By Kevin Anthony

The message is simple. Clean, you might say.

While cleaning up one of the biggest environmental messes in

the United States, it’s best to leave as small a footprint as possible.

It’s an attitude that Mission Support Alliance stresses in its role as a key contractor at the Hanford nuclear reservation. And a big reason why the company has been increasing its fleet of alternative fuel vehicles, or AFVs, for more than a decade.

“You can’t clean up 1940s waste and at the same time

contribute to another environmental issue,” said Dave Baie, MSA’s director of

fleet services.

“It doesn’t take a lot of forethought to know the right way

to do it,” he added.

Mission Support Alliance’s role at the Hanford site is

taking care of the infrastructure: security, utilities, fire protection and the

like. It also maintains the 365 miles of paved roads on the 580-square-mile

reservation, as well as a fleet of 1,800 vehicles. 

MSA’s job is making sure it’s as easy as possible for

everyone else to do their job. It has some 2,000 employees on site, nearly a

quarter of the about 9,000 workers involved in the Hanford cleanup.

MSA has been evolving its fleet of cars and trucks to run on

alternative fuels since 2004. Back then, Baie said, it was less about the

environment and more about security.

“Initially when it started years ago, it was to reduce the

need of foreign fuel,” said Baie, a self-described “gear head” who has worked for

MSA at Hanford for 25 years.

The push for energy independence and security morphed into

support of an industry built around an emerging technology.

MSA has 63 hybrid vehicles and three electric, but most of

its nearly 1,000 AFVs are E-85, which means they run on fuel that is up to 85

percent ethanol.

About 20 million vehicles in the U.S. use E-85, also known

as FlexFuel. The primary component in ethanol is corn, and about 40 percent of

the corn grown in the U.S. goes toward biofuel.

Along the way, the reasons of security and industry became

more about the environment and the company’s carbon footprint.

Baie didn’t want to go too deep down the global warming

rabbit hole, but “if some of what the studies say is true, we want to minimize

our impact as much as possible.”

MSA’s fleet doesn’t include heavy trucks, which run on

traditional diesel. Mostly they are pickups, vans and small SUVs. But it does

include half-ton and one-ton four-door trucks hauling crews to off-road sites.

Once MSA decided to add AFVs to its fleet, it didn’t take

long to jump in with both feet. Within a year, half of the new vehicles it

added each year ran on alternative fuels. In fiscal year 2018, AFVs accounted

for two-thirds of the 230 added vehicles.

AFVs now make up 56 percent of the fleet.

“Our goal is to continue to get AFVs that fit with our

mission need,” Baie said, “and let the (AFV) numbers fall where they may.”

Along with the three electric cars, MSA has two charging

stations in place and two more waiting to be installed as more electric cars

are added. 

Baie said he doesn’t expect electric vehicles to make up a

significant portion of the fleet until battery technology improves. MSA’s

electric cars are two Chevy Bolts and a Nissan Leaf — not exactly something you

want to take off-road — and electric trucks don’t yet meet the company’s needs.

But, Baie added, a big breakthrough will happen sooner or

later. 

“That’s where I think we’ll be going someday,” he said.

There is an added financial cost of using AFVs. E-85 fuel costs

about 10 percent more than standard gas, and fuel efficiency is 15 percent to

20 percent less than traditional gas engines. 

The miles per gallon is not much of a concern at Hanford,

Baie said, because most of the driving is short trips or off-road, hardly

optimal miles per gallon to begin with. So, the drop off usually amounts to a

mile or two per gallon.

“The biggest thing it means to the general public is (less)

greenhouse gas production,” Baie said, adding, “We know we’re doing the right

thing.”