For more information, please contact

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

Seattle — On October 23 – 24, 2012, the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center is hosting their annual Regional Roundtable at the Clearwater Resort in Suquamish, Wash.

This year’s Roundtable will convene for two days with representatives from the BlueGreen Alliance, Puget Sound Partnership, Berkeley Center for Green Chemistry, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), Washington Department of Ecology, Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, and Columbia River Inter-Tribal Fish Commission presenting on the EPA’s E3 intiative, green chemistry, and chemicals of concern to Puget Sound and the Columbia River.

Joining in the Roundtable this year is keynote speaker Charlotte Brody of the BlueGreen Alliance, a national strategic partnership between labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy As their Associate Director for Health Initiatives, Brody’s keynote, “Taking Pollution Out of Production,” will explain why this is a priority and how to increase jobs while working toward this goal.  

“I’m so excited,” said Brody, “to come talk with this group of pollution prevention professionals about how we can work together to build the pillars of a new economy making products that are safe for the workers who make them, safe for the people who use them, and safe for the environment as well.” 

Additionally, Anthony Wright, Executive Director of the Puget Sound Partnership, is providing closing remarks on Day Two.

For more information about this event, please visit http://pprc.org/index.php/2012/networking/networking-roundtable/2012-regional-roundtable/.

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The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) is the leading regional nonprofit that provides practical, on-the-ground technical assistance to businesses, public agencies, and nonprofits that seek to conserve resources and improve economic performance. PPRC’s projects include lean and green for industry, various environmental trainings in the form of webinars, environmentally preferable purchasing, green business certifications, and the Spray Technique Applied Research (STAR) training for painters. PPRC also provides research that includes development of best management practices, life-cycle analysis, toxics- and greenhouse gas (GHG)-footprinting, and a free research program for a specific environmental issue or question.

For more information, please contact

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

The Gresham Firestone Complete Auto Care was certified as an “EcoBiz” or Ecological Business on June 14, 2012. This is the first Oregon branch to become certified. District Manager, Chris Mayton and Store Manager Jay Schwartz worked with Justin Dauphinaise from Stantech Consulting, Inc. and Debra Taevs from the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center to prepare for the certification.

This certification is an Oregon validation of a larger corporate policy of adopting green practices worldwide.

Some of the clean green practices they’ve adopted include phasing out solvent based parts washers in favor of water based washers and non-toxic cleaning solution, switching from lead to steel wheel weights, adopting energy efficient lighting with automatic time-out, offering re-refined oil, coolant and Freon, extensive recycling as well as purchasing products made from recycled content.

The City of Gresham has also awarded the facility for their low water use.

Firestone Complete Auto Care is in the process of having all of their Oregon stores EcoBiz certified.

About ECOBIZ

EcoBiz is a certification program that recognizes municipalities and businesses for adopting exceptional environmental business practices. It is a cooperative working group of local area jurisdictional staff from: Cities of Portland and Gresham, Clackamas and Washington counties, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Clean Water Services, and PPRC. The Eco-Biz program is seen as a model program for other municipalities around Oregon to accommodate requirements for Senate Bill 737, requiring municipalities to implement pollution prevention (P2) planning for specific sectors responsible for bioaccumulative toxics in the water. To date, the EcoBiz program has removed myriad pollutants from the waste stream by certifying 15 local governments and 118 businesses.

For more information, please contact

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) announced today that Atsuo Miyake, Roger McFadden, Scott Butner, and John Iani have joined the board of directors of the regional environmental organization. The new directors bring a range of business experience and industry expertise to the PPRC board and its work to promote both environmental and economic vitality in the Pacific Northwest.

“We are delighted to have these strong and engaging regional leaders join our Board of Directors,” said Paula Del Giudice, Executive Director of PPRC. “It’s proof that preventing pollution makes a lot of sense when it comes to conserving natural resources and maintaining a healthy business climate. We are grateful for their service.”

