palmetto castle--spring 2011 web

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The U.S. Army Corps of EngineersCharleston District

BuildingStrongRelationships!

Spring 2011


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Volume 3, Issue 2 www.sac.usace.army.mil Page 2

ContentsThe Palmetto Castle is anunof cial publication author-ized under the provisions of AR 360-1. It is publishedquarterly for the U.S. ArmyCorps of Engineers, Charle-

ston District. Editorial viewsand opinions expressed arenot necessarily those of theCorps of Engineers or theDepartment of Defense.Inquiries, comments andrequests for electronic copiescan be forwarded to the edi-tor of the Palmetto Castle bye-mail to :[email protected]

Commander:Lt. Col. Jason A. Kirk 843-329-8000

Deputy, Programs andProject Management:William Stein843-329-8055

Corporate Communications

Of

ce:

Editor in Chief and PublicAffairs Of cer:Glenn E. Jeffries843-329-8123

Design Editor andPublic Affairs Specialist:Sara Corbett843-329-8174

Writer and Public AffairsSpecialist:Sean McBride843-329-8103

Features Customer Feedback-The Key to Success Page 4Organizational Development-One Persons View Page 5Chief of Engineers Visits the Charleston District Page 6A Unique Opportunity to Partner with Santee Cooper Page 8New Buildings Offer New Support to Soldiers Page 9Secretary Darcy Visits the District Page 10New Industrial Park Hopeful to Spur Business Development Page 12Celebrating Engineer Week Page 13Earth Day and AGO are a Perfect Fit Page 14Forty Under Forty Winners Page 16Serious about Safety Awards Page 16How the Presidents Budget will Affect the Charleston District Page 17

DepartmentsDistrict Commanders Message Page 3Deputy District Project Manager Column Page 4Safety Corner Page 15Here to Help Page 15

Puzzle Piece Page 17Corporate Citizen Page 18Tidbits Page 20

On the cover....

Be sure to follow us:

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http://twitter.com/CharlestonCorps

This issue features ASA-CW Jo-Ellen Darcy

The U S Army Corps of EngineersChar eston District

Building StrongRelationships!

Spring 2011

http://www.youtube.com/USACESAC (far right) who met with Sen. Lindsey Gra-ham (middle) and Rep. Tim Scott (far left)about the Charleston Harbor.
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From the Commander Greetings,

The Charleston Districts vision statement says that its in

the eyes of you, our stakeholders, that we seek to beuniversally recognized as a cadre of highly trustedand valued public engineers, scientists and profession-als in service to South Carolina and the nation. Onepart of how we determine if we are properly achiev-ing our goals is through our annual customer surveys.Thanks to all of you that recently shared your thoughtswith us via our civil works version of this survey. Weabsolutely value your input as we strive for a perfect5.0 performance. Youll learn more about the re-sults of the survey later in this issue. We are a learningorganization and our senior leadership and I commit toyou that well consistently work process improvementsthat give you the best possible outcomes.

Some of you also had the chance to provide yourthoughts on our Districts performance to our Washing-ton, D.C. leadership over the past couple of months.Youll read the speci cs about each visit later in this is-sue, but we had the pleasure of hosting both our Chiefof Engineers, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, and theAssistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, theHonorable Jo-Ellen Darcy. The Chief and Sec. ben-e ted from hearing from you during their visits on howwe, as a District, meet the expectations you have for us.While we all are faced with budget challenges, ourleaders know that trust and continued partnerships aremaintained by timely, high-quality execution each andevery day. We are very proud of our work to providesustainable water resource solutions for South Carolinaand innovative and resilient infrastructure solutions forour military and agency customers.

With this Palmetto Castle column, Ill foreshadow a bitof our summer leadership transition. It has been myabsolute pleasure and honor to meet and work with allof you during my time with Charleston District. Both mywife, Amy, and I have very much enjoyed the oppor-tunity to call South Carolina home during this two-year tour that will conclude in July. Please know thatthe trusted staff at the Charleston District will continueto meet your needs and expectations throughout ourleadership Change of Command transition. Lt. Col.

Ed Chamber-layne is lookingforward to his

tour with youand he and Imutually assureyou a seam-less/in-stridehand-off of thebaton. You,our customersand stakehold-ers, continue tobe our numberone priority andI will personallysprint to the n-ish to work your issues.

Thank you all for giving our team and me the chance tosel essly serve you and our nation.

Best regards- BUILDING STRONG!

Jason A. Kirk, P.E.Lt. Col., U.S. ArmyCommander and District Engineer

Good to Great!

Greatness is an inherently dynamic process, notan end point. The moment you think of yourselfas great, your slide toward mediocrity will havealready begun.

Jim CollinsAuthor, Good to Great
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From The Top to theBottomBy: Bill Stein, deputy district commander for planning,programs and project management

Every spring, just after the Presidents Budget is an-nounced, I travel to Washington, D.C. with the currentDistrict Engineer and the Assistant Chief of Programs &Project Management Division to meet with United StatesSenators and House Members representing South Caroli-na. We visit the members to explain what is in the budgetfor Charleston District (since we work for the President)and how the budget will affect civil works projects inSouth Carolina. This year, we visited with all eight mem-bers and their staffs over a two day period and receivedtheir feedback on what they see as important of SouthCarolinas future. While there we also ran into the Chiefof Engineers, Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, and hisboss, the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works,Ms. Jo Ellen Darcy, as they were making congressionalrounds to welcome the freshmen congressional members.

