Pollution prevention, recycling pays off at OC-ALC

Published July 1, 2016
By John Parker
Staff Writer

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Removing paint off airplanes is an everyday job at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex.

Sleek B-1 bombers, workhorse KC-135 aerial refueling tankers and other Air Force aircraft routinely fly in to Tinker Air Force Base for overhaul and leave with new paint jobs.

For Donna Stacy, the OC-ALC's corrosion prevention and control program manager, the evolution of paint stripping at the base is a good example of how technological innovation encouraged by the Air Force's pollution prevention and recycling programs combine to save money, cut waste and keep employees safe from hazards.

For decades in the past, harsh solvent-based strippers handled paint removal, but left behind hundreds of gallons of liquid toxic waste to deal with on each job.

Most of those solvents have been replaced with alternate biodegradable strippers that significantly reduce the hazardous chemicals, but still leave fluid waste with cancer-causing cadmium and chromium from the paint itself.

One of the newest innovations in paint removal, however, promises to eliminate liquid waste completely.

Engineers at Ogden Air Logistics Complex at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, are evaluating a programmable robotic-arm system that runs a laser over aircraft surfaces to remove coatings.

Tom Naguy, deputy technical director for Air Force Materiel Command, told attendees at a technology forum in March that the process reduces hazardous waste from "several thousand pounds down to half a cup."

"It's so cool," Ms. Stacy said, "because the laser makes it into a powder, basically, so you can put a vacuum right where the laser is and have it siphon off the dust as you're taking the paint off. Then you're left with solid dust instead of thousands of gallons of contaminated water, paint chips and other chemicals."

Laser paint removal is "faster, makes less waste, and creates a safer workplace for employees," she said.

Ms. Stacy previously worked on pollution prevention and recycling efforts for Tinker's 76th Maintenance Support Squadron. New production technologies such as laser stripping are evaluated on multiple variables that include money savings, meeting technical standards, their effect on production speed and how people using the new method respond.

"I've seen a lot of failed pollution prevention methods that technically may be greener, but may not work as well, or may not meet production's needs and it may end up wasting money," Ms. Stacy said. "If we're going to implement pollution prevention projects, they've got to bring more to the table than just eliminating pollution. They have to improve production or they may not work."

The 76th MXSG collaborates with the other air logistics complexes, Air Force Research Laboratory, the Hazardous Material Reduction Governance Board and respective engineering departments on pollution prevention and recycling efforts, Ms. Stacy said.

"The Hazardous Material Reduction Governance Board was established so that we are more proactive in reducing hazardous materials, and not just reactive to environmental and OSHA violations," Ms. Stacy said. "By working together across the command, we hope to have one voice for common issues, avoid duplicate efforts and collaborate on reduction initiatives across the organizations."

On the recycling side, Ms. Stacy highlighted an OC-ALC contract with a company that provides tiny beads for abrasive blasting to clean parts. The company takes back the beads when they become too small and recycles them to make concrete-style construction blocks. Her office is currently coordinating a recycling project to recycle approximately 34,000 pounds of granite slabs, the largest slab being 25,000 pounds.
The complex is also looking for better ways to dispose of sludge from wet blasting operations and other waste sources, Ms. Stacy said. She encouraged anyone with ideas or questions about preventing waste or recycling opportunities to contact their unit environmental coordinator or her at donna.stacy@us.af.mil.