Atsuo Miyake is the Director of Environment, Health, Safety (EHS) for Boeing Commercial Airplanes (BCA). He is the functional EHS leader for the BCA operations in Everett, Renton, Auburn, Frederickson, Portland, Salt Lake City, Winnipeg, Boeing Aerostructure of Australia, Boeing South Carolina, Commercial Aviation Services and Supplier Management.  Atsuo has served in a variety of different roles at Boeing since 1983. “The Boeing Company has had a long history of involvement with PPRC,” said Miyake, “particularly because it’s critical to our operating environment that we reduce pollution at its source. We also are advocates for strong private/public partnerships and appreciate PPRC’s assistance in brokering those partnerships.”

Roger McFadden is Vice President and Senior Scientist at Staples, Inc., a position he has held since July 2009. Before joining Staples, Roger was Vice President and Chief Science Officer for Corporate Express with headquarters in Broomfield, CO, a position he held from May 2006 until 2009 when Staples acquired Corporate Express. From 1988 until 2006, Roger was Vice President of R&D for Coastwide Laboratories with headquarters in Wilsonville, OR. Roger sits on the California Green Ribbon Science Panel and was recently appointed to the California Green Products Innovation Institute. He is a charter member of the Green Chemistry Commerce Council (GC3) and currently co-chairs a committee to advance Green Chemistry and the EPA Design for the Environment (DfE) Formulator Initiatives. “We need a revolution in product design with an environmental conscience and commitment to pollution prevention and green chemistry,” said McFadden. “We are grateful to PPRC for sharing their knowledge and expertise and helping businesses meet their sustainability objectives and eliminating pollution and waste at all stages of the product life cycle. It is an honor to be elected to its Board of Directors.”

Scott Butner is a senior research scientist in the Knowledge Discovery and Informatics group at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL).  Scott has worked on a wide array of pollution prevention and sustainability related projects throughout his 28 year career at PNNL.  His research career has ranged from pilot plant development of biofuels technology and policy development, to lifecycle analysis and green process design research. “I’ve worked with PPRC since its inception,” Butner said, “and am excited about the opportunities to serve the organization that is helping businesses create a sustainable future.”

John Iani is a partner with Perkins Coie’s Environment, Energy & Resources practice, which focuses his practice on helping clients in developing and structuring business and commercial endeavors, particularly in the areas of project development, energy, natural resources and fisheries. Iani served as the Regional Administrator for Region 10 of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), where he was responsible for managing the EPA’s programs in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon and Washington. “I’ve dedicated much of my career toward building strong private/public partnerships,” said Iani. “I believe that a healthy environment and a strong business climate go hand in hand. I’m proud to be associated with an organization that is fostering that effort.”

For full bios and more information about the newest members of PPRC’s Board of Directors here.

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

Seattle, WA— The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center and its partners including The Boeing Corporation, Intel, Staples, Interstate Distributor Co., Freight Wing, Canyon Creek Cabinets, Network for Business Innovation and Sustainability, Washington Department of Ecology, and U.S. Environmental Protection will celebrate their private/public partnership on Sept. 20, 2011, at 5:30 p.m. at the Red Lion on Fifth, in Seattle, WA. This unique partnership has been engaged for 20 years working to prevent pollution at its source throughout the Pacific Northwest Region.

In the late 1980s, the governors from all four states—Booth Gardner, Washington; Neil Goldschmidt, Oregon; Cecil Andrus, Idaho; and Steve Cowper, Alaska—were concerned about hazardous waste management in their states. They appointed leaders to the Hazardous Waste Advisory Council that spent several years making recommendations for policy and regulatory changes that would, if adopted, make an aggressive attempt at stopping pollution before it became a waste issue.

One of the recommendations that the Council made was the formation of a nonprofit organization that would serve as a catalyst in the region to bringbusinesses together. The “founding fathers” envisioned the organization that would help build networks and would provide information and technical assistance for businesses about pollution prevention. The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Research (the name was later changed to Resource) Center opened its doors in Seattle in 1991.

Joining in the 20-year celebration on September 20, will be Dennis McLerran, Region 10 EPA Administrator; Dick Pedersen, Director, of the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality; and keynote speaker Dara O’Rourke. O’Rourke is an expert on the environmental, health, and social impacts of global supply chains. As both a professor and a practitioner, Dr. O’Rourke teaches environmental and labor policy at the University of California, Berkeley and is co-founder and Chief Sustainability Officer of GoodGuide, the most comprehensive source of consumer information on the health, environmental and social performance of products and companies.

