GM's Flint Metal Center receives environmental award

General Motors' Flint Metal Center recently won the Neighborhood Environmental Partners Program Award for its outstanding commitment to community based environmental projects. The State of Michigan Department of Environmental Quality presented the award to plant representatives at an award ceremony in Lansing, Mich.

Accepting the award on behalf of the plant was Denise Johnson, Flint Metal Center plant manager.

“As a responsible corporate citizen, Flint Metal Center is dedicated to protecting human health, natural resources and the local environment in accordance with the Environmental Principles of General Motors Corporation. Our partnership with local schools, businesses and organizations has allowed us to increase environmental awareness and improve the quality of life in our local community,” said Johnson.

Flint Metal Center actively participates in local community environmental projects, all with a single goal of environmental stewardship. Below are several examples of environmental projects that demonstrate GM’s commitment to environmental outreach.

• Project GREEN – a partnership with Global Rivers Environmental Education Network (GREEN) and Carman-Ainsworth High School to monitor the Flint River Watershed (Kearsley Creek) annually. The purpose of Project GREEN is to encourage young people to learn more about the watersheds that they live in and help them understand how their lives affect the quality of the local water.
• Earth Day Activities – annual visit to Dillon Elementary third grade classes ( Carman-Ainsworth School District) to discuss Earth Day and environmental stewardship activities. The class performs an oil/water separator experiment and learns to reduce, reuse and recycle.
• Earth Day Activities – partner with the Genesee County Association for Retarded Citizens (GCARC) to properly wrap and package 2,000 tree seedlings that are distributed to plant employees.
• Genesee County Household Hazardous Waste Collection Days – partnership with the Genesee County Health Department in which home owners can drop off unwanted or obsolete chemicals from their home for safe and proper disposal. Flint Metal Center hosted this semi-annual event in October 2008 and provided volunteers to support the activity.