I am always in awe when we get to roam the Senate andHouse Of ce Buildings and the Capitol to meet with ourdelegation. The House of ce buildings (Cannon, Long-worth and Rayburn) are located across the street fromthe Capitol, while the Senate buildings (Russell, Hart andDirksen) are located across the street from the SenateGallery. We usually meet in the Congressmens of ce

but occasionally, when they are busy, we meet with themin committee rooms, hallways and cafeterias. We evenhad the opportunity to meet twice in the Cloak Roomdirectly behind the House Chambers that you see on C-

SPAN.

I truly wisheveryone in theDistrict couldexperience thistrip at least

once. It providesa perspectiveof how thingswork from thetop of the chaindown to thebottom. Sittingwith people whowrite the lawsfor this nation,seeing the his-tory of our coun-try everywhereyou look and marveling at the intricate architecture thatjust isnt built anymore adds a big picture to the thingswe accomplish in the District on a day-to-day basis. Weexecute projects that are budgeted for by the Presidentand that are authorized and appropriated by Congress.We execute projects that are important to our military,our environment, other federal agencies and the state ofSouth Carolina. What we do is more than individual tasksthat some days seem very routine. We are public servantswho assist other to help serve our nation. We are part ofa Project Delivery Team that includes the President andCongress. After meeting with our members of Congress,its obvious that they are very grateful for the CharlestonDistricts services.

Stein visiting with U.S. Rep. Joe Wilson

customer feedback- the key to successBy: Sean McBride

The Charleston District recently completed their annualcivil works customer survey and couldnt be happier aboutthe feedback received. Out of all the responses, the av-

erage score for the work done during the past year was4.42 out of ve. Respondents were asked to use a scaleof very unsatis ed to very satis ed to rate statementssuch as, The Corps of Engineers commitment to customersatisfaction, Delivering quality products and servicesand Always keeping me well-informed, just to namea few. Some of the comments received from customersincluded The knowledge, professionalism and product ofthe Charleston District, USACE are second to none. We, inCharleston, consider ourselves very fortunate to work witha District and Division staff that are innovative and From

day one until the completion of the project, our inputwas always sought by the Corps. The Charleston Districtthrives on customer feedback to continually work towardsthe goal of moving from good to great.

Receiving constructive comments back from customers al-lows the District to see what is being done effectively andwhat can be improved. The District wants to provide thebest customer service possible in the future.

Though the formal customer feedback survey is done onlyonce a year, the District welcomes feedback at anytime.Contact Bill Stein,843-329-8055 or [email protected], or your project manager anytime you want to tellus how we are doing.
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ORGANIZATIONAL DEVELOPMENT - ONE PERSONS VIEWBy: Mathew M. Laws, III P.E., technical services divisionchief

What if you were just given your rst opportunity to leadand build an organization? What would you need toknow? Where would you start? Who would you involve?How would you involve them? What would you do? Mostimportantly, how would you know you were making a dif-ference and having a positive effect?

Giving these questions some thought, even if you onlycontemplate this challenge for a few moments a day, canprovide you a basis to have a meaningful organizationalimpact! There are numerous mutual bene ts which resultfrom improvements in our teams joint ability to serve(one of these mutual bene ts is assuring continued missionand interesting work through excellent customer service).

Remember that, depending on timing and situation, weare all required to be both great followers and greatleaders. Its most important to learn to do both exception-ally well.

This article is meant to both challenge you and provokeyou. It is important to mention upfront that what is offeredhere is a very broad and non-traditional picture of theconcept of organization. The term organization, as it isused here, is in the context of very long-term and success-ful institutional alignments of professionals. Inherent to,

and essential in, this concept of organization are the verystrong evolutionary processes that drive constant changefrom both within and outside.

Given this big picture and dynamic notion of organiza-tion, what is the organizational context within which wemust all work to be great followers and leaders? Withinwhat organizational context must we accomplish ourdeep thinking, collaborating, changing and teamwork toachieve and create systematic positive outcomes? To-ward this end, I offer you six observations to hopefullystimulate and enhance your thought processes, as well asto encourage you to begin to build your own better andclearer notions.

Observation one: Creativity, commitment, wisdom, exper-tise and the drive to execute are within everyone in ourexceptionally skilled, highly agile, adaptable, expedi-tionary and entrepreneurial Charleston District Team. Wemust all listen well to each other if these talents are to bebrought to bear in the most effective way and in waysthat produce outcomes with lasting ef cacy.

Observation two: We are wholly interdependent on eachother in all our endeavors. Both our organizational andindividual futures are inextricably linked. Our organiza-tional reality is that there are no isolated, independentpermanent entities.

Observation three: Organizations, and all the humanswithin and outside, are living organisms, not static, per-manent structures. Therefore, they are like all things in theliving environment and are always in constant, moment-to-moment change. Organizations are also subsystemsof larger, ever-changing, nested systems. All are likecomplex ecosystems that are impermanent and constantlyadapting to their evolving niches. Each element and sys-tem is always being in uenced and shaped by the sea-sonal variations (budget cycles and leadership changes),strong winds ( rmly held organizational and individual

perspectives), tides (organizational paradigms, differingvisions of futures) and currents of the world in which theyexist (national politics, global environmental change andthe global economy).

Observation four: Within the organizational environmen-tal context described by observation three, the four rootdeterminates of the capability of all organizations andindividuals to thrive into the future will greatly dependon their exibility, interoperability (team work), adapt-ability and, ultimately, their continued relevance and ef-

fectiveness within associated larger organizational systemenvironments (i.e. our organizations ability to continuouslyevolve and focus on emerging national needs and, there-fore, yield quality and value through our stewardship tothe nation).

