Pa. Governor Awards Companies for Environmental Excellence

The award honors Pennsylvania businesses and organizations that put in place projects that take on environmental problems in ways that build new businesses, enhance the bottom line and engage residents in a renewed commitment to investing in their communities.

Harley-Davidson’s York Vehicle Operations operates three shifts of manufacturing and assembly of Touring, Softail and limited-edition motorcycles. The plant also manufactures a variety of current and non-current replacement parts.

Harley-Davidson’s Keystone Project was designed to enable the operations facility to meet the increased motorcycle production capacity requirements, increase product quality, improve production processes, reduce material handling activities and reduce costs. The project comprised designing and constructing a focused factory to improve asset usage, as well as simplifying and streamlining operations while increasing capacity for the plant.

The company’s new facility has an “Energy Star” rated roof, reducing peak cooling by 10 percent and saving $102,842 annually. Harley-Davidson put in place the “best available technology” for its paint operations to reduce volatile organic compound emissions by 77 percent and hazardous air pollutants by 95 percent annually. The company also installed waterless urinals, saving 100,000 gallons per year of water.

Harley-Davidson also made use of a brownfield property, incurring an additional cost of $1.3 million to repair the environmental problems encountered in the groundwater and soil but demonstrating a commitment to help the state preserve valued “green space.”

Winners of the 2004 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence receive a commemorative plaque and outdoor flag to acknowledge their commitment to environmental quality. Each recipient will be presented with these awards during individual press events at the winner’s location.

The 10 other winners of the 2004 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence include:

• St. Marys Pressed Metals Inc., Ridgway, Elk County: The company is developing technology to use metals recovered from acid mine drainage in place of virgin powder to manufacture lightweight, but strong bearings. St. Marys Pressed Metals will reduce the volume of acid mine drainage material deposited at the Onyx Landfill by collecting iron calcium for reuse by 2,000 tons.

• Pfizer Inc., Lititz, Lancaster County: The company funded the design, permits and construction of the New Street Ecological Park in Lititz. The park was later designated as the pilot project for Pennsylvania’s fledgling Conestoga River Watershed Nutrient Trading Project, a breakthrough in efforts to stem the tide of sediment and nutrient pollution being carried downstream to the Chesapeake Bay.

• Foamex, Corry, Erie County: This plant has eliminated the use of methylene chloride in its polyurethane foam production, resulting in zero air emissions of that compound. This milestone is a voluntary commitment by Foamex management to preserve and protect the Corry community and the surrounding environment.

• Meadville Area Water Authority, Meadville, Crawford County: The authority’s system-wide leak survey from 2001 to 2003 showed a savings in pumping 43.6 million gallons of water, and its educational efforts on water conservation for consumers and students produced a savings of 22 million gallons.

• Westmoreland Conservation District, Greensburg, Westmoreland County: Several years ago, the district launched a campaign to fund its most ambitious outreach program -- the Center for Conservation Education -- which was completed in 2004. In a recent audit of all buildings maintained by the Westmoreland County, the center ranked number one in energy efficiency. Costs to run the air conditioning, computer systems, heating and lighting throughout the 7,600-square-foot center average just $328 a month.

• Reliant Energy Seward LLC, New Florence, Indiana County: The Reliant Energy Seward Project Power Station, built on a brownfield site in southwestern Pennsylvania, will use advanced technology to convert millions of tons of waste coal into energy. The plant will produce more than twice the power with lower air emissions than the plant it is replacing.

• Philadelphia Million Solar Roofs Partnership, Philadelphia: The Norris Square Solar Project is the first Photovoltaic installation to benefit the residents of affordable housing and the largest photovoltaic (PV) installation in Philadelphia. The project installed eight 1.2 kilowatts PV systems on eight adjacent, previously constructed row homes at 128 – 142 Norris St. The installations are expected to lower each resident’s electric bill by 15 to 25 percent. The goal of the project is to make affordable housing even more so by reducing low-income residents’ utility bills.

• Pennsylvania Army National Guard Combined Support Maintenance Shop East, Annville, Lebanon County: The facility has replaced solvent-borne coatings with new water dispersible Chemical Agent Resistant Coatings (CARC) for routine surface coating operations, reducing harmful emissions and gaining 10 times the paint durability. Commands in Arizona, Oklahoma and Rhode Island are following suit based on Pennsylvania’s lead.

• Wells Creek Watershed Association, Stoystown, Somerset County: The association formed in 1999 to restore a trout fishery to Wells Creek. Two passive treatment systems have helped neutralize deep mine discharges, and, as a result, the association stocked more than 600 trout in May 2004.

• Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Allegheny County: As part of a larger “Green Practices” effort, Carnegie Mellon has a stated objective to achieve for all new construction a silver rating under the internationally recognized Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. In September 2003, New House -- a 72,000-square-foot, 256-bed residence hall -- received notification that it achieved that rating. New House is the first university residence hall in the nation to achieve such a rating. There are more buildings at various stages of construction on campus, each headed for LEED certification.

DEP received 82 applications for the 2004 Governor’s Award for Environmental Protection. The applications were evaluated according to overall environmental benefit, public service, economic impact, use of innovative technology, teamwork and environmental education and outreach.

To view a more detailed summary of the 11 winning projects, visit the department’s Web site at www.dep.state.pa.us and click on “2004 Governor’s Award for Environmental Excellence.”