Governor's Award for Pollution Prevention

The winners of 2004's NH Governor's P2 Award include the City of Keene, Millipore Corporation in Jaffrey, and Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership in Bristol.

In 2000, Keene was the first municipality in New Hampshire to voluntarily join the Cities for Climate Protection campaign (CCP). As part of this initiative, the City of Keene has implemented a variety of energy and cost-saving programs. The City installed a geothermal heat pump in a newly purchased older building to replace an older heating unit. It initiated public forums and workshops to involve the community in creating a local action plan. In 2002, the City's fleet services replaced diesel fuel with a blend of diesel and vegetable oil, which saved 50,000 gallons of fuel in 18 months and eliminates 417 tons of carbon dioxide per year from being produced. The Police Department installed LED lights in its traffic signals, which use 80-90 percent less energy than incandescent bulbs and require one-sixth of the maintenance of incandescent bulbs, saving on labor costs. The Police Department also implemented a Police on Bikes program, which replaces cruisers 25 percent of the time. The program eliminates six tons of carbon dioxide per year and saves the City $800 per year in gasoline.

Millipore manufactures filtration devices that are used for high technology and high purity applications in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and life science industries. This ISO 14001 certified company won the Governor's Award in 1999 and 2001, and recieved honorable mentions in 2000 and 2002. The winning initiative in 2003 was the completion of a large-scale water reuse project. The project will save the company 14 million gallons of water in a 17-month period, saving $86,000 per year.

Freudenberg-NOK General Partnership (NOKGP) in Bristol manufactures metal and rubber components used primarily in the auto industry to make oil seals. This ISO 14001 certified company was awarded the Governor's Award for its "Chemical Management for Metal Treatment" project. By careful observation and scrutiny of the chemical management of its metal treatment process, Freudenberg-NOKGP realized that more oil than needed was used for the stamping of the metal. The company reduced its stamp oil usage by 70 percent by utilizing a new technology that eliminates the chemicals needed to remove the oil at the end of the process. The company was also able to consolidate two metal treatment locations into one and combine three machines into one, while increasing their overall metal production by 80 percent. Overall, the project eliminated the use of over 67,000 gallons of chemicals per year and saved the company $300,000 per year.