Please visit http://www.pprc.org/rrt2011 for more information about this event.

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The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) is the leading regional non-profit that provides practical, on-the-ground technical assistance to businesses, public agencies, and non-profits that are seeking to conserve resources and improve economic performance. PPRC’s projects include lean and green for industry, various environmental trainings in the form of webinars, environmentally preferable purchasing, green business certifications, fiscal agentry, and the Spray Technique Applied Research (STAR) training for painters. PPRC also provides research that includes development of best management practices, life-cycle analysis, toxics- and greenhouse gas (GHG)-footprinting, and a free research program for a specific environmental issue or question.

For more information, please contact

Kaady Car Wash and Beaverton School District save money and reduce environmental impact with EcoBiz automotive certification

Portland, OR—The Pollution Prevention Outreach Team (P2O) recently awarded the Beaverton School District Fleet Services and Kaady Car Wash with EcoBiz Certifications for Automotive Services. To become certified, each organization adopted a set of best management practices to keep pollutants out of the air, water, and soil.

The Beaverton School District (BSD) was awarded two certifications: Both the main bus fleet operations facility and the Transportation Support Center were certified. As part of the certification, the BSD adopted policies such as making pollution prevention part of all employees’ responsibilities, prohibiting the use of chlorinated solvents, switching to environmentally preferable products, and instituting practices ensuring that any potential spills would never reach a sewer or groundwater.

Kaady Car Wash is the first car wash to receive certification in the EcoBiz program and received certification for all 12 Oregon locations. This certification includes annual training refreshers on the proper use and storage of supplies, waste reduction and management, the development of an online spill response plan, and the addition of fluorescent light tubes to their list of recyclable items.

Kaady Car Wash has been a great environmental champion prior to this certification, installing wind turbines at two locations, harvesting rainwater from their roofs, developing acid-free and phosphate-free soaps before required by law, and recycling all of their wash water.

About ECOBIZ

EcoBiz is a certification program that recognizes municipalities and businesses for adopting exceptional environmental business practices. It is a cooperative working group of local area jurisdictional staff from: Cities of Portland and Gresham, Clackamas and Washington counties, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Clean Water Services, and PPRC. The Eco-Biz program is seen as a model program for other municipalities around Oregon to accommodate requirements for Senate Bill 737, requiring municipalities to implement pollution prevention (P2) planning for specific sectors responsible for bioaccumulative toxics in the water.

For more information, please contact

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

Seattle, WA—The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) announced today that John Harland, a Design for the Environment Program Engineer at the Intel Corporation in Portland, Ore. was selected to serve as the President for PPRC’s Board of Directors.

“John has had a wonderful long‐standing relationship with PPRC and has been involved with environmental sustainability at Intel for many years,” said PPRC Executive Director Paula Del Giudice. “He is a terrific leader who will be an enormous help moving PPRC into its next 20 years of pollution prevention performance in the region. We are extremely lucky to have him serve as our board president.”

“I couldn’t be more proud to work with a group that is having such a positive impact in working with governments and businesses to achieve their pollution prevention goals and improve their efficiency,” said Harland. “I’ve watched the organization change through the years to become the effective and respected leader throughout the country that it is now.”

Currently, Harland is responsible for environmental performance of new manufacturing technologies at Intel. While at Intel, he has also worked on their environmental compliance within Oregon and the environmental design of new factory construction and waste systems.

Prior to joining Intel, Harland worked for a company of consulting engineers on the design of wastewater treatment facilities and for a company that manufactured wastewater treatment equipment.

Harland holds a MS in Environmental Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Edinburgh in Scotland.

Harland replaces three‐year president Bill Dunbar who has assumed a position as the Policy Director for the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Region 10 office in Seattle.