Observation ve: The speed and quality of our teamsjoint continuous organizational learning, the speed andquality of our team members individually learningabout the things unique to their appropriate and evolv-ing roles, our synchronization of all this smart team workand continuously leveraging the most effective emergingtechnology, will together constitute the four key dynamicsteering mechanisms by which we can all shape organi-zationally bright futures.

Observation six: Healthy, thriving organizations are iden-tical to healthy, thriving ecosystems, full of very diversespecies, arising, dissolving and repeatedly ful lling theirnatural purposes. In our thriving ecosystem, its all aboutpeople.

Continue on page 9
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Chief of Engineers Makes AnBy: Sean McBride

Lt. Gen. Robert L. Van Antwerp, Chief of Engineers forthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, visited the Charleston

District in January 2011 to be briefed on currentprojects and address employees, customers andstakeholders.

Upon arrival, Van Antwerp, the 52 nd Chief of En-gineers, met with Charleston District leadership to

discuss the state of current projects before address-ing employees at an internal town hall meeting to

share the state of the Corps at the national level. VanAntwerp gave employees the chance to ask questions

about USACE issues worldwide and provided excellentfeedback on initiatives affecting both the Charleston

District and the Corps.

That evening, the Charleston District held a receptionwhere Van Antwerp met with a small group of CharlestonDistrict customers and stakeholders. The goal of the eventwas for Van Antwerp to receive feedback directly fromcustomers on the work the District has done for them.Attendees were encouraged to speak openly with VanAntwerp about their feelings on the work the Districthas provided them with over the years.

Enabling our Chief to meet with our customers andstakeholders is right in line with our goals of attaining

customer feedback, said Lt. Col. Jason Kirk, CharlestonDistrict Commander. We wanted the Chief to know how


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mpact on The Districtour customers really feel about the work that we do on adaily basis instead of just telling him how we believe theyfeel. The event was a great way to get real feedbackdirectly from the source.

Van Antwerp wrapped up his visit to the CharlestonDistrict by visiting the eld of ce at Fort Jackson in Co-lumbia, SC. Here, he addressed the Charleston Districtemployees from the various eld of ces in the areathat werent able to make it to Charleston the daybefore. The Chief then visited several of the re-cently completed projects done by the Charleston Districtat Fort Jackson including the Armed Forces ChaplaincyCenter, the Master Resiliency Training Course and the DrillSergeant School.

Van Antwerp is the senior military of cer overseeing most

of the nations civil works infrastructure and military con-struction. He assumed command on May 18, 2007 and isresponsible for more than 37,000 civilian and 600military employees who provide project managementand construction support to 250 military installationsaround the world, as well as overseeing environmentalprotection projects and emergency response support toFEMA.

Hosting the Chief at the Charleston District was a greathonor for all those involved. The Charleston District wouldlike to thank Lt. Gen. Van Antwerp for his contributions tothe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the past four yearsand wish him well in his upcoming retirement.


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A unique opportunity to partner with santee cooper

By: Brian Wells, PE, operations branch chief

A group of 20 engineers, scientists and other CharlestonDistrict professionals recently took a trip to Moncks Corner,SC to observe the replacement of a very large Tainter gatevalve at the Pinopolis Hydropower Plant. A Tainter gate isa type of oodgate used in dams and canal locks to controlwater ow between the two bodies of water the structure isseparating.

The old, rusted Tainter valve was starting to separate on the sides.

The Pinopolis Hydropower Plant and Lock is owned andoperated by Santee Cooper, one of the Charleston Districtsclose partners at the St. Stephen Hydropower Plant. SanteeCooper is South Carolinas state-owned electric and waterutility as well as the states largest power producer. SanteeCooper is the ultimate source of electricity for two millionSouth Carolinians.

The lock at Pinopolis allows boat movement by lling withwater and lowering boats from the Cooper River intoLake Moultrie. It also operates the lock for sh passagein the spring and summer months. The 69-year-old lock,constructed in the 1930s and 1940s, is 60 feet wide, 94feet tall and 180 feet long and has a total lift height of 75feet.

Boat transportation at the Pinopolis Lock is achieved whentwo large lakeside doors open and ll the lock to the lake-level of Lake Moultrie allowing boats to oat smoothlyinto the lock. Then, the approximately six million gallons ofwater it takes to ll the lock drain down approximately 75feet to the canal-level of the Cooper River. The canal doorsthen open allowing the boats to oat out into the tailracecanal to continue on their journey.

While the Charleston District doesnt own a lock facility,

locks and lock maintenance are critical core competenciesof the Corps and the Charleston District jumped at theopportunity to see such a massive undertaking in action.

Charleston District employees met with Tom Henderson,Santee Cooper project engineer, and Jody Perry, operationssuperintendent, at the lock site. They provided an overviewof the facility, talked about their lock and the maintenancechallenges that they face and gave a presentation onthe design and procurement of the new Tainter valve. Thetechnical speci cations given for the new valve designfollowed the Corps of Engineers design guidelines.

After the brie ng and overview, the group viewed thecompletely de-watered lock and looked at the old andnew Tainter valves. The timing was perfect as the old andnew Tainter valves were sitting side by side at the top

of the dam. It provided an excellent opportunity to seeand understand the condition of the old valve and see atwhat point a new one is needed. It also gave a uniqueopportunity to compare rst-hand the differences in rivetedconstruction designs used in the early 20 th century to theall-welded construction of todays designs and fabricationmethods.

