NASSCO continues environmental initiatives to create a sustainable future

Environmental Efforts Continue Commitment to Protecting Natural Resources

February 1, 2011 – SAN DIEGO – General Dynamics NASSCO continued its commitment to environmental stewardship in 2010 with ongoing efforts to prevent pollution and protect natural resources. The company continued a number of environmental initiatives this year that made environmental sustainability a part of everyday business practices:

Recycling

• Each year, more than 125,000 gallons of excess fuel from U.S. Navy repair vessels is tested, reclaimed, and reused.
• In 2010, the company recycled 16 tons of paper and 39 tons of plastic by implementing a new recycling center/segregation line. NASSCO’s $300,000 investment in its recycling program has diverted 234 tons of recyclable material from the landfill since it began operation.
• The blast and paint facility collects, reclaims and reuses up to 7,000 tons of grit annually. At the end of its useful service life at the shipyard, the grit is recycled into cement for roads, sidewalks and other useful applications.

Improving Energy Efficiency

• A lighting retrofit program to replace more than 5,000 light fixtures in the shipyard with a low energy fluorescent lighting system has resulted in an energy reduction of 67 percent per fixture and a total energy savings of three million kilowatt hours per year.
• Improvements made to regulator systems on industrial gas storage tanks have significantly reduced compressor energy usage.

Protecting Air and Water Quality

• A 65,000 square foot facility enclosing blast and paint operations controls 100 percent of particulate matter emissions from the shipyard’s blasting operations.
• Over the next decade, a program for the replacement and retrofitting of emission control equipment on forklifts and small cranes at the shipyard will reduce particulate matter by 87 percent.
• All storm water runoff at the shipyard facility is captured, eliminating its discharge to San Diego Bay. To date, more than 100 million gallons of storm water discharge has been diverted to the city sewer system for treatment and disposal.

Community Impact

• General Dynamics NASSCO was recognized locally by the City of San Diego and nationally by the U.S. Coast Guard for its efforts in promoting environmental sustainability.
• The company has hosted numerous community clean-up and restoration events since 2002, breaking a record in 2010 with six different events. To date, the efforts of volunteers have removed more than 18.5 tons of debris from local waterways.
• Subsidized transportation programs to reduce traffic congestion have become increasingly popular among employees, with more than 300 individuals using the company’s vanpool and approximately 700 employees using the trolley to commute to work each day.

Located in San Diego, NASSCO employs more than 3,700 people and is the only major ship construction yard on the West Coast of the United States. The San Diego shipyard has already delivered ten T-AKE ships to the Navy and is currently building four additional T-AKE ships, including the Washington Chambers (T-AKE 11), William McLean (T-AKE 12), Medgar Evers (T-AKE 13), and the yet unnamed T-AKE 14, for a total class of 14 vessels. Additional information on NASSCO can be found at www.nassco.com.

[Photo: T-AKE 11 under construction in January 2010. Courtest General Dynamics NASSCO]

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