Okanogan Committee Receives Environmental Excellence Award

Washington State Department of Ecology

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 19, 1996
96-161

CONTACT:
Brian Dick, Ecology (509) 575-2477
Dan Boettger, Okanogan County PUD (509) 422-8425
Greg Hamilton, Hamilton Farm Equipment (509) 427-3030
Libbie McClaflin, Ecology (360) 407-6144

Okanogan Committee Receives Environmental Excellence Award

Olympia, WA -- The Okanogan Environmental Concerns Committee, a community-based group formed to collectively address environmental, health and safety issues that are common to businesses or agencies, was honored today by the Washington Department of Ecology, for exhibiting environmental excellence in 1996.

The Environmental Excellence Award was presented to the Okanogan Environmental Concerns Committee at its monthly meeting by Mr. Pat Spurgin, Ecology's central regional office director. The committee was cited for helping Ecology:

Develop a new hazardous waste technical assistance site visit program for businesses. The Committee then helped to evaluate the program by polling the businesses in Okanogan County that were visited. This project has since been implemented statewide with much success.
Develop and implement a plan for managing business-generated used oil within the county. The plan resulted in safer, cheaper and easier management of used oil, with positive environmental benefits.
Change the Dangerous Waste regulations by providing key comments during the last regulation amendment process.

The Environmental Excellence Award is sponsored by the Washington Department of Ecology as part of the effort to help Washington businesses and industry "do the right thing" on critical environmental issues. Eight such awards are presented annually statewide. The committee's membership includes representatives from small auto shops, local orchards, equipment dealerships, timber companies, fruit packing industry, city and county government, the U.S. Forest Service, Okanogan County Health District and the local public utility district.