Community welcomes green gifts
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| This building on the corner of Fresno and R streets, just in front of Community Regional Medical Center, is set to be demolished to make room for Terry's House. |
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| Groundbreaking is set for this spring on Terry's House, a hotel-like facility where families can stay while their loved ones receive critical care at Community Regional. |
Jeff Kroeker, owner of Kroeker Inc. Demolition and Recycling Contractors, recently gifted $25,000 of his services to be a part of the new Terry’s House project, in which 90% of the demolished materials will be recycled. The building previously housed Community’s communications and marketing department.
“Community Medical Centers is a vital part of our community, providing us with a Level 1 trauma center with the latest and best technologies in the medical field,” Kroeker said. “We all hope that we never have to see the inside of this facility, but if we do, we are very fortunate to have one of this caliber located so close to home.”
Leon Environmental Services contributed the asbestos survey used to read how much asbestos is in the building and PARC Environmental contributed the asbestos abatement to rid the building of any asbestos, both are requirements of the San Joaquin Valley Unified Air Pollution Control District prior to demolition to protect worker health and safety. Before demolition the Fresno City Fire Department will utilize the building for training exercises.
“Nothing goes to waste around here,” Kroeker said.
The demolition project includes all required permits from the air pollution control district including notification/abatement, demolition and a sewer cap permit from the City of Fresno and demolition of the existing structure.
“During the demolition process the debris will be segregated into building debris, landscape debris and concrete and asphalt,” Kroeker said. “All of the debris will be transported off-site to the Kroeker Inc. recycling facility for further separation and processing for re-use.”
The wood from the demolition, including trees and landscaping, will be processed through a grinder and screened according to end market specifications such as cogeneration fuel, landscape chips and dairy bedding. The metals will be separated from the debris and sent to the scrap yard, where they will be prepared and melted down for re-use. All concrete and asphalt will be recycled at the Kroeker Inc. facility and sized for re-use under freeways, roads, parking lots and driveways.
In January, Community was the first hospital network in the region to institute wide-scale recycling at its facilities for its 6,000 employees and visitors.
Community Regional was the first to launch with more than 75 recycling bins placed throughout the hospital in break rooms and the cafeteria to collect newspapers, magazines, glass, plastic and aluminum cans. The effort will eventually be rolled out to every Community facility. The regional medical center also is installing new recyclable sharp medical instrument containers throughout the hospital. A disposal company will come in three times a week to collect full containers, dispose of the contents, sterilize the containers and then return them to the hospital.
Community is working toward waste stream reduction and other ways to help the environment, working alongside Valley companies such as Kroeker Inc., Gary Sutherlin, Community project manager of facilities planning and construction says many of Community’s vendors believe in being environmentally friendly.
“The San Joaquin River quarries, such as along Old Friant Road, will soon be exhausted and there is great controversy over proposed new quarries in the Kings River and at Jesse Morrow Mountain near Sanger,” Sutherlin said.
“The more we can recycle, the less we have to quarry in sensitive areas that affects water quality, fish and other wildlife, air pollution from dust and the burning of huge amounts of diesel fuel to transport and process.”
Sutherlin also said Quiring General, one of Community’s largest contractors, uses a recycling company that sorts materials for recycling, such as steel, copper and aluminum.
“Some of the environment-friendly measures we take are mandated by law – others just make good sense health-wise and economically,” Sutherlin said.
“We all live here, and want the cleanest air and water possible,” he said. “So recycling operations that save fuel, save the natural landscape and reduce landfill material, are good for the overall environment.”
This story was reported by Rebecca Wass. She can be reached at rwass@communitymedical.org.