MCB CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. -- Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune has been selected as the U.S. Marine Corps winner of the 2026 Secretary of the Navy Environmental Award for Environmental Restoration – Installation, recognizing the installation’s exceptional efforts to protect human health and the environment while sustaining combat readiness and operational capability.
The award, announced by Acting Secretary of the Navy, Hung Cao, recognizes installations and teams across the Department of the Navy whose environmental programs directly support mission sustainment, operational flexibility, installation resilience, and long-term readiness.
“Environmental stewardship is directly tied to mission readiness,” said Col. Gregory B. Pace, commander, Marine Corps Installations East-Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. “The work accomplished by our environmental restoration team ensures we can continue to train and operate while protecting our Marines, Sailors, families, and the surrounding community. This recognition reflects decades of partnership, innovation, and commitment to doing the right thing. This is an outstanding accomplishment and a testament to the professionalism, technical expertise, and sustained commitment the entire Environmental Management Team brings to the mission every day.”
Camp Lejeune has conducted environmental investigations and remediation efforts since 1981 and was placed on the Environmental Protection Agency’s National Priorities List in 1989. Today, the installation manages 58 active environmental restoration sites and has investigated and cleaned up more than 500 sites under programs including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, the Military Munitions Response Program, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, and underground storage tank programs.
During Fiscal Years 2024 and 2025, the installation’s Environmental Management Division and partnering agencies installed more than 165 monitoring wells, collected more than 2,000 environmental samples, conducted munitions surface clearance across more than 50 acres, and managed more than 4,200 acres of land use controls.
Among the installation’s most significant accomplishments was accelerated cleanup work at Site 88, a former dry-cleaning facility where innovative groundwater remediation methods reduced volatile organic compound concentrations by 87 percent within the treatment zone. The installation also advanced multiple per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances investigations, completed the sixth CERCLA Five-Year Review in partnership with the Environmental Protection Agency and North Carolina Department of Environmental Quality, and achieved multiple “No Further Action” determinations for petroleum remediation sites.
Camp Lejeune also demonstrated leadership in emerging environmental technologies using unmanned aerial systems equipped with magnetometers to survey former military training areas safely and efficiently for munitions and explosives of concern in remote coastal environments.
The installation maintains an active community involvement program through public meetings, Restoration Advisory Board sessions, information repositories, and regular stakeholder engagement to ensure transparency and public awareness of restoration efforts.
The Secretary of the Navy Environmental Awards program recognizes installations, teams, and individuals whose environmental achievements advance readiness and support the Department of the Navy mission worldwide.
For more information about Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune environmental programs, visit: https://www.lejeune.marines.mil/Sections/G-F-General-Facilities/Environmental-Management-Division/