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Blue Marble Awards Program Recognizes Excellence Demonstrated in Environmental and Energy Management in Support of NASA’S Mis- Sion

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Blue Marble Awards Program Recognizes Excellence Demonstrated in Environmental and Energy Management in Support of NASA’S Mis- Sion National Aeronautics and Space Administration BLUE 2017 MARBLE AWARDS NASA PROGRAM April 4, 2017 • Houston, Texas April 4, 2017 1 April 4, 2017 Welcome to NASA’s 2017 Blue Marble Awards Ceremony! Environmental Management Division (EMD) of the NASA Headquar- ters Office of Strategic Infrastructure (OSI) is pleased to announce the 2017 recipients of the NASA Blue Marble Awards. The Blue Marble Awards Program recognizes excellence demonstrated in environmental and energy management in support of NASA’s mis- sion. It is a pleasure to host the 2017 NASA Blue Marble Awards Cere- mony in conjunction with the 2017 NASA Environmental Conference. We thank the Johnson Space Center for hosting us this evening. This ceremony program highlights the environmental leadership and creativity demonstrated by the six award recipients. The six awardees— one individual and five teams—will each be presenting an overview of their accomplishments during the 2014–2016 award period. Each team will receive a Blue Marble—a glass globe with the team name engraved on it. Each team member will receive a certificate signed by us and by NASA’s Acting Administrator Robert Lightfoot as well as a NASA environmental token. Please join us in congratulating the 2017 award winners! We also wish to acknowledge all the individuals and groups who were nominated and thank them for their contribution to NASA’s environ- mental stewardship and mission success. Nominations should also be considered for external environmental award programs. We thank Tina Norwood, who has served as the Blue Marble Awards coordinator since 2006, the five Headquarters judges who served on the selection committee, as well as Merrilee Fellows for serving as our official photographer this evening. Calvin Williams Mike A. McNeill Associate Administrator Acting Director Office of Strategic Infrastructure (OSI) Environmental Management Division NASA Headquarters NASA Headquarters 2 NASA Blue Marble Awards Ceremony 2017 NASA Blue Marble Awards Ceremony Today we honor the six recipients of the 2017 Blue Marble Awards. This Blue Marble Awards Ceremony Program showcases their accomplishments; one individual, two Center teams, a Center team that serves all of NASA, a team with members from four Centers and multiple partners, and lastly, a Headquarters team with worldwide participation and accomplishment. Introduction. 4 Award Recipients Steve Slaten . 6 Innovative Solutions to Successfully Remediate NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory Groundwater, Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), CA Stormwater Management—Proactive and Green Solutions for NASA Langley’s Next 100 Years ��������������������������������������������������� 8 Langley Research Center (LaRC), VA Kennedy Data Center Consolidation (KDCC) Team. 11 Kennedy Space Center (KSC), FL NASA Environmental Tracking System (NETS) . 14 Development and Maintenance Team, Glenn Research Center (GRC), OH Environmentally Responsible Aviation (ERA) Project Team. 18 Aeronautics Research Mission Directorate (ARMD), Headquarters, DC International Space Apps Challenge Team. ������������������������������������ 22 Office of the Chief Communications Officer, Headquarters, DC Closing Remarks ������������������������������������������������������������������������������ 26 April 2017 3 Introduction The NASA Environment and Energy Award Program recognizes NASA civil service employees, contract personnel, and industry partners who demonstrate environmental leadership while carrying out NASA’s mission. It was approved as an official NASA awards program in 2005, with the first call for nominations made in 2006. A list of past winners is available on the Blue Marble Web site at https://www.nasa.gov/feature/ blue-marble-awards. These honorary, non-monetary awards are referred to as the Blue Marble Awards. This NASA awards program contributes to NASA’s mission by: 1) raising internal awareness of the important role employees and contractors play in enabling environmentally sound mission success; 2) providing a NASA-wide approach to meet- ing specific employee recognition requirements in the greening the Government series of Executive Orders; and 3) leading to increased participation of NASA individuals and teams in important external award programs. Programs and Projects nominated for NASA’s Blue Marble Awards should also be nominated for The White House GreenGov Awards or the Department of Energy’s Federal Energy and Water Management Awards. The NASA Blue Marble Awards are divided into three categories: Category I: NASA Environmental Quality Award This award recognizes individual or team accomplishments made in greening the Government, environmental management, conservation, environmental remediation, or environmental communication. Category II: NASA Excellence in Energy or Water Management Award This award recognizes individual or team accomplishments made in energy efficiency, water conservation, or renewable energy. Category III: NASA EMD Director’s Environment and Energy Award This award is presented by Mike McNeill, Acting Director of the En- vironmental Management Division (EMD, in recognition of excep- tional leadership and professionalism demonstrated by an individual or team in implementing NASA’s mission and vision of “understand- ing and protecting the home planet” and “improving the quality of life on Earth.” 