The Pentagon's Eco-Leaders

"That is quite impressive," Toms said. "That's a half-million pounds of chemical that would have been leaked into the ozone."

The Defense Department got off to a good start because of early research efforts by Ronald S. Sheinson, also an award winner. He began performing basic research on flames and fire suppression in the mid-1970s and realized that halons would help destroy the ozone layer if they grew in popularity, which they did.

When significant research funding became available in the early 1990s, Sheinson, the head of the combustion dynamics section of the Naval Research Laboratory, was able to build on his earlier research. He said he was able to conduct "very realistic" fire tests on the old USS Shadwell, a 450-foot amphibious ship. Those tests and others at the naval lab led to a patented fire-suppression system that uses water and a replacement gas that has no effect on the ozone layer.

To help pull together research and information on ozone-depleting substances, Mullenhard established an environmental information clearinghouse for the Navy. He also helped transfer technology and data from industry sources to the Navy and other Defense agencies.

Overall, since 1990, the Defense Department has reduced its use of ozone-damaging substances by 97 percent -- from more than 16 million pounds to less than a half-million pounds.

"That's a significant thing that has been done," Mullenhard said.

Stephen Barr's e-mail address isbarrs@washpost.com.