Grounds Department recognized by Chesapeake Bay group
News Release - November 1, 2005
contact:
Karen L. Gill
karen.gill@cnu.edu
(757) 594-8428
(NEWPORT NEWS, Va.) — A new plan for environmental management and protection at Christopher Newport University has been named an outstanding achievement by a group that works to protect the Chesapeake Bay.
The Grounds Department at CNU earned the Outstanding Achievement for a Government Facility award in the State Government category from Businesses for the Bay.
The new plan was designed to help the Grounds Department monitor water use and water run off, lessen pesticide use on campus, minimize trash on campus by implementing a recycling program, and improve environmental awareness campus-wide. The Grounds Department recycles all organic debris and uses environmentally friendly products. It reuses wood chips, and its recycling plan has been implemented in other departments across campus.
“It has been a great program, we are all concerned about the environment,” said Dave Kennedy, Director of Grounds for CNU. “We want to make sure that everything that we do is environmentally friendly.”
The department strives to comply with all federal, state, and local environmental compliances. It trains CNU’s staff on best management practices and stormwater pollution, and it seeks to educate students on pollution prevention and the environment. The Grounds Department recently has completed a campus stormwater management plan that has been approved by the Department of Environmental Quality.
“This award is not only prestigious to us because it is the first award we have applied for and successfully been awarded, but also because of the organizations associated with it. They are very prestigious environmental groups,” said Kennedy.
Businesses for the Bay is a voluntary program of businesses, industries, government facilities and other organizations within the Chesapeake Bay watershed. Its goal is to implement pollution prevention practices to reduce the amount of contaminants and other wastes released into the Chesapeake Bay.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 4,800 students in programs through its College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the School of Business and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.