Several improvements were incorporated in the new Taintervalve that werent present in the original valves design. Forinstance, the new Tainter valve used a double skin platedesign which is considered to be the most appropriate

type for lifts as tall as those seen at the Pinopolis Locksystem. The new valve was manufactured using a highergrade of carbon steel material and coated with an epoxysystem designed for continuous submersion in water. Thevalve seals were produced from neoprene rubber andare abrasion-resistant along the sides where dragging ofthe seals occurs during operations. To prevent corrosion,the new seal assemblies integrated stainless steel backingbars and fasteners. The weight of the new Tainter valve isapproximately 14,000 lbs. as compared to the old Taintervalve which was approximately 18,000 lbs.

The tour and site visit were a huge success and a greatevent for the District participants. It helped the attendeesto see this type of equipment up close so that they have agreater appreciation and understanding of the challengesassociated with maintaining and operating these types ofcivil works assets. The visit further strengthened the Districtspartnership with a key stakeholder, Santee Cooper. Allowingthe District to observe the replacement was not somethingthat Santee Cooper had to do, but allowing the CharlestonDistricts personnel to grow in knowledge alongside themleads to better operations for both organizations in thefuture. Thank you for the great opportunity Santee Cooper!


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Volume 3, Issue 2 www.sac.usace.army.mil Page 9Continue from page 5

Its all about joint teaching and mutual mentoring; peoplelearning from each other, evolving, growing, stretchingand coming together over and over again. As mutualmentors of each other, we need to cultivate the skills ofjoyous perseverance, inventive pioneering, insightfulness,listening and understanding. We must also exhibit kind-ness and a commitment to the best in each other, andput understanding ahead of agreement (everyone hasvarying views, opinions and experiences). Our CharlestonDistrict ecosystem will contain all species and variationswith young people, old people and new people, all withunique skills and abilities, each growing, evolving, bloom-ing within their niches, fully developing their natural tal-ents and nding their unique passion to contribute. Its thework of great followers and great leaders to remove theobstacles to growth, assure fertile soil and guide individu-

als to their passion, thus assuring organizational evolutionthrough all seasons toward relevant emerging nationalneeds.

The above thoughts are just my own. There is no particu-lar right or perfect answer to the subject of organiza-tional development. These thoughts and observations areprovided for the purpose of stimulating your thoughtson this subject, and to enliven collaborative discussion,dynamic organizational improvement and contributions byall. The future is uncertain, but ripe with opportunity. Aswe move hand-in-hand down the road of our interdepen-dent destinies, I am con dent we will not be victims of thefuture, but that our future is in our hands to create.

new buildings offer support to soldiersBy: Sean McBride

The Charleston District has recently completed work on threebuildings at Fort Jackson in Columbia, SC. The Basic Train-ing Complex II ribbon cutting ceremony was held on January21, which celebrated the completion of the new buildingsand grounds for Soldiers to complete basic combat exer-cises. A month later, on February 23, the ribbon was cut onthe new Drill Sergeant School. The Drill Sergeant Schoolat Fort Jackson was built as a result of a base realignmentand closure (BRAC) decision in 2005 to consolidate the three

remaining active Army drill sergeant schools at Fort Benning,GA, Fort Leonard Wood, MO and Fort Jackson into onenew school at Fort Jackson. Finally, on March 11, the Districtparticipated in the ribbon cutting for the Starship 11000and Dual Dining Facility (DFAC). The Dual DFAC can feed upto 2,900 Soldiers in an hour, easing the meals process andgetting Soldiers back to their regular duties quickly.

Lt. Col.Kirkproudlyholds uphis pieceof theribbonat theBTC IIcelebra-tion.

Lt. Col. Jason Kirk ad-dresses the attendees atthe Starship 11000 andDFAC ribbon cutting.

The Fort Jack-son crew, whoworked hardon this project,

pose withCommand Sgt.Maj. Buxbaum,Lt. Col. Kirkand Maj. Gen.Semonite.


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assistant secretary darcy visits the districtBy: Sara Corbett

Rep.Tim Scott (left) and Sen. Lindsey Graham share a friendly st bumpprior to meeting with SCSPA.

On March 14, the Charleston District had the pleasure ofhosting Assistant Secretary of the Army-Civil Works, theHonorable Jo-Ellen Darcy. Darcy was invited to visit theCharleston area by U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham to discussdeepening the Charleston Harbor past 45 feet. While here,Darcy toured the Charleston Harbor with Sen. Graham, U.S.Rep. Tim Scott and Lt. Col. Jason Kirk, District Engineer, theSouth Carolina State Ports Authoritys (SCSPA) president,Jim Newsome, and board chairman, Bill Stern, Whit Smithand John Cameron, both of the Pilots Association, and Capt.Mike White, U.S. Coast Guards Sector Charleston.

After the harbor tour, all of the attendees met with StateSenator Hugh Leatherman, Mary Graham, representing theCharleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, and John Hassell,president of the Maritime Association to discuss deepening

Jim Newsome, SCSPA, address attendees including SC State Senator HughLeatherman, Bill Stern, SCSPA, Captain Michael White, USCG, and JohnCameron, Harbor Pilots, on the merits of deepening the port past 45 feet.the Charleston Harbor beyond 45 feet. The SCSPA talkedwith Darcy about the advantages of funding a deeper har-bor in the Charleston area and some of the challenges theport faces now. The Charleston Harbor is tidal dependant,

meaning that the post-Panamax ships can only arrive andleave during high tide.

During the day, Darcy met with the Corps, South AtlanticDivision director of programs Les Dixon and the Corps, Sa-vannah District representative Pete Oddi as well as several

other stakeholders interested in building the Jasper OceanTerminal. The Jasper Ocean Terminal is a proposed contain-er port that would be jointly owned by both SCSPA and theGeorgia Ports Authority. Stakeholders, such as State Sen.Clementa Pinckney, State Sen. Tom Davis, Jasper CountyAdministrator Andrew P. Fulghum, Bill Bethea, Chair of JointProject Of ce, and Dean Moss, member of Savannah RiverMaritime Commission, and John Cameron, discussed theirdesire to see the Jasper Ocean Terminal built and discussedthe project development process.

