Action Line #100302– Kind Street Sweeping

  • Published
  • By 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  Complaint:

A few weeks ago, a Turkish employee on the base pointed out that the street sweeper was running with no water in it. Next he commented to the boss of the street sweeper, an American who responded in an irritated way.

Want to know who complained about the waterless street sweeper? He's one of the baggers at the commissary, the guy with horrible allergies with a swollen, flush face who frequently helps women with small children to their car with groceries to include me. I guess the street sweeper is running through the commissary parking lot with no water in it causing all kinds of stuff to be flung into the air.

Can we get the street sweeper working correctly? And we need to be so kind to and respectful of the Turkish people who work on this base. 

Response:

Thank you for the opportunity to answer your concern about street sweeper operations on base. Civil Engineering continuously strives to provide the best possible service in a professional manner - no disrespect was intended, and we sincerely regret any misunderstanding that may occurred.

The concerns expressed by the Turkish employee and yourself are certainly valid. Incirlik's Civil Engineer Squadron management has ensured our sweeper operators understand the importance of maintaining an adequate level of water in the sweeper water reservoir and will continue to pay close attention to this issue. Ensuring the sweeper has water helps reduce dust significantly. However, the water is only effective in the area immediately beneath the machine where the brushes are working. The rotational speed of the brushes creates enough air velocity that some finer dust will always get airborne.

To improve the situation further, CE will institute sweeping the Commissary and BX parking lots before 9 a.m. This will eliminate the sweepers as a source of dust after 9 a.m. and improve the immediate environment for any workers and customers passing through the area.