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N A S SIG O N E L L A
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September 11, 2015
Vol. 32 No. 34
Enhanced recycling efforts in Marinai By mc2 ramon go NAS Sigonella Public Affairs Office
NAS SIGONELLA, Sicily – Wondering where some of the trash and recycling bins have gone in Marinai? Well, you won’t have to look far. Pizzarotti has moved some of the bins so they no longer take up parking spaces and have added additional trash stations throughout Marinai. The trash service stations have nearly doubled - from 23 trash or service stations to 41 - enhancing recycling efforts and helping to keep Marinai beautiful, clean, and environmental friendly.“The partnership between Public Works, Pizzarotti and Marinai Housing office is continuously thinking of ways to improve Marinai,” said Cmdr. Deanna Carpenter, NAS Sigonella’s public works officer. “We want to help our community be more ecologically smart by making it easier and more efficient to recycle.” Many community members will wonder how reducing the size of the bins will make it easier to recycle. However, if you walk around a few blocks, you will notice more service stations available throughout Marinai which makes the walk to the recycling bins much shorter than previously. There are now 41 service stations throughout Marinai, each with a complete set of recycling bins and a large non-recyclable container for trash. The four recycling bins are colored coded for easy identification and sorting - black for garbage, yellow for plastic, blue for cardboard and paper, brown for organic wastes, and green for glass and aluminum. Recycling will be collected six days a week from 6 a.m. through 3 p.m.. Garbage will also now be picked up twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays, instead of once a week. The community will be able to identify what recyclable material is currently being collected thanks to the bold label e.g. (PLASTIC), on each side of the truck. The truck will stop at all 41 service stations picking up one recyclable material at a time, e.g. plastics only, and then dropping it off to the waste water treatment facility. Once the first round is complete, the truck will venture out for a second trip for
A new collection truck will conduct multiple rounds daily in order to collect recyclables form 41 service stations around Marinai Housing in an effort to raise the percentage of recycling to 50% annually. The new recycling management system will be monitored for 45 days for an initial stage assessment of the program. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Ramon Go/Released)
the next recyclable material, e.g. paper and cardboard, to all the service stations, and so forth until the remaining two other recyclable materials are all picked up. Once the recyclables are compacted, they are delivered to various recycling centers throughout Catania. “The new recycling management system will be monitored in its initial stage for a 45-day assessment period,” said John Sanmarco, Sigonella Housing Service Center director. “This will help us identify which of the 41 service stations requires more attention than the rest. The goal is to reach the 65 percent average annual recycling rate in order to comply with Italian law.”
In 2012, the reports showed the recycling rate was at 35 percent, well below the required minimum. And in the first six months of 2015, the recycling rate was reported to be even lower than that of 2012 at 28 percent, a steady decline from the percentage dictated by Italian law. “A below average recycling report translates into steep fines for the U.S. government and consequently higher costs for trash services,” said Sanmarco. “The money we are using to fulfill our mission, is being redirected to penalties and trash collection service - this is not good!” A former U.S. government housing complex in
"RECYCLING" continued on Page 15
Sigonella-based Marine saves Senegalese man from drowning by nicole ybarra NAS Sigonella Public Affairs
NAS SIGONELLA, Sicily - On Aug. 28, 2015, a group of eight U.S.
Marines including Cpl. Matt Sprankle were having dinner on the pier near the beach in Dakar, Senegal. The Marines, part of the security
Cpl. Matt Sprankle (back), a Marine Corps Instructor of Water Survival (MCIWS), conducts a swim assessment with Compagnie de Fusilier Commandos (COFUMACO) Aug. 27, 2015, the day prior to the rescue. (Photo courtesy of Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Detachment A)
cooperation team consisting of 21 U.S. Marines, Sailors and Coast Guardsmen, were conducting partner-nation training with the Senegalese military. At approximately 8:00 p.m., the Marines, restaurant patrons, and local nationals heard a man who was stuck in a strong current screaming for help as he held onto a buoy approximately 150 meters from shore. The man struggled to keep his head above water as the strong rising tide pulled him under. The Marines, temporarily assigned to Special Purpose Marine AirGround Task Force Crisis Response – Africa Detachment A from NAS Sigonella, began preparing to enter the water. During this time, another onlooker entered the water and swam out to assist the distressed swimmer. However, when the man reached the swimmer, the swimmer lunged at him, pushing him under the water and preventing
a successful rescue. Fatigued, the man was forced to return to shore. After witnessing the failed rescue, Sprankle decided to act. Without regard to his own personal safety, Sprankle grabbed a decorative ring buoy - a non-certified flotation device - from the restaurant wall, jumped feet first from the pier into the unknown water below, then swam approximately 50 meters into the strong rip current toward the distressed swimmer. Upon reaching the man, he directed the swimmer to grab onto the flotation device. Sprankle attempted to pull the man back to shore, but the strong rip current dragged them further out. After an unsuccessful attempt to swim parallel to shore, he yelled to his fellow Marines to start looking for another flotation device or a boat. Meanwhile, he continued swimming parallel to the shoreline for an additional 15 minutes when
"DROWNING" continued on Page 5