While here, Darcy also met with the Districts planning

branch to discuss possible changes to the feasibility studyprocess. Before the Corps can construct a project, a feasi-bility study must be done. For a large new start feasibility

Andrew King, Sen. Grahams Deputy Chief of Staff, WhitCameron enjoying their tour of the Harbor.

study, the study could take three years or more. Darcy usedthis time to solicit feedback about the possibility of speed-ing up the process to complete a study in 18 months.

The feasibility study is a lengthy process because of allthe different laws and acts that we have to take complywith, such as if there is an endangered species residing inthe area. Due to everything we have to take into account,including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), completing a study in 18 months might be dif cult to accomplishbut we would do our best, said Mark Messersmith, biologistwith the planning division. Ms. Darcy listened to everythingwe said and seemed very receptive to our feedback.

As a former elementary school teacher, Darcy was delight-


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ed to visit Charleston Charter School for Math and Sciencewhere the District had four exhibits set up for the students.The exhibits were centered around President ObamasAmerica Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative. This initiativeaims at reconnecting, protecting and conserving the publicland and parks in America.

Mark Messersmith, biologist, and Caleb Brewer, GIS spe-cialist, facilitated a reconnect exhibit. This exhibit encour-aged children to spend more time outdoors and describedactivities that they could do outside. The students workedwith Messersmith and Brewer to design a virtual park usingGoogle Earth and GIS software.

The protect exhibit was lead by Brian Williams, projectmanager, who talked about the bene ts of beach renour-ishment and how it protects our beaches. Williams shared

Sec. Darcy proudly stands in front of the Americas Great Outdoorsdisplay.

large photos of equipment that is used during a beach re-nourishment and photos of the beach renourishment processso students could visualize the methods used to protect thecoastline.

Biologists Tracy Sanders and Debbie King hosted a con-serve exhibit. The exhibit had several plants, such as aVenus Fly Trap, and different soil samples to show what canbe found in wetlands and the outdoors. King and Sand-ers explained the role that the regulatory division plays inconserving the outdoors and how the students can help withconservation.

Recycling and cutting back on your carbon footprint was thefocus of our stewardship exhibit. Adam Collias, facilitiesmanagement specialist, and Chris Fisher, owner of FisherRecycling, calculated what the carbon footprint; for an aver-age household is and ways for the students to diminish theirfootprint, for example, biking and walking as opposed to

Charleston Districts Adam Collias talks with students abodown on their carbon footprint.driving.

The students and I were most impressed by the informationpresented to us, but also by the amount of time and effortthat was evidently put into the individual presentations. Ihad students tell me that they were unaware of what theU.S. Army Corps of Engineers does and were amazed by

the amount of effort it takes to maintain our public water-ways and beaches, said Meredith Temples, Project Leadthe Way- Engineering Teacher for Charleston CharterSchool for Math and Science. The students who took partin the wetlands demonstration really enjoyed getting theirhands dirty in order to increase their understanding of thevital role wetlands perform here in South Carolina.

Darcys day concluded with a visit to Folly Beach and MorrisIsland Lighthouse where Williams briefed Darcy on eachproject and its importance to South Carolina. While at FollyBeach, Darcy had the opportunity to meet the Mayor Tim

Goodwin, Mayor of Folly Beach.

The Charleston District had a great day showing Darcy allthat the District does to build strong for South Carolina, thenation and beyond.

The planning division met with Savannah Districts PlanniBailey, South Atlantic Divisions Les Dixon and Assistant to talk about the feasbility study process.


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Volume 3, Issue 2 www.sac.usace.army.mil Page 12new industrial park hopeful to spur

business developmentBy: Dudley Patrick, project manager of ve counties and six municipalities.

The Charleston District recently participated in a ground-breaking ceremony for a new one-million-gallon watertank at the Matthews Industrial Park in Orangeburg, SC.

The water towers state-of-the-art composite design,made with a steel tank and concrete tower, will rise 180feet above the surrounding industrial park and will serveas a beacon for future development in the area. The tank

State Sen. Matthews spoke about the potential for new business devel-opment because of the water tower. Photo credit: Jim Huff of SanteeCooper

will be the rst structure to be completed at the site andis being constructed in partnership with the Lake Marion

Regional Water Agency and Orangeburg County.The ceremony began with remarks from representativesof the project. Speakers included Janie Cooper, the ViceChairman of the Lake Marion Regional Water Agency,Dalton Tresvant, Midlands Area Director for U.S. Rep. JimClyburn, Maj Kevin Wissel, Deputy District Commander atthe Charleston District, and State Sen. John W. Matthews,Jr., South Carolina Legislature District 39, for whom theindustrial park and water tank are named.

Wissel spoke about great the relationships the Charles-ton District has with all the organizations involved in theproject and how this was just another example of how theCorps is building strong to further the economic develop-ment of the area we represent.

Were here to break ground on the new water tank, butwe arent breaking new ground on our relationships, saidWissel. The Charleston District has enjoyed a seven-yearpartnership with the Lake Marion Regional Water Agencyand Orangeburg County. This relationship will result inbringing a reliable source of potable water to portions

Sen. Matthews called the future industrial park a linchpinfor economic growth in Orangeburg County. Sen. Mat-thews has been serving District 39 for 15 years and has

been very in uential in the development of the region.His diligence and drive to boost the economy of Orange-burg County led to the industrial park being named in hishonor.

