Fort Lewis currently has 11 neighborhood  electric vehicles (NEVs). NEVs travel up to 25 miles per hour and produce zero emissions.

At Fort Lewis, More Than The Uniforms Are Green

Most people are accustomed to seeing army soldiers in their green uniforms. But at Fort Lewis, "green" is spreading throughout the army installation with the implementation of an innovative environmental program. Even the vehicles are turning "green" with the use of clean, alternative fuels such as natural gas, ethanol and biodiesel.

In February 2002, Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington launched its Installation Sustainability Program. The Program is the result of a directive from the U.S. Armed Forces Command in 2001 that required installations to develop sustainability programs. Fort Lewis is one of the first programs at a U.S. Army installation to produce a plan under this directive. 

The Program is also an effort to ensure continued compliance with a comprehensive Air Operating Permit issued by the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency. "In the area of air quality, Fort Lewis is going way beyond what Clean Air Agency regulations require and way beyond the traditional emissions sources such as boilers, paint booths and gas stations," said Jim Nolan, Clean Air Agency compliance director. "Fort Lewis personnel are designing and implementing projects to reduce emissions from all operations at the installation and to sustain operations well into the future. It's an impressive, innovative effort."

The Fort Lewis Program establishes 25-year goals in five key areas: air, energy, water, training lands and materials. The goals were developed earlier this year at a three-day workshop that brought together representatives from Fort Lewis, McChord Air Force Base, the National Guard, U.S. General Services Administration (GSA), Washington State, Pierce County, the Puget Sound Clean Air Agency and the Clean Cities Coalition. 

A significant aspect of the Program's air quality sustainability goals is to reduce emissions from motor vehicles through the use of alternative fuels. According to Sherri Whiteman, air program manager for the Fort Lewis Public Works Environmental Office, Fort Lewis is already well on its way to meeting its objectives. "We now have eleven neighborhood electric vehicles, and are testing additional varieties of electric vehicles. We will have an alternative fueling station in place by 2007 for use by both our personnel and the surrounding community. And we are ordering alternatively fueled vehicles from GSA as we replace our fleet," says Whiteman. 

Other environmental sustainability efforts at Fort Lewis include: reducing traffic congestion; reducing air pollution during training exercises caused by driving equipment on dirt roads and by the fog oil used to produce smoke; and reducing stationary-source emissions such as through the use of low-solvent paints and using biodiesel in backup generators and boilers.

The fleet at Fort Lewis currently consists of more than 600 vehicles. Of these, 66 are capable of operating on natural gas, more than 60 are ethanol compatible and more than 100 are diesel vehicles that can be operated on biodiesel. Fort Lewis has developed a compressed natural gas fuel station in 2003 to supply natural gas to the facility's existing and future CNG vehicles. The station is temporary, as the ultimate goal is a permanent public access fuel facility supplying natural gas, biodiesel and ethanol by 2007. Similar temporary fuel stations have been installed to provide biodiesel and ethanol fuels to Fort Lewis vehicles.

The Coalition is grateful to Fort Lewis and the Clean Air Agency for their assistance in developing this article.