The U. S. Navy Peppard Program

Abstract

The U. S. Navy is undertaking an extensive program to minimize, and eliminate, if possible, all of its environment-harming activities. This stems from the world-wide awareness of the accelerating degradation of the environment resulting from mankind’s activities. This paper will describe one element of the Navy effort: the PEPPARD Program. “PEPPARD” is an acronym for “Propellant, Explosive, Pyrotechnic Pollution Abatement Research and Development” Program. The PEPPARD program was initiated to develop pollution-free alternatives to the routine (and in some instances, not-so-routine) activities necessary to providing the U. S. Navy with ordnance. In a word, then, this paper will describe the Navy’s Research and Development effort supporting the rather extensive on-going “clean-up” program where standard engineering techniques are being employed to eliminate practices which in the past were considered “acceptable”, though sometimes annoying.