Technical exchange meeting attendees (from left) Don Metzler, EM; Ken Karp, LM contractor; Mark Kautsky, LM; and Scott Den Baars, LM contractor; mingle with past and present co-workers during the meet and greet.

The first U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) and DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM) technical exchange was hosted at the LM office in Grand Junction, Colorado, on March 2, 2016. The primary goal of the technical exchange was to increase collaboration and the exchange of information between the LM program and EM’s Uranium Mill Tailings Remedial Action (UMTRA) project in Moab, Utah.

“We thought it would be a good way to build synergy between the two groups and benefit both DOE and the contractors,” said Mark Kautsky, LM Hydrologist and Site Manager.

The scope of the Moab UMTRA project is to relocate mill tailings and other contaminated materials from a former uranium-ore processing site, and offsite properties, to an engineered disposal cell in Crescent Junction, Utah. The scope also includes active groundwater remediation at the Moab site. The Crescent Junction disposal site and groundwater management will transition to LM when the Moab surface-contamination remediation is complete. DOE has completed approximately 50 percent of the project.

Dr. April Gil provides an introduction to the first EM/LM technical exchange hosted at the LM office in Grand Junction.

“LM has so much experience monitoring disposal cells. We want to tap into that experience and expertise and nurture the technical relationship. This was an obvious area for us to be able to collaborate,” said Don Metzler, Moab Federal Project Director. “With LM and EM both being DOE, our proximity, and the way our missions align, it makes sense to have a close, working relationship.”

The technical exchange reunited several LM and EM employees who previously worked together on the Moab UMTRA project, until 2007 when the Moab scope was separated into its own contract. Meeting attendees included employees from EM, the Moab Technical Assistance Contractor (TAC), the Moab Remedial Action Contractor (RAC), LM, and the LM support (LMS) contractor. Approximately 60 individuals attended the meeting.

The meeting agenda included a 30-minute meet-and-greet followed by introductions from LM Grand Junction Office Manager, Dr. April Gil, and Metzler.

The meeting’s format consisted of four 10-minute technical presentations—two presentations by LMS employees and two by EM employees—with a 5-minute question-and-answer session following each presentation.

Presentation topics and presenters were as follows:

  • “Assessing Degradation of Erosion Control Rock at Lakeview, Oregon, UMTRCA Title I Disposal Site,” Ann Houska, LMS Site Manager
  • “Groundwater Challenges on the Moab Remediation Project,” Ken Pill, TAC Groundwater Manager
  • “Persistent Secondary Contaminant Sources, Riverton Processing Site, Riverton, Wyoming,” Dr. Ray Johnson, LMS, Senior Geochemist
  • “Moab UMTRA Project Safety Management,” Jeff Biagini, RAC Project Manager
Don Metzler shares background information on the purpose and intent of the first technical exchange meeting.

Considering the eventual transfer of the Moab UMTRA project site to LM, information sharing between the two organizations has several benefits for DOE and its contractors, such as discussing lessons learned from previous challenges, and potential solutions. Kautsky feels that technical exchange meetings provide a vision of the new project transition aspect while the work is still in progress. “We [LM] are getting a real, living example of what they [EM] have to go through to construct the cell safely and successfully.”

Tentative plans are to hold technical exchanges twice yearly with the next one occurring this fall. Details of that event are in the planning stage.