Regrettably, U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn was unable to attendbut staff members, Tresvant and John Rickenbacker, at-tended on his behalf and delivered Clyburns well wishes.Clyburn has been an unwavering proponent of the LakeMarion project since 2001.

The event concluded with the four speakers, alongwith Bill McCall from Santee Cooper, the state-ownedpower company for the area, and Matthew Daoust fromCaldwell Tanks, Inc., the contractor for the project, con-ducting a ceremonial groundbreaking. The six represen-tatives turned over the rst soil signifying the beginningof the projects construction. The District joins OrangeburgCounty in hopes for a vibrant economic future for the I-26/I-95 corridor, beginning with the Matthews IndustrialPark.

The Charleston District is proud to have partaken in such

a historic event.

District Deputy Commander Maj. Kevin Wissel and projecbreak ground.


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Earth Day and AGOare a Perfect Fit!By: Tracy Dotolo Sanders, biologist

The environmental movement of the 1970s gave birthto many landmark environmental laws, such as theNational Environmental Policy Act, the Clean Water Actand the Endangered Species Act. The establishment ofEarth Day was also part of this environmental move-ment. First celebrated on April 22, 1970, Earth Dayis now recognized andcelebrated worldwideby more than one bil-lion people each year.Earth Day was estab-lished to inspire envi-ronmental awarenessand appreciation and,forty one years later,the environment is onceagain receiving na-tional attention. Termssuch as green ener-gy, climate change,hybrid cars andcarbon footprint arebeing used in main-stream vocabulary,much like the popular slogan reduce, reuse, recycle.Just last year, President Barack Obama established theAmericas Great Outdoors (AGO) initiative to reinvigo-rate the federal governments approach to conserva-tion and reconnect Americans with the lands and watersthat are used for farming, ranching, hunting, shing andrecreation.

Although the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers regulatoryprogram may not come to mind when thinking aboutEarth Day and AGO, it does have an important role in

meeting the goals of both. The mission of the regulato-ry program is to protect the nations aquatic resourceswhile allowing for fair, exible and balanced permitdecisions. In South Carolina, the Charleston Districtregulatory division carries out this mission every day.

Aquatic resources, which include wetlands and watersof the U.S., provide Americans with opportunities formany recreational activities such as wildlife watching,camping, swimming, hiking, boating and kayaking. Eachyear, the regulatory division issues numerous permits

Tracy Sanders with Debbie King talk about Americas Great Outdoors with students.Earth Day and the American Great Outdoor iniative go hand in hand since its all aboutcelebrating nature.

to private individuals, communities, local governmentsand state and federal agencies for projects relatedto AGO. These permits include the construction ofdocks, marinas, mooring buoys, public and private boatramps, parks, greentree reservoirs and more, as wellas the maintenance and improvements of managedtidal rice impoundments. In addition, preserved mitiga-

tion areas associated with permits also often includenature trails, boardwalks and bike paths.

The regulatory division not only issues permits forprojects related to AGO, but also supports the goals

of Earth Day. AlthoughEarth Day is only oneday, the regulatorydivision makes EarthDay a part of its everyday. Through pre-

application meetings,jurisdictional determi-nations and the permit-ting process, the regu-latory division is ableto work with applicantsto avoid and minimizeproject impacts toaquatic resources. Theregulatory division alsoparticipates in numer-

ous outreach events to raise awareness about aquaticresources and the Corps programs. In many cases,the audiences who attend the outreach events arenot permit applicants and have no knowledge aboutthe regulatory program or the importance of aquaticresources.

Some of the outreach events the Charleston Districtparticipates in include the Southeastern Wildlife Expo-sition, the Palmetto Sportsmans Classic, the Earth DayCelebration at Joint Base Charleston and the Charles-

ton County Earth Day Celebration at Park Circle.Through participation in these outreach events eachyear, the regulatory division has not only educatedthousands of people about the Corps regulatoryprogram and the importance of the nations aquaticresources, but has also inspired environmental aware-ness and appreciation to all those who attend.

Be sure to catch the Charleston District on ABCs Low-country Live on April 21st celebrating Earth Day.


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serious about safetyBy: John Lindsay, safety of cerThe Charleston Districts number one priority is safety so,hosting the Serious about Safety Conference in beautifulMyrtle Beach, SC during Marchwas a very anticipated event.Out of the 244 participants,there was a 50/50 split be-tween contractors and Corps ofEngineers employees. The teamof employees that helped bringthis event together was lead byBrandon Works, a civil engi-neer in the construction branch.Preparation started almost ayear ago with conference calls,team meetings and negotiationswith different hotels to nd theperfect venue and to work outall the details involved in makinga great conference.

The rst day began with opening remarks from CharlestonDistrict and South Atlantic Division leadership. During thecourse of the day, John Lindsay, Charleston District safetyof cer, and Hank Heusinkveld, Wilmington District publicaffairs specialist, shared a presentation called Safety andOverseas Contingency Operations. This included a videoof safety site visits in Afghanistan from Hanks collection thatwere taken during his recent deployment.

The second day of the conference was made up of manyconstruction related breakout sessions and attendees chosewhat sessions they thought would be most bene cial to them.Topics discussed included incident investigation, recreationalpublic safety, crane safety, fall protection, dredging safety,rigging safety, hazard communication, accident prevention,

Dennis Edwards and David Dodds are

tted for custom ear plugs at theconference.

excavation and reproo ng.

