Pendleton Focuses on Energy Independence

Marines at Camp Pendleton recycle metals used for ammunition, convert sunlight into electricity and work to protect endangered species that share the 125,000-acre-plus base, a colonel told the San Diego County Board of Supervisors today.

With 80,000-100,000 personnel, Camp Pendleton has 18 camps where Marines and sailors live, work and train, said Col. Robert Hellman, base facilities director.

"Whether you live in bachelor enlisted quarters or in family housing, or you work in an office, or a warehouse or a motor transport lot, we need to have energy efficiency and effectiveness throughout the base," he said.

Hellman said a fitness center on the base produced more electricity than it consumed.

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He said base officials want to Pendleton to become energy independent, have a reliable infrastructure and protect environmentally sensitive areas. By 2025, the Marine Corps hopes to used 25 percent less energy than it does now, he said.

A base recycling effort  takes in everything from waste paper to brass ammunition shells, which is sold benefit the Marines and sailors on the base, he said.

"The idea here is not to make money. It's a self-sustaining program, but the idea here is waste diversion from our landfills," Hellman said.

Electricity is derived from solar panels set up at a closed landfill, he said. Charging stations for electric vehicles are being installed.

The Marine Corps also works to protect 16 threatened and/or endangered species living on the base. aboard the base and to install electric vehicle charging stations.

Any new construction on the base, which was opened in 1942 to train Marines for World War II, is done to Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, standards, Hellman said, adding that the Wounded Warrior living quarters is certified as LEED platinum.

The Department of Defense is asking for military bases to reduce their energy consumption and to a better job of recycling, Pam Slater-Price said.

"From base to battlefield, the military's leadership understands that using less energy saves the environment and saves precious taxpayer dollars," she said.

—City News Service