SUBASE Building Dedication Marks Historic Recognition for Civilian

GROTON, Conn. (NNS) -- Naval Submarine Base New London (SUBASE) dedicated its Hazardous Waste Transfer, Storage, and Disposal Facility (TSDF) in honor of a civilian employee, April 20.

Linda J. Tirrell served more than 30 years at the base as an environmental protection specialist before succumbing to her yearlong battle with cancer in December 2010.

Tirrell is the first civilian in SUBASE's 144 year history as a naval installation to be honored with such a dedication.

"[It's] no easy feat," and "a long time in coming for Navy Team New London," said Cmdr. Michael Pennington, SUBASE executive officer

Tirrell oversaw SUBASE's transition from running the hazardous waste management program within a dated earthen bunker to pursuing the funding, design, and construction of the state-of-the-art TSDF.

"Linda Tirrell's well-recognized and major contributions to benefit the Navy have made her a SUBASE trailblazer," said Pennington.

Under Tirrell's leadership, the SUBASE TSDF successfully navigated its way through the most extensive and effective waste processing, shipping, safety, and documentation program in the northeast. Largely due to her efforts, the SUBASE TSDF averaged more than 300 turn-in documents processed per month; more than 40,000 pounds of waste processed per month; and, approximately 80-90 containers of waste shipped and manifested from the facility every three to four weeks.

As Tirrell advanced through the ranks, she would leave the TSDF and make a difference across many installations on the environmental staff of then Navy Region Northeast.

"When inspections found the program she had left behind fell below her standards, Linda returned to the TSDF to take the helm," said Pennington. "She not only righted the ship, but set it again on a course of excellence."

Tirrell's commitment to excellence and tireless dedication were consistent themes of those who spoke at the dedication.

"She did not view her job as merely a job, but also as a way of serving her Navy and her nation," said SUBASE Deputy Public Works Officer Andy Stackpole, who served as Master of Ceremonies for the dedication and was a friend and colleague of Tirrell's for many years.

"Her dedication to duty was just fantastic," said guest speaker and retired SUBASE Environmental Department Director Dick Conant. "Linda was the 'central processing unit' for the facility; she knew where everything was."

Even as Tirrell struggled with cancer, she found comfort and satisfaction in work and was reluctant to take time off.

Tirrell's husband Alan reflected on her many excuses: she would say "they need me," or that she just wanted to work "one more year, just one." He added that besides her daughters and family, one of Linda's greatest prides was "ace-ing" the TDSF's EPA inspection.

The dedication event did have some lighter moments as Stackpole and Conant joked about Tirrell's drive to construct Building 562, the TSDF, and move the program's office out of the hilltop earthen bunker. Tirrell claimed that the hill was infested with copperhead snakes and continued to frequently spot them until the new TSDF was completed. Stackpole and Conant laughed that they had "never once seen a copperhead" in the hills surrounding the facility.

"Linda was afraid of snakes," joked her father Frank Costa in response.

As a standing-room only audience watched Pennington, Stackpole, and Conant assist Tirrell's husband Alan, daughters Shelley and Koran, and parents Frank and Dorothy Costa unveil the sign for the Linda J. Tirrell Hazardous Waste Management Facility, the solemnity and significance of the occasion resonated.

"Linda's mother Dorothy and I are honored to share this day with the people who worked with our daughter...you have each shared a small portion of her life," said Frank Costa. "We are grateful for the expression of love for her and what she has accomplished."

"It is an honor, a great honor," Alan Tirrell said of his wife's historic recognition.

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