High
What used to be office space for the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics is hauled away by personnel with the Washington Group International, Inc., in preparation for a large demolition project in Technical Area 3. During the coming months, crews will demolish the Sherwood Building and other buildings in the vicinity. Personnel who used to work in the IGPP trailers found other accommodations. The demoliton project will continue through fall. Photo by LeRoy Sanchez, Public Affairs
Sherwood-area demolition kicks into high gear
.... if I had my way,
I'd tear this building down
--Willie Johnson, Samson and Delilah
Some areas south of the Otowi Building and west of the "Horseshoe" area in Technical Area 3 will become noisier and more difficult for pedestrians to traverse as crews put a project to demolish the old Sherwood Building and other nearby buildings into high gear.
The demolition work will affect those located in the environs of the Sherwood Building (SM 105), the old credit union building - SM-452, former home of the Business Operations (BUS) Division office - and the area where the Institute for Geophysics and Planetary Physics was formerly located.
Personnel associated with the demolition project are asking people to steer clear of the area during the remainder of project, which is scheduled to be complete this fall, and to brace themselves for noise, dust and other potential short-lived annoyances that may be associated with the project.
"Safety of passersby and the safety of workers doing the job is our primary concern," said Henry Nunes of Decommissioning (FWO-D). "We are asking people to be patient throughout the demolition project and to raise their own personal awareness about potential hazards associated with a construction site. Heavy equipment and personnel will be moving in and out of the site throughout the project. We are asking people to think safety when approaching the construction site entry area or when near the site. The area may be noisy and dusty, and there will be a lot of machinery. We're asking people to cooperate with us and steer clear of the area if they possibly can."
Work to enclose the entire construction site will continue this week. A high fence will segregate the demolition site. Trailers that formerly housed IGPP already have been removed by crews from the Washington Group International, Inc., which won the contract for the project.
Once actual building demolition begins, huge truck-mounted jackhammers will break up buildings. Heavy equipment will scoop up the rubble. Those who watch the demolition progress will see the site of the Sherwood Building become a 30-foot-deep hole. The building has a deep basement set in volcanic tuff. Crews will fill the hole after the building has been demolished.
As part of the project, workers will preserve the security turnstile that provides access from the Sherwood Building to the north side of the Administration Building. Nunes said the turnstile area will be enclosed under a temporary structure.
As part of the $2.7-million contract, the Washington Group will do much of the work on a schedule designed to minimize nuisances to Lab employees. Crews will work Wednesday through Sunday and will try to perform the most intense work during the weekends.
The project is funded by Department of Energy Defense Programs and is probably one of the most visible demolition projects to be performed at the Lab.
-- James E. Rickman
Public comment sought on Material Disposal
Area H project
A workshop on the Material Disposal Area H at the Laboratory hosted by the Environmental Restoration Project (E-ER) is from 4 to 7 p.m. on Wednesday at the Department of Energy Los Alamos Area Office. The workshop is in rooms 100 and 129.
MDA-H, a site near the entrance to Technical Area 54, will be the first mesa-top material disposal area to undergo a corrective measures study. The study will identify and evaluate different alternatives for the site's management, according to Julie Canepa, program manager for the ER Project.
About one-third of an acre in size, it contains nine inactive disposal shafts six feet in diameter and 60 feet deep. They are filled with solid-form waste, much of which is non-hazardous. However, some wastes include hazardous chemicals and materials contaminated with high explosives. Radionuclides also were disposed at the site.
The workshop, co-sponsored by the Northern New Mexico Citizens Advisory Board, is seeking public input on corrective action alternatives ranging from monitoring the site to full excavation.
There are 26 MDA's at the Laboratory where waste materials have been disposed of on or below the surface. Through the corrective action process, the Environmental Protection Agency requires Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) facilities, like the Laboratory, to investigate potential releases of hazardous constituents to the environment.
The corrective action process develops and implements corrective measures to protect human health and the environment. This can be achieved through remediation, stabilization and/or monitoring. The process is flexible and structured to achieve implementation of the best action based on site-specific conditions, says Canepa.
Among the suggested alternatives for the site is maintenance of the existing cover and monitoring, installation of a new engineered cover with maintenance and monitoring, or complete excavation with waste disposed off site.
Public input is actively being sought for the alternatives. After they have been evaluated, public input will again be requested on the final selection.
For more information, contact Carmen Rodriguez at carmenr@lanl.gov by electronic mail, or call 5-6770.
For more information about the ER Project go to the ER web
page at http://erproject.lanl.gov
online.
--John Bass
Occupational Medicine receives "Laboratory Excellence Award"
Occupational Medicine's (ESH-2) clinical laboratory has received the Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation Laboratory Excellence Award. The award recognizes those agencies that demonstrate exemplary patient testing practices such as blood and urine tests, throat cultures and other medical lab diagnostic testing.
The ESH-2 clinical laboratory has been accredited by the Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation since 1996. Members of ESH-2's clinical lab team are Allen Epperson, Priscilla Hardekopf, Karyn Harrington, Carol Hughes, Teri Jones and Olivia Naranjo.
The Laboratory Excellence Award is bestowed on laboratories that complete an on-site survey and have superior laboratory safety and health practices for their patients. At its most recent COLA on-site survey on May 11, the ESH-2 clinical lab received an overall score of 100 percent on the performance report.
"Evaluation criteria focused on personnel credentials and training, policy and procedure manuals, quality control practices and records, equipment maintenance and calibration, specimen collection and test tracking systems, proficiency testing and records management," said Judy Gosling of ESH-2.
The Commission on Office Laboratory Accreditation is a nonprofit, physician-directed organization promoting quality and excellence in medicine and patient care through programs of voluntary education, achievement and accreditation. The commission is approved by the federal government and sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians, the American Medical Association, the American College of Physicians-American Society of Internal Medicine, the College of American Pathologists and the American Osteopathic Association.
"Occupational Medicine is very proud of the excellent marks our clinical laboratory continues to receive during the COLA evaluations," said Gosling. "Our staff are among the best of the best and we're very proud of them."
-- Fran Talley
Lab employees can buy savings bonds through payroll deduction
According to Melodie Moore, editor of Skinflint News, "Payroll deductions that go directly into your savings account or into U.S. Savings Bonds are an excellent way of saving, since it is money that you never see."
Laboratory employees can do just this during the Savings Bond Campaign being conducted through July 13 by Compensation and Benefits (HR-1). There are several reasons to buy savings bonds, according to Caryn Gates of HR-1. They are an excellent way to save for education expenses or other long term investment, and they offer tax advantages. Also, they are easy to buy, safe and secure, and good for America, she said.
More information about savings bonds can be found at http://www.savingsbonds.gov online.
Employees can sign up by completing a payroll deduction card available at http://bus.lanl.gov/bus1/payroll/bondform.pdf online (click on "payroll deduction card). (Adobe Acrobat Reader required).
For more information, contact Caryn Gates at 5-7566, or write to caryn@lanl.gov by electronic mail. Please include both group and Z number in benefits queries for a quicker response.
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