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2002 3rd Place Winner Profiles
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Project #: |
GG-02-32 |
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Company: |
BASF Corporation - Freeport Site |
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Project Name: |
Nitric Acid Recovery Project |
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Category: |
Business |
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Project Type: |
Nutrient Enrichment |
Summary: On January 1, 2001, the site completed construction of a $9 million recovery process to reduce the quantity of nitrate compounds discharged to the environment. A sister site in Louisiana uses the recovered nitrates stream as a raw material in their manufacturing process. The new process was put into service on April 1, 2001. Based on the 1999 Toxic Release Inventory (TRI) data, the site is ranked number one in Texas for both total releases and nitrate compounds releases. The new process is expected to reduce the site's total TRI releases and nitrate compounds releases by 75% and 85%, respectively.
PARTNERSHIP CATEGORYThe BASF Freeport, Texas Nitric Acid Recovery Plant was commissioned in April, 2001. With an annual capacity of 11,000 metric tons, the unit significantly reduces nitrate releases to the environment while producing a marketable grade product.
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Project #: |
GG-02-31 |
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Company: |
Center for Sustainable Design, Mississippi State University |
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Project Name: |
Experimental Beach Landscape |
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Category: |
Partnerships |
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Project Type: |
All areas |
Summary: Our goal for a three-acre beachfront site was to create a natural beach landscape in which plants would be allowed to grow without the interference of beach maintenance equipment. Other native plants were planted to supplement the components of a natural beach landscape, and to see what effects there would be regarding the level of maintenance needed, the affect on blowing sand, and the aesthetic consequences. The site has remained untouched by beach equipment now for 7 years and the upper beach area is attractive, stable, and biologically diverse.
INDIVIDUAL CATEGORYPhoto 1: Colony of Spartina alternafolia -- Smooth Cord Grass -- an emergent estuary plant critical for habitat and provision of biomass for nursery fishes.
Photo 2: Picture demonstrates the stark contrast between the beach maintained by heavy equipment on the left, and beach section on the right that isn't maintained by heavy machinery, but is instead natural beach landscape where sand is stabilized by plant roots.
Photo 3: Looking west on the site past a resident Great Blue Heron to a planting of Bitter Panic Grass, and beyond to dunes being created by Sea Oat plantings.
Photo 4: MSU landscape architecture students harvesting native emergent salt water grasses for use on the natural beach landscape. The plants were being harvested from a site that will be developed.
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Project #: |
GG-02-55 |
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Individual: |
Ms. Jayne Buttross, Bay St. Louis, MS |
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Project Name: |
The Mississippi CIAP Process: A Collaborative and Innovative Grant Process |
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Category: |
Individual |
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Project Type: |
Public Health |
Summary: In October 2001, Congress created the Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP) which allocated Mississippi $24,316,417 to spend on the coastal ecology and to be shared between the state and the three coastal counties. In March 2001, the Governor designated the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) as the lead agency to develop Mississippi's CIAP plan for submission to the U.S. Secretary of Commerce. The person leading this process was Jayne Buttross, Advisor to the Executive Director, MDEQ. Through her efforts and guidance, the State of Mississippi adopted an open and collaborative planning process that allowed three coastal counties, a myriad of state and federal agencies, local non-governmental organizations, and business, to work together to structure a package of projects that would improve the health of the coastal ecology by conservation, protection, enhancement or restoration, and creat systemic changes in how the coastal ecology is viewed and managed. More than 150 projects, totaling $67 million were submitted for review. The final submission package to the Department of Commerce included 81 collaborative projects. Of the $24.3 million allocated to Mississippi, a total value of $47,483.061 in collaborative projects is being funded.
GOVERNMENT CATEGORYPhoto 1: Left to Right: Ronnie Musgrove, Governor of the state of Mississippi, signing CIAP plan; Jayne Buttross, Director of Coastal Impact Assistance Program (CIAP), Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality, looking on.
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Project #: |
GG-02-43 |
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Company: |
The Forever Wild Program, Montgomery, AL |
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Project Name: |
The Mobile Tensaw Delta Wetland Conservation Area |
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Category: |
Government |
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Project Type: |
Habitat |
Summary: The Mobile-Tensaw Delta Wetland Conservation Area represents a multi-phase approach to the acquisition, protection and inventory of Alabama's largest and most ecologically significant wetland ecosystem. Since 1999, the Forever Wild Program has rallied numerous partners in the purchase of approximately 53,000 acres of bottomland hardwood habitats. These ongoing acquisitions, as well as the inventory and restoration projects that have followed, were achieved through the foresight, leadership and compelling reputation of the Forever Wild Program. Combined, these attributes consolidated the resources of several agencies and organizations in a successful campaign to protect this unique ecosystem, which is linked to the Gulf of Mexico through the Mobile Bay Estuary.
Photo1: This photo was taken from the top of the Indian mound on Mound Island. It represents much of the Delta's understory vegetation.
Photo 2: Photograph was taken on the western side of the delta and is typical of the waterways throughout the Mobile-Tensaw Delta.
Photo 3: The open water and large numbers of birds shown in this photograph are typical of the rich system of the delta.
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Project #: |
GG-02-44 |
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Company: |
Chevron - Pascagoula Refinery, Pascagoula, MS |
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Project Name: |
Mississippi Envirothon |
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Category: |
Youth or Partnership |
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Project Type: |
All |
Summary: The Mississippi Envirothon is part of a national program for high school students designed to educate and challenge young people in the environmental sciences. Three competitions were held on March 26, 2002. The north area was held at Crow's Neck EEC in Tishomingo County; the central area was held at Brown's Landing in Madison County; and the south area was held at Camp Tiak in Forrest County. 350 students and teachers were involved in the area competitions as well as over 100 professional resource people from various state agencies. The top five teams from each area will compete at the state competition that will be held at Roosevelt State Park on May 1, 2002.
NONPROFIT ORGANIZATION CATEGORYPhoto 1: Vancleave High School Envirothon Team with teacher-advisor Suzanne Harrison taken at 2002 District Competition in March at Camp Tiak in Forrest County.
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Project #: |
GG-02-05 |
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Company: |
Clearwater Marine Aquarium |
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Project Name: |
Magnificent Mangroves |
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Category: |
Civic/Non Profit Organization |
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Project Type: |
Habitat |
Summary: Utilizing a challenge grant from the EPA, the MLA program has begun to remove invasive Brazilian pepper plants from more than 1100 acres of wildlife preserve, state/city parks, and bordering private lands. The 2-year project can be divided into five separate activities: an Educator's workshop on Marine Plant Communities; a field course from Marine Life Adventures! (MLA) for 125 economically disadvantaged citizens from Clearwater's Brownfields area; the design and construction of a prototype mangrove planter box to front seawalls; a Brazilian pepper removal and subsequent re-planting of native vegetation; and the addition of an interactive mangrove display at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium (CMA). Partners include the Federal Government (EPA), State of Florida (DEP, Gulf Geoparks), Cities of Clearwater and Dunedin, Pinellas County Schools & Administration, a private timeshare property, and the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. Volunteers include many individuals and local businesses or organizations like the Scouts of America.
Photo 1: CMA and HI park personnel work together to remove Brazilian peppers.
Photo 2: Brazilian pepper stacked along Florida Boulevard, 2/24/01.
Photo 3: Air potato and Brazilian pepper choke native vegetation.Photo 4 : Aquarium staff planting marsh grass after removal of Brazilian peppers.
Photo 5: A volunteer measures water clarity.
Photo 6: Osprey sitting in a tree near its nest on the Nature Preserve.
