Graham to lead Lab's environmental programs
Michael Graham is the Laboratory's new associate director for environmental programs (ADEP). Graham succeeds Susan Stiger, who has taken a new assignment with Bechtel National.
Graham comes to Los Alamos from the Department of Energy's Savannah River Site.
"Under Susan's leadership, the Laboratory has made great strides in its performance under the New Mexico Consent Order, significantly increasing shipments of transuranic waste to WIPP, and strengthening the Laboratory's groundwater monitoring program," said Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio. "I want to personally thank Susan for putting us on a positive path for the future."
For the past two years, Graham has been president of Bechtel Savannah River Inc., the contractor responsible for more than $400 million annually of construction, environmental remediation, decommissioning, and dismantlement at the DOE site. Previously at Bechtel Savannah River, Graham was a vice president with responsibility for a variety of soil and groundwater closure projects.
Prior to his Savannah River assignments, Graham managed for Bechtel environmental cleanup and restoration work at what was then known as Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory and DOE's Hanford Site. He joined the Bechtel group of companies in 1996 following management positions with Battelle Memorial Institute (Pacific Northwest National Laboratories, Richland, Washington) and Rockwell International (Hanford Operations, Richland).
Graham earned a doctoral degree in geological sciences from Indiana University. He earned a master's degree in geological sciences from Indiana University and a bachelor's degree in science from Notre Dame.
I would guess that anybody coming from a management position at the Savannah River Facility is every bit the scumbag as the rest of the LANS upper echelon.
ReplyDeleteYet another Rechtel jerk!
ReplyDeleteWhy don't they advertise these jobs?
Welcome to LANL, Mike.
ReplyDeleteLose one Bechtelite and gain another.
ReplyDeleteLANS (aka Bechtel) sees the lab as a place they can use to play musical chairs by parking Bechtel managers. Non-Bechtel managers need not apply for any upper management positions at LANL because "the fix is in" for the Bechtel Boys. Thanks, NNSA!
These guys are carpet baggers who move from site to site within the complex every few years, upping their salaries with each move. Any loyalty they have is toward Bechtel and not to their place of official employement. They have no roots in their communities and no loyalty to the people working under them at the lab.
ReplyDeleteGiven this situation, is it any wonder that morale at LANL is falling like a rock since LANS took over?
Do we have to keep these guys once Bechtel moves on?
ReplyDeleteDo we have to keep these guys once Bechtel moves on? - 10:33 PM
ReplyDeleteWhat makes you think Bechtel will ever move on? We might as well do away with the facade of LANS and UC and just put up a big Bechtel corporate flag in front of the NSSB building. The capture is complete.
LANS is currently offering a $1500 finder's fee to any LANL employees who refers new hires for plant engineering to HR (no scientists need apply!). It's easy money for the Bechtel Boys at LANL who can use this sweet reward to bring in more of their engineering buddies from Bechtel corporate. Mikey has become Bechtal's little bee-yatch.
Anonymous at 11/9/08 12:57 PM asks:
ReplyDelete"What makes you think Bechtel will ever move on?"
S/he is correct. They aren't going anywhere. Regarless of which party is in power in Washingon, all of those scumbags are getting major contributions from the likes of Bectel. None of them gives a damn about the quality of the work done at the government labs.
Keep your head down, kiss the right asses, and hang on unti retirement.
Wow. You know, I used to consider myself a cynic, but folks on this blog make me seem like a crazed optimist.
ReplyDeleteDo you suppose there's any chance that the guy just happens to be a nice man trying to support his family and advance his career with a cool opportunity at LANL? Question Bechtel's corporate motives all you like, but that doesn't mean, by default, EVERY person working there is some sort of evil villain waiting to prey on poor LANL scientists. What personal experience do any of you have with this guy to slam his character before even giving him the chance to blow up Alderaan and have a good chuckle with the Emperor?
Bigotry doesn't have to be aimed at a race, religion, or creed to be just as ignorant and ugly. It would be nice if you paused for a second to let some facts catch up with your hypotheses (isn't that the plural of hypothesis... awww, what do I know).
Greg, stop sounding like a complete shill for LANS/Bechtel. High level positions at LANL are being routinely handed out to Bechtel managers and are not open to competition. This guy may be a fine manager, but the manner in which he got this job is open to question.
ReplyDeleteJust because you're a post-LANS new hire doesn't mean you have to tow the corporate line so tightly. Many of the old timers at LANL have been around long enough to witness the before/after damage that LANS and NNSA have inflicted on this once great laboratory.
12:55 pm: "High level positions at LANL are being routinely handed out to Bechtel managers and are not open to competition. This guy may be a fine manager, but the manner in which he got this job is open to question."
ReplyDeleteHow many corporations do you know whose upper management positions are "open to competition"? Get real, you don't work for UC anymore. This is how it works in the real world.
To 11/11/08 12:55 PM: excuse me, but you misunderstand.
ReplyDeletea) I am a former UC, pre-LANS, transition employee - you don't have to tell me about what's changed at the Lab.
b) I am not an apologist for Bechtel or LANS, and I think if you re-read my post you'll see that I don't defend either corporate entity. What I espoused is the thought that perhaps one should be judged on merits rather than by associations, alone.
c) I disapprove of cheap personal shots taken at anyone's expense, when there is no data provided to back it up.
I agree that you should criticize the processes and practices of LANS and/or Bechtel as you see fit, but what I saw in this post that provoked my comment was unproductive, personal, insults leveled at a man who has yet to earn such ire.
For example:
11/7/08 2:55 PM - "every bit the scumbag as the rest..."
11/7/08 3:57 PM - "another Rechtel jerk"
11/7/08 8:16 PM - "these guys are carpet baggers"
This trend is hardly unique to this single post, and as I've said before, such juvenile name calling is more counter productive than helpful, if people really want their opinions or observations taken seriously.
It's not about defending the Lab or Bechtel, it's about defending basic fairness, and treating individuals as human beings who at least have the opportunity to earn our respect or our contempt without a rush to judgement.
Key Personnel positions (identified in Appendix D of the contract) filled by personnel from parent companies, are normally backfilled by personnel from the same parent companies (responsible for providing the related expertise). Nothing new or mysterious.
ReplyDeleteWorked with Mr. Graham a few years ago - he has the credentials (in case you ignored his resume), knowledge, is a true professional, was respected by the envirionmental regulators, and appeared to care about the employees. Probably a good addition here if he's willing to put up with the BS. Sorry to burst your paranoid bubble.
Probably a good addition here if he's willing to put up with the BS.
ReplyDelete11/11/08 11:15 PM
Yeah, he may be a good addition but what everyone here really wants to know is... what's he getting paid to put up with the BS?
"Key Personnel positions (identified in Appendix D of the contract) filled by personnel from parent companies, are normally backfilled by personnel from the same parent companies" (11:15 PM)
ReplyDeleteYes, least we forget, LANL is now run by a huge and politically connected CONSTRUCTION company. They tend to do things like that. Thanks for reminding us, Riley.