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CHRIMP provides cradle to grave HAZMAT management
Story Number: NNS080428-02
4/28/2008

By Tim Shannon, U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Yokosuka Public Affairs

YOKOSUKA, Japan (NNS) -- One of the many challenges Navy leaders face every day is accomplishing their mission while juggling considerations like environmental regulations and budget cuts.

U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center (FISC) Yokosuka's Regional Hazardous Material Management Division makes this daunting task a little easier, due in part, to the Consolidated Hazardous Material Reutilization and Inventory Management Program, or CHRIMP, for short.

"The idea of our CHRIMP is to operate and manage a single Hazardous Minimization and Consolidation Center," said FISC Regional Shelf Life Coordinator, Thevepharkhorn "Ed" Malyvong. "We provide cradle to grave hazardous material (HAZMAT) procurement, receipt, issue, reuse, shelf-life management, tracking and disposal."

According to Malyvong, the Navy benefits from CHRIMP in several ways.

"CHRIMP is a real win-win deal for the Navy," he said. "The program reduces [HAZMAT] procurement costs, it promotes reuse which prevents unnecessary purchases, it reduces the amount of HAZMAT that enters the waste stream and enhances safety by ensuring proper disposal of HAZMAT."

Malyvong also mentioned that, on average, CHRIMP saves the Navy approximately $1.6 million annually and helps the Navy maintain compliance with United States, Department of Defense (DoD) and Japanese environmental governing standards regarding HAZMAT storage and disposal.

The concept behind CHRIMP may sound familiar to anyone who has ever worn hand-me-down clothes. The difference is, instead of jeans or sweaters getting passed from one child to another, viable, useable HAZMAT material is passed from one command to another. However, that doesn't necessarily mean that the second command to receive the items are getting used goods, according to FISC Hazardous Material Minimization Center (HAZMINCEN) employee, Machinist's Mate Fireman Chris Hudgens.

"A lot of the materials that are turned into us are still new," said Hudgens. "So, we can make sure that it still gets used and doesn't go to waste."

FISC's Chief Storekeeper (SW/AW) Lawrence Degracia stated that 80 percent of all Naval installations within the Commander Naval Forces Japan (CNFJ) area of responsibility (AOR) are using CHRIMP, and that the process requires a lot of oversight.

"The program is not completed, even after we've completed the CHRIMP implementation," said Degracia. "We must maintain communication between the HAZMINCEN and the customers, plus we order and issue products, store the materials, ensure that only items on a command's authorized use list are issued and that proper materials safety data sheets are used."

For more news from U.S. Fleet and Industrial Supply Center Yokosuka, visit www.navy.mil/local/fiscyokosuka/.