatwright.

An electric truck hauls water from a rain barrel to irrigate plants – an example of “can do” environmental efforts throughout the campus at Old Dominion University.

Inside Business River Star Hall of Fame 2011 Inaugural Winner – BAE Systems Norfolk Ship Repair 2012 Winner – Virginia Port Authority

2013 Winner – Kinder Morgan/ Elizabeth River Terminals 2014 Winner – Old Dominion University

S U S TA I N E D D I S T I N G U I S H E D P E R F O R M A N C E 2 0 14 | C O N T I N U E D continues to be the lead partner with Elizabeth River Project for Riverfest on the Lafayette – an educational festival that drew 3,000 attendees in 2013. *** NORFOLK NAVAL SHIPYARD – The nation’s oldest na-

val shipyard, on the Southern Branch of the Elizabeth, now features a new electroplating shop that uses the latest technology to eliminate cyanide compounds.

Transferable technology: The yard has begun using “paint dust covers,” similar to shower caps on paint cans and solvents, to reduce air emissions while a painting project is under way. *** NORFOLK PLANNING & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT – The city department complet-

ed the first phase of a comprehensive shoreline restoration on the Lafayette River’s Colley Bay, adding 34,000 square feet of new wetland area and 25 native trees.

Volunteers planted more than 8,000 native wetland grasses. *** NORFOLK SOUTHERN LAMBERTS POINT – The rail

giant now uses rain for coal dust suppression, thanks to an inno-

vative, multimillion dollar upgrade to its Lamberts Point stormwater facility. Rain is pumped to a chamber that swirls out coal and other particles, then filtered through carbon and treated with ultraviolet light to neutralize microorganisms. The runoff reuse reduces city water consumption by more than a million gallons a month, while reducing stormwater discharge to the river on a mega scale. *** NRHA’S GRANDY VILLAGE AND LEARNING CENTER –

The education center hosted the 2013 Hampton Roads Solar Tour, improved the habitat of its Eastern Branch shore by managing 125,000 square feet of invasive common reed, planted 210 native shrubs for shoreline stabilization and is partnering with Elizabeth River Project’s Learning Barge to educate every 4thgrader in Chesapeake. *** OLD DOMINION UNIVERSITY – Big Blue construct-

ed a rain garden to treat 17,822 square feet of area and reduce flooding. A new Virginia Garden features native plants and

the campus added 60 trees in 2013. These and prior efforts earned ODU a Tree Campus USA designation. ** PERDUE AGRIBUSINESS CHESAPEAKE PLANT – The grain exporter has com-

pleted the final phase of a 15,000-square-foot shoreline planting with native plants to filter rain and discourage resident geese. A new storm water pond is enhanced with a forebay, or a basin where storm water enters the pond to trap and settle out sediment and pollutants. *** TIDEWATER COMMUNITY COLLEGE - CHESAPEAKE –

The campus just launched a solar laboratory to give students hands-on training for the solar energy field. The energy generated by the solar array can be viewed in the building lobby and online and also includes air emissions offset and gallons of fuel saved. The college has added a 1.75-acre no-mow zone. *** U.S. COAST GUARD - BASE PORTSMOUTH – This support

base for the Fifth District is converting a lay-down area to a re-

stored vegetated buffer totaling nearly a quarter of an acre. The planted area complements an existing naturalized shoreline. The base has finished switching all its street lights to LED and has increased recycling. *** VIRGINIA PORT AUTHORITY – The “Green Port of the

East Coast” launched a new carbon calculator to allow port users to assess the carbon dioxide emissions and fuel costs/savings associated with moving cargo. The port won the Governor’s Environmental Excellence Gold award for its sustainability efforts. A pilot effort tests chicken feathers as super-absorbent and biodegradable spill pads, used on truck scales. *** WHEELABRATOR PORTSMOUTH – Recent pollution up-

grades have paid off, reducing carbon monoxide emissions by more than a million pounds in 2013 alone at the area’s waste-toenergy plant. The plant continues to upgrade its odor controls.

A new portable bulk shredder reduces oversized waste ending up in regional landfills.