Environmental Management

By Michael Patton

When most people think of the word “environmental” they think of the natural world and the conditions in which a person, an animal or a plant lives. Similarly, they usually think the word “management” is the human process of dealing with or controlling things. How then can you define environmental management for an urban area? Are not the roles for civilization and nature in conflict? Tulsa reveals the solution each day with the work of hundreds of people in government supplemented by thousands of volunteers and nonprofits working to help control our conditions that benefit humans, animals and plants alike. To begin, Tulsa has been blessed with quality and abundant water, soil that can adapt to grow many crops, and a consistent wind during most of the summer to cleanse our air. Our favorable climate shows an annual average high temperature of 72 degrees with 51 degrees as an average low temperature and an average rainfall of 41 inches, according to the National Weather Service. It adds to that a strong commitment from past leadership to invest in solutions before they become big problems and to listen to citizenry and follow their direction.

2021 saw Tulsa invest and improve not only our green space, but found new ways to share nature with people and the built environment. Tulsans want to co-exist with nature and will fight to protect and conserve it. Sometimes these fights are over utility rates to pay for upgrades; sometimes they are about developing park land, and sometimes they are simply finding ways to include partners to supplement the public dollars. The key is always to have proper leadership, planning and community support. Metropolitan areas across the nation face challenges in delivering clean and abundant water to customers. Cities struggle to provide enough and often require citizen involvement to lower demand. Often there are upstream challenges or decaying infrastructure that might impact water quality. Not Tulsa in 2021. Read more about Tulsa’s water quality on p. 34. Tulsa does have an abundance of parks. The City of Tulsa operates 135 parks and trails, Tulsa County operates 11 parks, Tulsa River Parks

Mr. Murph Is Back In 2022

Mr. Murph is coming back bigger and better than ever in 2022! A devastating fire caused by a lithium-ion battery in April 2021 destroyed Oklahoma’s most advanced materials recovery facility (MRF) in Green Country. But Mr. Murph 2.0 is set to come back with an entirely new system.

Mr. Murph 2.0 will process more recyclables by 33 percent (53,000 lbs. per hour), increase targeted performance and use the latest in optical and robotic sorting.

Mr. Murph is the only mixed recyclables processing facility within a 100-mile radius of Tulsa. With 95 percent of recyclables processed being sold to Oklahoma manufacturers, they have felt the void of the millions of pounds of recyclables used to produce their products while rebuilding of Mr. Murph takes place.

American Waste Control has once again teamed up with Bulk Handling Systems (BHS), based in Eugene, Ore., to make Tulsa’s latest MRF. The enhanced design includes BHS Tri-Disc screens, a metering bin, magnet, aluminum separator,

Robert Pickens, Vice President of Recycling for American Waste Control, standing in front of Tulsa’s only materials recovery facility, Mr. Murph, in North Tulsa.

National Recovery Technology (NRT) optical and Max-AI artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

Max-AI robotic sorters identify and remove nonrecyclable items from key sort positions on the system. Nine robots all work alongside AWC staff to ensure recyclables meet the specifications of end users. Tours at Mr. Murph will return in the spring of 2022. To schedule a tour or learn more about Mr. Murph, visit FeedMrMurph.com.

1420 W. 35th St. | 918-446-0023

americanwastecontrol.com

has 26 miles of trails, and the privately funded Gathering Place was named USA Today’s Best City Park in 2021. Thirty acres of land in a highly developed retail area in south Tulsa was donated from the nonprofit Land Legacy and the Chapman Family Foundation for a new park. Look for plans and meetings to receive public input about what kind of park they want to start soon. Air quality was also in the news in Tulsa in 2021. The ozone levels have become more political in America when the Environmental Protection Agency lowered acceptable levels to 70 parts per billion. This change affects marginal cities like Tulsa whose levels are so close to the standard. For many cities in our region it doesn’t matter. Dallas, Houston, Denver and St. Louis are already on the dirty air list, but Tulsa has managed to stay off the list for the past 35 years. In 2021, Tulsa monitors’ three-year averages were all between 62 parts and 64 parts per billion. Tulsans always step up. People get involved and the weather cooperated again in 2021. While there were three days in mid-June with exceedances, each monitor ended the season with a better and lower ozone level. Tulsa has the best voluntary air quality in the country and every citizen is the difference.

Tulsans resumed curbside recycling in early 2022 after Tulsa Recycle and Transfer installed a new system — Mr. Murph 2.0 — after contamination from a lithium-ion battery caused a fire there in April 2021. The City is focused on its “Recycle This, Not That” educational campaign and more information is available at tulsarecycles.com. An exciting development in Tulsa in the past year was the release of the master plan for Turkey Mountain, approximately 650 acres of urban wilderness that serves mountain bikers, hikers and recreationalists. The sheer numbers of users needed to be addressed. The Turkey Mountain Master Plan involved hundreds of hours of meetings and received feedback from hundreds of users and interested parties. The goals were to restore nature; maximize access; enhance trails, and to make everything integrated with continuing programs. The plan was well received. Phase one calls for increasing access points to trails, additional parking areas, trails and ponds restoration, a new bridge, and even closely watched prescribed burns.