Base BEEs keep mission buzzing

Published July 7, 2008
By Senior Airman Tong Duong
379th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Under the blazing Southwest Asia sun, an Airman dips his arm deep into the pool to collect water samples as pool guests enjoy a hard-earned break from the non-stop mission of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing.

The contributions of base bioenvironmental engineers make opportunities like this possible by ensuring the base has clean water. This is accomplished throught the identification and determent of health hazards.

"Our primary mission in a deployed environment is water," said Maj. James Lohaus, the base bioenvironmental engineer assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group.

"Our job is to make sure water is safe and secure, whether it's water for drinking, cleaning or for use on aircraft."

Bioenvironmental technicians conduct water vulnerability assessments to determine where water is most vulnerable on base.

"We try to determine if there is a way people can come onto the base and contaminate our water and, if so, what are ways to prevent it," said Tech. Sgt. Christopher Hughes, BEE noncommissioned officer in charge. "Water is the number one thing we deal with and the most important facet of our job."

On a weekly basis, the team goes out to the 18 water sampling sites around the base to take chlorine, pH residual and bacteriological samples.

"We test for E. coli and total coliforms in the water," Sergeant Hughes said. "We also test the two swimming pools."

A majority of the time, Sergeant Hughes tests water bottles for contaminants, as the majority of the base's drinking water is bottled.

On average, the base uses about 188,000 bottles of water per month. BEEs test one percent of the water brought onto the base.

"We get approximately 20 pallets of water every other day. We are required to take a sample of one bottle of water per pallet. I take four, just to be cautious," Sergeant Hughes said.

At home station, BEEs are the liaison between the base, the Environmental Protection Agency, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

"It's our job to anticipate, identify, evaluate and control occupational, environmental and community health risks and act as the protector of the environment for the base," Major Lohaus said.

Because the base is one of the busiest in the U.S. Air Forces Central area of responsibility, with many aircraft and maintainers who support them, we also ensure the industrial hygiene and occupational safety and health of our members here, Major Lohaus said.

"My job as the base bioenvironmental engineer is to put occupational health physicians out of business," he said. "I work to protect and prevent illness and injuries from occurring."

If an Airman is painting or sanding a plane, doing maintenance on a jet or walking on the flightline, he is potentially exposed to hazardous chemicals or noise on the flightline, Major Lohaus said.

"We go out to a shop and identify a process, such as chemical hazards and certain controls associated. We then determine the personal protective equipment needed to mitigate or eliminate the risk, and tie it all together," Sergeant Hughes said. "We basically identify a problem and tell them how best to solve it."

In a recent incident regarding radiation, BEEs were called upon for their expertise. As initial responders, they used their specialized instruments to determine the type of radiation and how to protect the base from any harmful effects.

"We responded within 15 minutes and were able to evaluate the risk and identify what radioactive isotopes were present and within the hour had traffic up and running again," he said.

Depending on the type of incident, BEEs will conduct soil and air samples, to ensure the environment isn't being contaminated and that the responders are safe.

"We test to see if contaminates in the soil are going to leach, migrate or travel somewhere or if it will be picked up in the dust storm and carried away," Major Lohaus said. "The results are then quantified and brought to the attention of base leadership, so they can make informed decisions."

With the Air Force's greatest asset being its people, very rarely do Airmen deploy without BEEs, said Major Lohaus.

"Our job is to take care of Airman no matter where they are," he said. "Bioenvironmental engineers are amongst the first to arrive, along with preventative aerospace medicine and flight doctors to patch up any injuries, and public health officers to ensure they are getting safe food."

When civil engineers come out to develop a bare base, BEEs help identify where to put the waste water distribution and safe water drinking systems. The engineers are also potentially being exposed to dangerous things such as loud noises when laying down a bare base; we need to protect them as well, he said.

"The base commander states during right start briefings; mission first, return better Airmen and improve the base. You cannot do the 'mission first' without good water, and you can not have good water without BEEs," Major Lohaus said. "There is no room for error in water quality."