Additional research action is not required, beyond preliminary research, into the circumstances of the loss, damage, or destruction of government property by discretion of the commanding officer for the following reasons:

Negligence is not indicated.

Negligence or responsibility cannot be determined for reasons that are already known.

Research is an unnecessary administrative burden.

There is no death or injury.

The total property loss, damage, or destruction does not exceed $200.

There is no possible claim against the government.

Research action is not usually required when an individual accepts responsibility for the loss, damage, or destruction of government property and offers reimbursement.

The commanding officer may authorize the supply officer to approve surveys of Navy Stock Fund material in the amount of $10,000 or less. The commanding officer is responsible for all reports of survey and is the approving authority for most Reports of Survey. The commanding officer may approve the final recommendation(s) by inserting "Approved" in block 14 of DD Form 200. Copies of Reports of Survey exceeding $100,000 must be forwarded to the type commander for final approval. DD Form 200 must be forwarded to higher authority when it lists property for which the commanding officer is personally responsible.

When the commanding officer is not authorized to take final action or for any reason desires to forward the report to higher authority, he or she should make suitable recommendations and forward the report.

APPENDIX I SILVER RECOVERY

Recovering silver from the photographic process saves the government money. These savings can come from two sources: the monetary value of recovered silver and avoiding fines from the Environmental Protection Agency.

Like most natural resources, silver is a valuable and diminishing resource. In photography, silver forms the image on most types of photographic films. Unlike many other natural resources, silver is not destroyed in the photographic process. Much of this silver can be recovered, refined, and used again.

In photography, silver is recovered from two main sources: photographic solutions and black-and-white scraps (film and paper). When most films and papers are processed, some of the silver they contain are removed in the fixing bath. With positive types of black-and-white film, as much as 80 percent of the silver that was in the emulsion may be removed during fixing. With color film and paper, close to 100 percent of the silver is removed in the fixer.

When black-and-white negative film or blackand-white paper with a high percentage of exposed area is processed, most of the silver remains in the emulsion. Most of the silver that remains in film or paper can be recovered.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

The awareness and concern for polluting our environment has brought about new legislation and stricter enforcement of existing environmental codes. Silver is one of the heavy metals that is controlled by federal, state, and local legislation. These government agencies monitor the amount of silver that is discharged into the sewer system. Each Navy imaging facility is subject to environmental codes and restrictions of the state and local area. Each state has a similar set of codes that may differ somewhat, so it is important for you to become familiar with them. For example, the maximum silver concentration limit for an imaging facility in Gulfport, Mississippi, may be 5.0 mg/L (ppm), whereas an imaging facility in San Diego, California, may be 0.05 mg/L (ppm).

Compliance with these strictly enforced local sewer code ordinances is of greater concern today than economic gain. Violations can result in severe fines. Individual violators may also be held personally responsible for such fines. An excessive concentration of silver in the effluent of a photographic processor can cause an imaging facility to be closed until the silver concentration is within acceptable limits. A copy of the sewer codes for your local area may be obtained from the sewer authority or from Navy Public Works.

SILVER RECOVERY TECHNOLOGY

A number of different methods for recovering silver from used photographic solutions are in use today. Two methods that are used commonly in Navy imaging facilities are metallic replacement and electrolytic plating.

METALLIC REPLACEMENT

The metallic replacement method uses a plastic cartridge packed tightly with steel wool. The cartridge resembles a 5-gallon bucket with tubes protruding from the cover. The system is inexpensive and well-suited for the small-volume user.

A silver recovery cartridge operates on the principle of metal ion exchange. When the fixer containing silver is passed through the cartridge, the iron in the steel wool or wire screen replaces the silver ions in the fixer. The silver then drops to the bottom of the cartridge as impure metallic silver sludge. The iron ions in the fixer are drained from the cartridge with the fixer into a drain or holding container (fig. AI-1).

In time, the filter material in the cartridge dissolves and the cartridge must be replaced. After about 80 percent of the steel wool is dissolved, the cartridge becomes inefficient and silver passes through the system. The cartridge is actually exhausted before the filter is completely dissolved. A metallic-replacement unit is capable of desilvering to a lower level than an electrolytic plating unit; therefore, some imaging facilities use electrolytic plating unit first and then send the solution through the metallic-replacement cartridge for final treatment.

Figure AI-1.-Silver recovery cartridge.