Following the keynote speaker, Mr. Bill Rigot with SavannahRiver Solutions, safety awards were given to the following

Charleston District contractors;Southern Dredging for Dredg-

ing Contractor of the Year,Corey Enterprises for CivilConstruction Contractor of theYear, Alutiiq International So-lutions, LLC for Small MilitaryConstruction Contractor ofthe Year and Clark Design/Build, LLC for Large MilitaryConstruction Contractor of theYear.

The building and implemen-

tation of a successful safetyprogram requires a concertedpersonal and team effort,

said Sid Harmon of Clark Design/Build and one of theSalute to Safety Awards winners. Attending the Seriousabout Safety Conference really gave all of us at Clark De-sign/Build, LLC a great look at the goals we are committedto in providing a safe and healthy workplace for all em-ployees, fellow workers and the general public as we striveto complete the Consolidated Drill Sergeant School Barrackswith zero incidents.

The conference was heralded as one of the best in recentmemory by many people because of its fun and informativeatmosphere.

Bubber HuttoStructural Engineer Section Chief

[email protected]

Here to Help!

Laura BoosBiologist, Regulatory, NW branch

[email protected]

James ChoateAttorney

[email protected]
http:///reader/full/www.sac.usace.army.milmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.sac.usace.army.milmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


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Volume 3, Issue 2 www.sac.usace.army.mil Page 16By: GlennJeffries

Congratula-tions to Lt.Col. JasonKirk, District

Engineer,and BrianWells, chiefof operations,for being selected for the Charleston Regional BusinessJournals Forty under 40! This annual award recognizesthe professional success and community involvement of40 people younger than 40 years old who are makingtheir mark on Charlestons business community.

The winners will be honored during a special ceremony

from 5:30 to 8 p.m. on May 3 at Alhambra Hall inMount Pleasant. All 40 winners will be featured in

the upcom-ing April 25edition of theCharleston Re-gional BusinessJournal .

The Charles-ton Districtis proud ofthese two

leaders. Their leadership is moving the CharlestonDistrict from good to GREAT. We would also like tocongratulate another federal winner, Chris Miller, theTechnical Director at SPAWAR Systems Center Atlantic.

Cant wait to see how the 2011 Class of Forty under40 continues to make their mark.

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A l u t i i q I n t e r n a t i o n a l S o l u t i o n s , L L C w o n t h e S m a l l

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How the FY 12 Presidents Budget will Affect the Charleston District

By: Sean McBride

Each year, in February, the President of the United Statesreleases the Presidents Budget, which is his recommen-dation on funding for projects and organizations overseenby the federal government. On February 14th of thisyear, President Obama released the Presidents Budgetfor scal 2012 (FY12) and it included $20.3 million forthe civil works program of the Charleston District.

The FY12 budget allocated more than $13.8 million formaintaining the Charleston Harbor; which the District hasbeen doing for the past 130 years. This is a $3.9 millionincrease from FY11 and is due to planned dredging ofthe lower harbor, upper harbor and entrance channel inthe same year. All three areas typically are not dredgedon the same cycle. Channel maintenance is key to thenations economic well-being, with 94 percent of thenations overseas commerce being carried on federally-maintained channels. With one of President Obamasinitiatives to double exports over the next ve years, thevast majority of this increased commerce would be movedon our nations federal channels.

Overall national constraints make funding the $400,000needed for the initiation of the Charleston Harbor Post45 projects feasibility study not possible at this time. TheCharleston District completed the reconnaissance phaseof the project in 2010 which did show federal interest inconducting a feasibility study for the Post 45 project.

We will use the funds we were given in the PresidentsBudget ef ciently and effectively to complete our mis-sions and provide quality service to South Carolina andthe nation, said Lt. Col. Jason Kirk, Commander andDistrict Engineer of the Charleston District.

The budget also allocated more than $5.4 million forcontinuing to operate and maintain the St. Stephen powerplant, which provides enough power to supply the energyneeded for about 40,000 homes in the Santee Cooperpower grid. This renewable source of energy producesnone of the airborne emissions that contribute to acid rainor the greenhouse effect. Also, $100,000 in funds wereallocated to continue the Edisto Island Coastal StormDamage Reduction Feasibility Study. The study is workingto nd an environmentally and economically acceptablesolution to reduce storm damage on the island.

The Presidents Budget did not provide any FY12 fundsfor projects at Lakes Marion and Moultrie, Reedy River,the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway or GeorgetownHarbor. The Budget focuses constrained resources on thehighest-performing projects, leaving some without fund-ing. The Corps nal budget is what is passed by Con-gress and signed by the President, usually in the fall.

The Charleston District uses the announcement of thePresidents Budget to begin planning for FY12 and deter-mining what steps can be taken on each project. Congresswill now conduct appropriation hearings through the endof May to discuss the budget submitted by PresidentObama. Appropriations bills for FY12 will be developedand approved by Congress from June through Septem-ber, at which point the President will then sign the FY12appropriations into law, nalizing the budget. The 2012 scal year of cially begins October 1, 2011.

Which Part of the OPLAN Puzzle are You?I support the OPLAN by preparing andexecuting the Districts budget. I alsoprovide nancial assistance and advicein every aspect of our day-to-day op-erations while maintaining stewardshipand scal accountability of funds.

