New Uranium Mine Team Supervisor Excited for New Challenges

Office of Legacy Management’s (LM) William Burns was recently promoted to supervisor for the LM-23 Environmental Team 3. With this new role, Burns is responsible for the Defense-Related Uranium Mines Program (DRUM), Uranium Leasing Program (ULP), and Groundwater Program. 

Burns, who previously served as the DRUM technical lead, is excited to take on the new role, which opened when LM’s Gordie Clark retired at the end of January. 

“I’m really happy that leadership gave me this opportunity and I’m excited to see where this new role leads me,” Burns said.

 Clark has nothing but full confidence in Burns to take the reins. 

“I joined the LM-23 Team in January 2022 and the past three years have been an amazing final chapter to a 41+ year military/federal career. I don’t know what the future holds for the LM-20/LM-23 team, but I can guarantee that Wil is ready to stand in the gap and the entire LM-23 team is 100% mission-ready, whatever the mission requirements are,” Clark said. “I’m excited for what the future holds for Wil and the entire team.”

After working as a geologist for many years, Burns got his start with LM on the contractor side in 2018 as the DRUM technical manager. The DRUM program is a partnership among the U.S. Department of Energy, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), state abandoned mine lands programs, and tribal governments to verify and validate conditions at a unique set of abandoned uranium mines. These historic mines provided uranium ore to the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission for defense-related activities throughout the 1940s, ‘50s, and ‘60s.

“My passion for environmental health led me to this career and has continued to drive me in this career field with LM,” Burns added. “I’ve really enjoyed the work and making a difference in the communities that contributed to the nation’s defense.” 

Since the DRUM program began in 2017, Burns’ hard work on the contract and dedication has helped the program succeed. 

In 2020, the DRUM program reached a major milestone by finishing the 1,000th verification and validation in a field visit to the Mineral Channel 3 Mine on Outlaw Mesa, which is supervised by BLM’s field office in Grand Junction, Colorado. Later that same year, LM published its 1,000th mine-specific report, aptly named the Blue Ribbon 3 Mine in the Gateway Mining District in western Colorado, on land also managed by BLM’s Grand Junction Field Office.

After four years as an LM Strategic Partner, Burns joined the federal staff at LM as the DRUM technical lead and the ULP manager in 2022.

Then in 2023, the DRUM program received the Secretary of Energy Achievement Award for its outstanding efforts in locating and assessing more than 1,500 mines and working with federal and state partners to safeguard nearly 400 mines that posed a risk to human health and the environment.

“We are so close to completing one of three parts of the DRUM campaign (2,351 of 2,354 complete). I’d like to think I helped contribute to that goal and ultimately safeguarded the hazards at some of these mines,” Burns said.

In his new role, Burns has several new responsibilities, including: 

• Advising Director Carmelo Melendez and Office of Site Operations Director Jay Glascock of site activities.
• Supervising LM-23 Environmental Team 3 (DRUM, ULP, and Groundwater Program). 
• Managing resources and planning for long-range staffing needs.  

“I’m looking forward to continuing to settle into my new role, continuing LM’s mission, and helping the DRUM, ULP, and Groundwater programs continue to succeed,” Burns said.