The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) is the leading regional non‐profit that provides practical, on‐the‐ground technical assistance to businesses, public agencies, and non‐profits that are seeking to conserve resources and improve economic performance. PPRC’s projects include lean and green for industry, various environmental trainings in the form of webinars, environmentally preferable purchasing, green business certifications, fiscal agentry, and the Spray Technique Applied Research (STAR) training for painters. PPRC also provides research that includes development of best management practices, life‐cycle analysis, toxics‐ and greenhouse gas (GHG)‐footprinting, and a free research program for a specific environmental issue or question.

For more information, please contact

Jonathan Stumpf
Communications Manager
206-352-2050
jstumpf@pprc.org

NW non-profit helps local companies achieve huge reductions with “side skirts” on 2000 trailers

Seattle — An $875,000 EPA grant to the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center will help a national, Tacoma-based trucking company eliminate almost 200,000 tons of harmful diesel emissions through the use of aerodynamic “skirts” developed by a Seattle company.

Specifically, the grant will enable Tacoma’s Interstate Distributor Co. to implement one of the trucking industry’s largest installations of aerodynamic trailer side skirts to date – using an innovative new product engineered by Freight Wing Inc. in Seattle. Interstate selected the Freight Wing “Aeroflex” product through a rigorous testing program that evaluated several emerging efficiency technologies verified by the EPA “Smartway” Transport initiative.

The EPA and PPRC predict a seven percent reduction of diesel fuel consumption and emissions for over 2,000 trailers in the Interstate fleet, resulting in estimated annual savings of 1.1 million gallons of diesel. Over the product life-span, this will result a total savings of approximately 16 million gallons of fuel, $45 million, and prevent 182,633 tons of greenhouse gas emissions.

Additionally, this significant reduction will improve the air quality in Puget Sound communities by minimizing the toxins found in diesel emissions that are associated with cancer, pulmonary and cardiovascular health issues, and others.

The project—supported by a grant from the U.S. EPA’s Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA)—is one of the largest implementations of the EPA’s SmartWay-verified aerodynamic technologies on heavy-duty Class 8 trucks and will provide additional jobs for local Puget Sound communities. The partnership will help to establish EPA Region 10 as a global leader in the development and use of the new technology.

According to Dennis McLerran, EPA Regional Administrator in Seattle, PPRC offers both health and economic benefits to local communities when they help make trucks more streamlined and fuel-efficient.

“These aerodynamic upgrades reduce fuel consumption and save money,” said EPA’s McLerran. “By helping truckers update their vehicles, PPRC provides much-needed assistance to the transportation industry, while reducing diesel pollution health risks in the communities they serve.”

“PPRC is delighted to partner with a company such as Interstate Distributor Co. that has taken so many actions to become good environmental stewards and is now hoping to reduce their carbon footprint even further through the use of state-of-the-art technologies, such as the trailer side skirts produced by Freight Wing,” said Paula J. Del Giudice, Executive Director.

“We greatly appreciate this opportunity presented to us by the EPA, and to work with PPRC and Freight Wing. This project has a quality mix of people that will help see the project through with immense success,” said Lee Owens, Senior Vice President of Maintenance and Facilities for Interstate Distributor Co.

“Freight Wing is truly grateful to work with PPRC and Interstate, and get involved with emission reductions on a community level. This is an exciting opportunity to demonstrate and improve aerodynamic trailer technology, help the environment, and create local jobs,” said Sean Graham, President, Freight Wing.

The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (Seattle) has almost 20 years of experience providing project management and fiscal agentry for various EPA-funded grants. Interstate Distributor Co. (Tacoma, Wash.) is the 46th largest carrier in the U. S. and one of the first partners to join the SmartWay program. Interstate Distributor Co. consistently receives the top score from SmartWay for its emission reduction efforts. Freight Wing Inc. (Seattle) brings seven years of experience as a leader in the market for trailer aerodynamics and fuel efficiency.

Please visit the PPRC DERA page for more information about this project

For more information, please contact:

Climate change Topic Hub™ provides in‐depth, peer‐reviewed compendium on global warming

Seattle, WA—The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center today has released the Climate Change Topic Hub™, a peer‐reviewed, information‐packed online resource geared toward small to medium‐sized businesses and industrial sectors that offers an extensive list of pollution prevention
opportunities involving process modification, material substitution, and new technology. Additionally, it provides over 100 topic‐related electronic tools, websites, and reference articles. It includes the contact information for over 20 agencies, nonprofits, partnerships, and programs that offer
expertise in climate change.

