Two Marine Corps Base (MCB) Camp Lejeune Environmental Management Division (EMD) employees were recognized as part of a team that earned the EPA 2023 National Notable Achievement Award: Federal Facilities Excellence in Partnering Team of the Year.  

The MCB Camp Lejeune recipients, Laura Spung and Thomas Richard, are part of a thirteen-member team made up of MCB Camp Lejeune, Environmental Protection Agency, Department of the Navy, North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and other contracted employees. According to the award citation, the team’s goal is to “implement successful cleanup of MCB Camp Lejeune in the most technologically effective, efficient, and cost-effective manner.” The team works to accomplish that goal by communicating effectively across organizations to locate and use the most sustainable and least costly cleanup solutions whenever possible.  

“[This award] recognizes the hard work that [we] and our partnering team put into cleaning up the CERCLA (Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act) sites across Camp Lejeune,” said Richard. “Cleaning up these sites is a decades long process requiring continued communication and support of each organization's goals. The trust our team has developed, particularly in the eyes of the regulators, allows us to implement clean-up strategies on MCB Camp Lejeune and reduces the impact to the base and the environment.” 

Some of the environmental cleanup practices implemented on MCB Camp Lejeune include installing a new treatment system powered entirely by solar power, reusing 70 cubic yards of soil, recycling 7,530 pounds of metal, using passive sampling techniques to reduce remediation-derived waste, and using digital data capture devices in the field to reduce paper waste and increase efficiency. These practices have saved over 52 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions.  

“This award is a testament to the hard work the members of our Camp Lejeune Environmental Management Division, as well as the other federal organizations represented on the award-winning team, do day in and day out,” said Brig. Gen. Andrew Niebel, commanding general for Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. “The success this team has achieved, and the goals they have been able to accomplish, will help make Camp Lejeune a safer, cleaner place now and for future generations.” 

For any questions, please contact MCIEAST COMMSTRAT at mcieastcommstrat@usmc.mil.