A method of reclaiming more than 3 1/2 million gallons of waste fuel and oil from ships being overhauled at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard has brought Matthew H. Monette of Portsmouth, Va., the shipyard's Naval Civilian Administrators Association Productivity Award for the last quarter of 1980. More than a million dollars, by the most conservative estimate, has been saved for the shipyard since the Shop 72 foreman helped devise the new system in 1979. That estimate uses 36 cents as the price for reclaimed fuel, as compared with the current outside purchase price of about $1.34.
The process uses yard barges and oil separators within the shipyard to reclaim the waste oil and fuel. About half of the fuel has been used to operate barges and various equipment, or burned in shipyard power plants that provide steam heat, power, or electricity. The rest has been sent to the Craney Island Fuel Depot for processing and use by the Navy.
A special jacket, an engraved mug, and a large certificate were presented to Mr. Monette at a staff conference. He also gained custody for three months of a special rotating plaque (photo) that goes temporarily to each new award winner.
Mr. Monette, a former Navy boilertender who has been in the yard for 15 years, is the yard's only engine and pump operator foreman. His work involves the operations of sludge barges and associated equipment, and the decontamination and cleaning of tanks aboard ships being overhauled at the yard.
NCAA Norfolk Naval Shipyard Chapter president V. Wayne Davis (left) presents a special productivity plaque to Matthew H. Monette, the fifth person in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard to be cited by the Naval Civilian Administrators Association Chapter for significant individual contributions to productivity.