4 NASA Blue Marble Awards Ceremony EMD manages the Blue Marble Awards Program on Behalf of the Headquarters Office of Strategic Infrastructure (OSI). This manage- ment included the formation of the Selection Committee for 2017. The judges represent the mission directorates and the Office of Equal Opportunity. They used an electronic scoring system developed for this awards program to review and rank each nomination. The rank- ings include five equally weighted factors, assigned a value from 0–20 points, for a maximum of 100 points. The five factors are: 1. Impact to Mission – This includes cost savings reported and risk reduction resulting from the program or project being nominated. 2. Scope of Impact – This factor considers if the program or project being nominated had/has a Center-wide, national, or global reach. 3. Scalability/Extensibility – This factor considers if or how well the program or project being nominated can be applied and extended to future uses. 4. Ingenuity/Creativity/Leadership – This factor considers if the program or project is/was outside the scope of the normal job duties of the individual or team. 5. Teamwork/Collaboration – This factor considers the collaboration used by the individual or group to complete the program or project being nominated. A sincere thanks the five Headquarters judges who served on the 2017 Selection Committee: Mariel M. Borowitz, Ph.D. Linda S. Wenneberger, Ph.D. Science Mission Directorate (SMD) IPA Chemical Engineer and Program Manager Associate Professor of International Affairs, Environmental Management Division, Georgia Institute of Technology OSI Rebecca D. Doroshenk Erik B. Holmes Program Analyst Acting Deputy Director, Strategic Office of Diversity and Equal Planning and Integration, Opportunity Space Technology Mission Directorate (STMD) Detail Elizabeth R. Walker Associate Chief, Mission Engineering and Systems Analysis Division, Equal Employment Specialist Goddard Space Flight Center, MD Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity April 4, 2017 5 Category III NASA EMD Director’s Environment and Energy Award — Individual ………………………………………………………… Steve Slaten Innovative Solutions to Successfully Remediate NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) Groundwater Steve Slaten manages the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensa- tion, and Liability Act (CERCLA) Program at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Labora- tory (JPL) in Pasadena, CA. He had inherited an environmental remediation program that had years of investigations and data but few cleanup measures in place. There was recent and current litigation and significant community concern about NASA’s impact on the safety of local drinking water. The water supply for thousands of customers had been shut down due to the presence of chemicals, which had been blamed on JPL. Slaten spearheaded a unique, collaborative new approach: to remediate groundwater contamination offsite in partnership with the local water purveyors. He recognized that offsite cleanup meant less direct NASA control over the cleanup, and would necessitate intense cooperation with water purveyors and permitting agencies. Slaten understood from his previous Federal cleanup experience that this new approach would require extensive public outreach to gain community acceptance. This new approach required agreement, collaboration, and cooperation among several local water purveyors and involved complicated regulatory oversight by a combination of Federal (e.g., EPA) and state agencies. Since this new cleanup approach was offsite it became clear that requirements for permits in a complex and active environmental climate with multiple entities would be involved. Moreover, one of the offsite elements would require some aspects occur in the Hahamongna Watershed, a major public open space where much public resis- tance was anticipated. Further, the effort occurred within the atmosphere of a legal claim filed against NASA by the City of Pasadena. Therefore, obtaining an agreement to construct the Pasadena plant was tied to the lawsuit. With NASA Management Office (NMO) counsel concurrence, Slaten employed creative negotiation to reach an agreement with the city resulted in eliminating the legal claim and moving
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