Feb 5, 2009

NNSA chief takes heat for Lab’s handling of beryllium disclosure

'splainin' Session - Round Two

Every once in a while I just can't let a story pass without adding my two cents worth. This is one of those occasions. Thanks to Carol Clark for reporting these... umm, gems from Don Winchell.
"just four have had some type of allergic reaction to the exposure."
To paraphrase the famous quote, "Sometimes four good people have to be taken down for the good of the institution."
“We have between 30 and 40,000 computers at the laboratory"
Translation: He can't pin down the number to within 10,000.
"I’m concerned the firefighters are more afraid of radiation than they need to be."
I'm betting all of LAFD will respond to any emergency at LANL and risk their lives to save the likes of Winchell. The real cowards are the managers who couldn't release exposure information to almost 2000 employees, contractors, and visitors to TA-41 without it first being massaged by a bunch of legal and PR types for three months.

Finally, 'splainin' Session - Round Three will be held today according to a recent comment.
There will be a meeting at LANL for employees with concerns about the Be exposure this Thursday at 8:30am.
It's not clear from the comment if contractors and visitors are allowed to attend this meeting. If any blog readers attend please send us your comments. For exposed employees, since you made health and life insurance decisions during open enrollment while information about your exposure was being suppressed, will you be allowed to change those decisions now?

By CAROL A. CLARK, The Los Alamos Monitor

County Councilor Robert Gibson didn’t mince words Tuesday in expressing displeasure in Los Alamos National Laboratory officials who failed to inform a large gathering of area leaders about the beryllium contamination last week.

Instead, officials let them all hear about it just a few hours later from the media.

DOE/NNSA Los Alamos Site Office Manager Donald Winchell Jr. attended Tuesday’s county council meeting in council chambers and Gibson spoke bluntly to him.

“Tuesday (Jan. 27) morning the Lab had 150 regional leaders in a room,” Gibson said. “The Laboratory didn’t cover that topic … that doesn’t do a whole lot for your credibility when you say things are going better ... then this bombshell hits the press later in the day.”

Winchell concurred saying the disclosure wasn’t handled well.

U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu was interested in the contamination issue, Winchell said, and was talking that same morning to the NNSA administrator.

Other officials were talking to each other, too, he said, and figuring out how best to handle the disclosure.

Winchell described the sequence of events surrounding the discovery of the contamination.

“We found the contamination in November,” he said, adding they didn’t go back into the closed up facility at TA-41 until recently.

The facility is basically a large storage vault with four smaller vaults inside, Winchell said, and the highest level of beryllium contamination was found on a shelf under one piece of equipment in one of the smaller vaults.

Beryllium affects a small portion of the population and is only dangerous when inhaled.

Councilor Vincent Chiravalle asked a number of beryllium based questions.

“Is there any evidence of the beryllium being released in the town,” he asked.

Winchell answered no and told him of the 2,000 people who have been notified of possible contamination – just four have had some type of allergic reaction to the exposure.

Winchell addressed the three Laboratory computers recently stolen from a Santa Fe home.

“We have between 30 and 40,000 computers at the laboratory … that’s a fair sized management problem … about 12,000 are laptops,” he said. “As you know, the Laboratory has been working hard on cyber security … I’m leaning hard to find a plan for the management of all these computers.”

Winchell spoke of the continuing resolution LANL is currently operating under until March 6. He added that he thinks the continuing resolution will likely remain in place through year’s end.

“That’s not all bad,” Winchell said. “The laboratory came into 2009 in pretty good shape and we don’t anticipate any cuts or layoffs.”

Winchell is encouraged by the $200 million-$300 million available in environmental funding.

“We may be facing some penalties in some of the consent order priorities because we started too late in the year to complete some of them,” he said.

Regarding the possibility of receiving some of the stimulus funding, Winchell told councilors the current budget should maintain operational needs and the environmental stimulus funding would target “shovel ready” activities intended to get things cleaned up.

On the nuclear side, he said there could be between zero and a billion dollars available.

Winchell spoke of finally signing a contract between LANL and the Los Alamos Fire Department.

“I think the fire department is working a little better,” he said. “But I’m still not satisfied with the training with regards to nuclear issues and I’m concerned the firefighters are more afraid of radiation than they need to be, I want to get them trained properly.”

Winchell also talked about the Jemez Bypass Road, which council tabled to a special March 2 meeting dedicated solely to that topic.

Resident Greg Kendall presented a petition with nearly 70 signatures requesting the entire project be tanked.

Council Vice Chair Mike Wismer asked if Winchell thought DOE would be receptive to conveying West Road to the county, which could alleviate the need for the bypass road. Winchell indicated it would be problematic to do that because of utilities and other infrastructure issues that would need to be addressed.

