EM Weekly Report for 10/20/00

[Susan Gawarecki <loc@icx.net>]

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT WEEKLY REPORT

October 20, 2000

I.	Schedule

10/23	Dr. Huntoon will travel to Mound with the Secretary. 
10/23	Dr. Huntoon will speak at the International Union of Operating
Engineers Workshop to be held in Beckley, WV.
10/24	Dr. Huntoon will travel to Savannah River for an on-site review.
11/1	Dr. Huntoon will attend the State and Tribal Government Working
Group Meeting in Knoxville, TN.
	Mr. Owendoff will be Acting Assistant Secretary in her absence.

 
II	Key Departmental News

Secretary Bill Richardson to Visit Miamisburg:  At the invitation of
Mayor Dick Church, the Secretary of Energy will visit Miamisburg on
October 23.  He will participate in an event being planned by the
Miamisburg Mound Community Improvement Corporation to celebrate the
completion of its East Boundary Project.  The Secretary will meet
briefly with DOE employees before he meets with the media and then goes
on to the event that will take place at the new entrance of the Site. 
Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management, Dr. Carolyn Huntoon,
will travel with Secretary Richardson to Ohio.
Media Interest:  None
Program Contact:  Rick Provencher, 937-865-3252

State and Tribal Government Working Group (STGWG) Meeting:  STGWG will
meet in Knoxville, TN on November 1-2.  A tour of the Oak Ridge facility
will be offered on November 3.  Agenda items include Transportation,
Long-Term Stewardship, Implementation of the Department's Revised Indian
Policy, the Revised Cultural Resource Management Policy, as well as
Decontamination and Decommissioning and Integration and Disposition
activities.  Assistant Secretary  Huntoon will address the group on
November 1.
Media Interest:  None
Program Contact:  Catherine Volk, 202-586-5275

Accident Investigation Team Briefed Portsmouth on October 11, on
Chemical Accident:  An accident occurred at the Portsmouth Gaseous
Diffusion Plant on August 22, when an employee of IT Corporation
received serious burns from a violent chemical reaction.   The employee
has since been released from the hospital but is undergoing additional
medical treatment and physical therapy.  The direct cause of the
accident was the introduction of crystalline sodium thiosulfate into a
five-gallon bucket containing concentrated sodium permanganate solution.
This caused a violent chemical reaction and the employee was sprayed
with sodium permanganate which immediately ignited and severely burned
the employee.  The Type B Accident Investigation Board identified four
root causes for the accident.  The root causes centered around the
failure of UT-Battelle, Bechtel Jacobs Company, and IT management to: 
(1) analyze the hazards of all field activities; (2) implement the
hazard controls and requirements; (3) establish clear roles and
responsibilities for the planning, execution, and oversight of the
project; and, (4) establish or ensure a safety culture that implements
integrated safety management.
Media Interest:  Local
Program Contact:  Autar Rampertaap, 301-903-8191

Completion of Mixed Waste Treatment Milestone:  On October 26, a media
event is planned for local and regional media at the Hanford Site, to
announce completion of Milestone M-19, which was completed nearly two
years ahead of schedule.  The M-19 milestone for Contact-Handled Low
Level Mixed Waste (CH-MLLW) called for Hanford to treat and/or directly
dispose of at least 246 cubic meters of CH-LLMW by September 2000, 822
cubic meters by September 2001, and 1,644 cubic meters by September
2002.  This milestone was completed ahead of schedule by treating 1,654
cubic meters of CH-LLMW. 
Media Interest:  Local, Regional, Trades
Program Contact:  Erik Olds, 509-372-8656

Significant Safety Accomplishment at the Hanford Plutonium Finishing
Plant (PFP):  On October 9, the Plutonium Finishing Plant exceeded
1,000,000 safe work hours without a serious injury that kept an employee
from returning to work. This accomplishment is particularly significant
because it represents the safe works habits of PFP employees during a
time of increased operations.  The last lost workday injury was December
2, 1999.  During this time period, PFP tripled the thermal stabilization
quantities over the previous year, started up new stabilization
operations for plutonium bearing residues and solutions  (Pipe-n-Go and
magnesium hydroxide precipitation) and started up the Bagless Transfer
System.
Media Interest:  None
Program Contact:  Johnnie Newson, 301-903-4469 

III.	Work on Secretarial Initiatives

IV.	Press Inquiries

National Geographic Photographer to Visit the Savannah River Site:  On
October 25, a photographer for National Geographic will tour L-Reactor
Basin, Defense Waste Processing Facility, Solid Waste Facilities, and
the Savannah River Ecology Laboratory.  No interviews are planned during
the photographer's visit.  National Geographic is developing a story on
nuclear waste for airing in 2001 or 2002.

V.	FOIA Requests

VI.	Grants, Economic Announcements and Publications

VII.	Climate Change

VIII.	Disaster Assistance
-- 
.....................................................
Susan L. Gawarecki, Ph.D., Executive Director
Oak Ridge Reservation Local Oversight Committee
                       -----                       
The LOC newsletter "Insights" is posted on our Web site
http://www.local-oversight.org - E-mail loc@icx.net 
.....................................................
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