News Releases from Region 05

EPA Recognizes U.S. Customs and Border Protection Detroit Office for Saving Resources and Taxpayer Money

07/12/2017

Contact Information:

Francisco Arcaute (arcaute.francisco@epa.gov)

312-886-7613 312-898-2042 Cell

For Immediate Release No. 17-OPA 067

CHICAGO (July 12, 2017) – Today the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency recognized the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Detroit, Mich., field office for improving efficiency, saving resources and reducing costs as part of the Federal Green Challenge (FGC).

“Federal agencies across the country are doing their part to minimize their environmental impact, in doing so saving American taxpayers millions of dollars,” EPA Administrator Pruitt said. “Their efforts resulted in an estimated cost savings of $17 million across the federal government.”

“I am proud of the efforts of our field office to reduce our costs, as well as our environmental impact, through participation in the Federal Green Challenge,” said Christopher Perry, director of Field Operations, Detroit. “The real winners are the taxpayers who benefit from improved efficiency and saved resources.”

Now in its fifth year, the FGC is a yearlong commitment under EPA's Sustainable Materials Management program in which participants focus on efficiently managing their resources to reduce the costs of building operations, maintenance and supplies. Specifically, participants track their data in two of six categories for a year.

Through their involvement, FGC participants reduced the federal government’s environmental impact by reducing fuel oil consumption by more than 500,000 gallons, sending 310 tons of end-of-life electronics to third-party certified recyclers, saving 9.2 million gallons of industrial water, and diverting over 336,000 tons of waste from landfills.

EPA recognized three other FGC winners in the Midwest:

Department of Energy, Argonne National Laboratory, Lemont, Ill.
Environmental Protection Agency, National Vehicle and Fuel Emissions Laboratory, Ann Arbor, Mich.
Department of Veterans Affairs, Minneapolis Health Care System, Minneapolis, Minn.

For more information on the FGC and this year’s winners, please visit https://www.epa.gov/fgc

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