“This Topic Hub™ should serve as valuable resource for pollution prevention programs, regulators, environmental and sustainability managers, and any small‐ to medium‐sized business or industrial sector interested in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and effectively managing fuel and energy efficiency,”
said PPRC Executive Director and primary Climate Change Topic Hub™ author Paula J. Del Giudice.

ABOUT TOPIC HUBS

Topic Hubs™ are web‐based guides to peer‐reviewed pollution prevention information and expertise on a particular subject.
Topics range from sector‐wide compendiums such as aerospace industry to more narrowly‐focused topics such as
semiconductor manufacturing. Topic Hubs™ include background information, pollution prevention opportunities, reasons for
change, where to go for help, and links to more information on the subject.

Hillsboro, OR—The Pollution Prevention Outreach Team (P2O) recently awarded Washington County’s Fleet Division with the EcoBiz Certification for Automotive Services. To become certified, Washington County adopted a rigorous checklist of up to 100 different best management practices to keep pollutants out of the air, water and soil.
Included in this certification are the following practices: Extensive recycling, using non-toxic substitutions that prevent emissions from going airborne, preventing spills from entering groundwater, lowering the use of energy, water and natural resources, replacing a solvent-based parts washer with a water-based one, safely disposing of expired toxic materials and implementing a purchasing policy to look for non-toxic products whenever possible.
“Washington County is committed to minimizing the environmental impact of all our operations and saving taxpayer dollars in the process. We are grateful to PPRC for recognizing this part of an organization-wide effort at becoming more sustainable,” said Assistant County Administrator Don Bohn.
The EcoBiz Certification program is a collaborative effort of the Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Washington County, Cities of Portland, Gresham and Metro, and Clackamas County with funding from Clean Water Services for businesses and organizations in Washington County.

About ECOBIZ

EcoBiz is a certification program that recognizes municipalities and businesses for adopting exceptional environmental business practices. It is a cooperative working group of local area jurisdictional staff from: Cities of Portland and Gresham, Clackamas and Washington counties, Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, Clean Water Services, and PPRC. The Eco-Biz program is seen as a model program for other municipalities around Oregon to accommodate requirements for Senate Bill 737, requiring municipalities to implement pollution prevention (P2) planning for specific sectors responsible for bioaccumulative toxics in the water. To date, the EcoBiz program has removed myriad pollutants from the waste stream by certifying 15 local governments and 118 businesses.

Seattle, WA – The Pacific Northwest Pollution Prevention Resource Center (PPRC) announced today that former director of the National Wildlife Federation’s (NWF) western regional office and long-time environmental advocate, Paula J. Del Giudice, is the 15 year-old organization’s new Executive Director. “Paula’s a pro,” said PPRC board President Bill Dunbar. “She understands how to build an organization and how to lead it. And, as an educator and communications professional, she’ll know how to communicate its work.” “PPRC has had an amazing first 15 years and Paula is the ideal person to help lead the organization into its next chapter,” said Dunbar.

Del Giudice adds significant experience in nonprofit management as both a volunteer and a professional. She was elected to serve as the first woman chair of NWF’s board of directors and currently serves on the board of directors of the Outdoor Writers Association of America, an organization that awarded her its highest conservation honor, the Jade of Chiefs, in 2007. After moving to Seattle in 2002 to assume the reins as NWF’s regional office director, Del Giudice helped focus the organization’s efforts to connect global warming and its impacts on wildlife in addition to its work to protect salmon habitat. Del Giudice replaces Chris Wiley, who left PPRC to assume a position with the City of Seattle.

PPRC is a non-profit organization that is Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Alaska’s leading source of high quality, unbiased pollution prevention information. PPRC works collaboratively with business, government, non-government organizations, and other sectors to promote environmental protection through pollution prevention. The organization focuses on projects such as its Regional Roundtable (an excellent forum for discussing the latest pollution prevention initiatives and innovative solutions to environmental issues affecting the Northwest), its environmental purchasing rapid research service, and serving as a referral and networking hub for “lean and green” manufacturing.