MOSS POINT, Miss., May 14, 2012 -- The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) has selected Northrop Grumman Corporation's (NYSE:NOC) Moss Point, Miss., Unmanned Systems Center for membership in enHance, the department's voluntary stewardship program, and has honored the company as a leader in protecting the state's environment.

Northrop Grumman earned the enHance designation of "Leader." Of the program's three categories, this level of membership is the most challenging to earn. The Moss Point facility achieved this by voluntarily implementing two significant environmental enhancement projects and a community service project:

  • Hazardous waste reduction – The Moss Point site significantly reduced its hazardous waste output by reducing its purchasing of unnecessary materials and coordinating extensively with other Northrop Grumman facilities to utilize spare and unused materials. In one year, the facility reduced hazardous waste by nearly 42 percent.
  • Volatile organic compound (VOC) reduction – The site modified its chemical review process to approve only the minimum amount of VOC-emitting chemicals and, wherever possible, to substitute those chemicals with materials producing less environmental impact. The facility also stepped up its efforts to use vapor-reducing equipment and gain tighter control over materials such as solvents and paints. In one year, the company reduced its total emissions by almost 54 percent.
  • Mississippi Coastal Cleanup – Employees at the Moss Point site participated in the annual Mississippi Coastal Cleanup, which removes trash and debris from beaches and waterways affected by Hurricane Katrina. The overall program in 2010 removed 70 tons of marine debris, spanning 144 miles of coastal waterways.

The company noted that these efforts continue at the Moss Point site.

"Earning MDEQ's 'Leader' designation took a lot of effort, and the work continues," said Site Manager Thomas E. Saulbeamer. "Environmental stewardship is vital to our business, our community and our state, and, while we're honored to earn this distinction, we're going to do all we can to keep improving."

The 101,000-square-foot Moss Point facility is one of the principal manufacturing locations for Northrop Grumman's Aerospace Systems sector. The site opened in 2006, marking southern Mississippi's entry into the aerospace manufacturing industry. Today, its skilled workforce performs major assembly work on the MQ-8B Fire Scout vertical takeoff and landing unmanned aircraft vehicle as well as ground control stations for the U.S. Navy. Its workers also build center fuselages for the high-altitude, long-endurance RQ-4 Global Hawk for the U.S. Air Force, the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance system for the U.S. Navy, and the Euro Hawk.

Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information. 

  CONTACT: Tom Henson
         (310) 625-8611
         thomas.henson@ngc.com