-Vanessa Stoney, budget analyst


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CorporateFlorence Rotary Intrigued by I-73 project

By: Sean McBride down the street. An energetic question and answer ses-A group of Charleston District employees visited Flor-ence, SC recently to brief the local Rotary Club on theprojects developing in their area. Lt. Col. Jason Kirk,

District Commander, travelled with Tommy Fennel, regu-latory Northeast branch chief in Conway, and SteveBrumagin, biologist at the Columbia regulatory eldof ce, to the clubs weekly meeting and gave them anoverview of the missions of the Charleston District anddiscussed a prominent project in their area, Interstate73. Rotarians were eager to hear about the missions ofthe Corps and learn more about the I-73 project right

sion followed the working lunch where Kirk and Bru-magin, the project manager for I-73, elded questionsfrom several Rotarians and explained that the project

was currently on public notice. Brumagin then discussedthe process of how the Charleston District will reviewthe comments received and then incorporate these com-ments into the nal decision on the project.

Reaching out to the Rotary Club was a great way toextend the Charleston Districts reach to the distin-guished members of this long-standing group.

By: Jessica Byrd, equal employment opportunity of cer

More than 40 Charleston District team members at-tended the Districts African American History Month

Program in Feb-ruary to listen toMichael Allen,from the NationalPark Service andGullah/GeecheeHeritage CorridorCommission speak.

During his pre-sentation on theGullah culture, Al-len said the Com-mission was estab-lished by Congress

to recognize the important contributions made toAmerican culture and history, to interpret the historyand tradition and to reserve the sites for the bene t ofthe public.

He displayed items unique to the Gullah culture suchas sweet grass baskets and a Gullah dictionary. Allenhad two sweet grass baskets, one that was from Africaand one from Charleston that he compared. Allen alsoanswered speci c questions from the audience aboutdifferent aspects of the culture. The Districts SpecialEmphasis Program Committee made the event a bigsuccess.

Gullah Culture comes to life!

Michael Allen talks about Gullah traditions tothe Charleston District.

Honoring Dr. Martin Lurther King, Jr.By: Jessica Byrd

Charleston District employees attended the 11th An-nual Martin Luther King, Jr. Business and ProfessionalBreakfast on January 18, 2011 at the Gaillard Au-ditorium in Charleston, SC. The event was hosted byMayor Joseph Riley and the Young Womens ChristianAssociation (YWCA) of Greater Charleston. The guest

speakerwas Na-tionalAeronautics

and SpaceAdministra-tion ChiefAdministra-tor MajorGeneralCharles F.Bolden Jr.,

United States Marine Corps (USMC) Retired. He is the rst African American Admidst of NASA.

In his dynamic remarks, Bolden expressed his gratitudefor Dr. King, saying, Ill strive to show by example howgrateful, how proud I am to have the opportunities hehelped to make possible. Bolden challenged youngpeople to live their life by the golden rule and thestrong principles taught by Dr. King.

This event was one of the largest attended events inCharleston celebrating the life of Martin Luther King,Jr. and the Charleston District is proud to have partak-en in such a re ective day.


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CitizenBuilding an Engineer

By: Sara CorbettWhen eighth grader Courtney Napier asked to shad-ow Bubber Hutto, section chief for hydrology, hydrau-lics and geotechnical engineering, he jumped at thechance.

I feel that a large portion of the responsibility ofprofessional engineers, architects, planners, scientists,biologists and business managers is to encourage par-ticipation and training of young people who may beinterested in following in our career paths, said Hutto.

While at the Charleston District, Napier met with sev-eral people such as Carole Works, chief of engineer-ing design services, and Lauri Newkirk-Paggi, chief ofcontracting, to learn about what their worked involved,what challenges they met and overcame during theircareer and how she could prepare for a position withthe U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Promoting Engineering through BridgeBuildingBy: Sara CorbettCharleston District employees Pano Kordonis, projectengineer, and David Dodds, chief of construction, hadthe opportunity to judge a stick bridge building contest

held at TheCitadelfor localmiddle andhigh schoolstudentsas part ofNationalEngineersWeek. Allbridges

were loadtested to minimum criteria and had to meet certaindimensional criteria to qualify. There were three cat-egories for judging to be best on- most original design,most constructible and best craftsmanship.

I was a rst time judge and thoroughly enjoyed it,said Kordonis. It was obvious the students spent a lotof their time on these bridges and the winners did aterri c job!

Napier and Hutto also went to Joint Base Charleston totake a look at some of the construction that the Corpswas doing there to actually be able to see some of theprojects the District works on.

After her morning learning about the Corps, Napierwas overheard telling her mother that the CharlestonDistrict was cool!

CourtneyNapier (left)enjoyed hermorning atthe CharlestonDistrict.

Seventh Grade Erosion ConsultantsBy: Sean McBride

On March 24 th,Brian Williams, proj-ect manager, was in-vited to speak to theseventh grade earthand marine scienceclass at Porter-GaudSchool. The class isworking on a project pretending to be consultants fora resort company determining if it is a wise decisionto open a property on the beaches of Charleston. Sothe students could make an informed decision, Williamswas invited to talk about beach erosions. Pulling upan interactive map on Google Earth, Williams showed

the class the features of the local beaches. He showedthe class how erosion works when sand is moved bythe direction of the waves. Williams explained thatthe purpose of the jetties, built by the Corps of Engi-neers, is to help keep sand on the beaches by blockingsome of the oceans movement caused by carrier ships.Williams also talked about the history of the MorrisIsland lighthouse (a Charleston District project), creat-ing an environmental impact statement to determinethe effects of potential projects and the importance ofdredging and relocating sand to reduce erosion.
http://www.sac.usace.army.milpage/http://www.sac.usace.army.milpage/http://www.sac.usace.army.milpage/


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o r p o r a t e C o m m u n i c a t i o n s O f c e h a r l e s t o n D i s t r i c t

S . A r m y C o r p s o f E n g i n e e r s . 9 A H a g o o d A v e n u e

h a r l e s t o n , S C 2 9 4 0 3


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palmetto castle--spring 2011 web

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