FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

CITY RECEIVES ENVIRONMENTAL EXCELLENCE AWARD

Ranks Among Corporations Such As Philip Morris, Volvo, and Nestle

The Newport News Golf Club at Deer Run has been awarded the Extraordinary Environmental Enterprise (E4) designation from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality under its Virginia Environmental Excellence Program.

The Newport News Golf Club at Deer Run has been awarded the Extraordinary Environmental Enterprise (E4) designation from the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality under its Virginia Environmental Excellence Program (VEEP). This program recognizes organizations that develop and implement Environmental Management Systems (EMS) emphasizing pollution prevention. The E4 designation is awarded to those facilities with a fully implemented EMS that has been verified by an independent third party. David K. Paylor, director of the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality, will present the award to Mayor Joe S. Frank at a ceremony today at 2:00 pm at the golf course clubhouse, 901 Clubhouse Way.

“Newport News has always been a leader in environmental stewardship,” said Newport News City Manager Randy W. Hildebrandt. “This program builds and expands on our commitment to protecting our environment and helps us to consistently meet the state and federal regulations regarding pollution prevention."

Environmentally friendly activities at the golf course maintenance shop include recycling bottles, cans, cardboard and scrap metal; developing and following an Integrated Pest Management Plan as a guide for the application of pesticides; and utilizing a wash rack to capture and filter rinse water from pesticides and fertilizer application equipment.

The Deer Run Golf Club is one of only four local government facilities in the state to earn this designation and is now among the ranks of major corporations including Philip Morris, Volvo, DuPont, Nestle, Cargill and Lockheed Martin.

The maintenance shop at the Golf Club was the pilot facility for the City of Newport News in this endeavor beginning in 2004. Since that time, eight additional City facilities, listed below, have earned recognition through this program.

• Department of Adult Corrections’ Maintenance facility (E2)
• Fire Department, department-wide EMS program (E2)
• Parks Maintenance Division, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (E2)
• Parks Operations Division, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (E2)
• Traffic Operations Division, Department of Engineering (E2)
• Harwood’s Mill, Department of Public Utilities (E3)
• Leeward Marina, Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism (E3)
• Wastewater Division, Department of Public Works (E3)

Environmental Management Systems are comprehensive sets of written environmental policies and procedures that identify an organization's environmental goals and objectives and define how they will be achieved. EMS programs are individualized for each facility and stipulate how activities and operations that can potentially cause environmental impacts will be managed.

For more information on the VEEP program, visit www.deq.virginia.gov/veep.

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