However, they would be willing to discuss it, he said. When pressed about events forcing the closure of surrounding roads, Winchell said there are no plans to expand LANL’s security perimeter.

The LASO office moved into a new building in July. Construction of the 25,000 square foot facility came in substantially below budget and ahead of schedule, he said.

LASO’s new building is just west of the Wellness Center parking lot in the lab’s main administrative area.

A steam plant adjacent to the old building has been remediated and removed, he said.

Once the main building is demolished, the property will be transferred to the county as part of the land transfer agreement between the county and DOE.

Following Winchell’s presentation, councilors discussed the purchase of a fountain sculpture to be placed by the skate park near the Mesa Public Library.

The motion to purchase passed. Councilor Chiravalle voted against the sculpture instead advocating for one that wouldn’t require the use of water.

Community Development Director Rick Bohn presented changes to the County’s sign code ordinance recommended by the Planning and Zoning Commission.

Council directed Bohn and County Attorney Mary McInerny to rework the code ordinance recommendations and present them at a future meeting, requesting they don’t restrict what they can’t enforce.

EDITOR’S NOTE: Details of an update on the Diamond Drive project will be addressed in a story later this week.

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Even the local County Council is beginning to have serious doubts about the carpet baggers in town who go by the name of LANS LLC.

Anonymous said...

Given the response to the Beryllium incident, it seems to be good that the BSL 3 facility never opened.

A failure in the proposed BSL 3 facility could release very hazardous biological organisms which would then grow in the bodies of the population of Los Alamos county, infecting and killing many.

Such a biological event would dwarf the possible effects of Beryllium.

Apparently LANS management would hide the knowledge of the release for months. In that time, many would be dead.

Anonymous said...

Holy shit! Where do we get these morons from? First off, and I am one of the "2000" people, the chances of meaningful beryllium exposure from the ice house vaults is near nil. However, every single building I have ever had an office at in at LANL has had one of these so-called accidental beryllium contamination sites. Every.single.one. Since I am someone who values both my life and my livelihood, I have taken it upon myself to get good (mostly outside) information on beryllium exposure and potential effects. LANS/NNSA is royally screwing this whole deal up. It is like watching the keystone cops. I am forced to wonder what will happen when they find one of the hundreds of LANL sites that have REAL beryllium contamination...not some dust under a shelf 300 feet underground. Will they send out 100,000 letters to former visitors, employees, family members etc.? Oh well, meanwhile, lets wheel out some dinosaur manager who obviously doesn't know jack shit about the contamination, the health issues, the breadth of the problem, the political implications, the history, or anything else about the issue and let him answer to the press. Incredible. Soon I expect a letter from Tom Udall telling me how concerned he is about my health. Gee thanks, Tom, but stuff it. I was concerned about this issue long before you decided to make political hay with my health.

Anonymous said...

More reasons to get rid of LANS!

All that they are paying attention to is the corporate award and the individual bonuses!

Anonymous said...

The Be meeting will be in the Physics Auditorium. So I would guess this is Lab employees only.

Anonymous said...

"just four have had some type of allergic reaction to the exposure."

To paraphrase the famous quote, "Sometimes four good people have to be taken down for the good of the institution."


Oh God, what is it with this place?

Sometimes all the good people have to go down for the good of the filth.

Anonymous said...

We as a County and the surrounding areas have kept quiet and allowed LANS to prove to us that they can handle the Lab, well it's looking like the answer is a big fat NO. I am not a Lab basher, but to keep this type of information under cover for so long, just trying to save face is criminal. The Leadership at this Labs should be hauled into Congress and explain (if possible) their actions. It is now time for us to speak up and try to save what is left of this once premier Laboratory. What other examples of a dsyfunctional Lab are we going to hear about in the next few months?
I hope DOD can straighten out this continuing mess at Los Alamos.

Anonymous said...

Energy Sec. Chu will be happy to rid himself of LANL, with all of the baggage it continuly brings to the table. Under DOD LANL will become a giant Pit Manufacturing Center, or a Rocky Flats II, this has been in the works for some time now. Remember they NNSA deemed LANL as the Pit Manuf. Center, well my friends the next phase of this plan is about to take place, LANL will be pl;aced under DOD, and then "let the games began" They can now downsize the hell out of LANL if any program does not fit into their set mission. The choices that were made in the past to rely heavily on the weapons funding has finally come home to roost, thank you Sig Hecker for your short-sighted thinking back in the 1980"s when we had a chance to re-make our mission. Now we are a full fledge weapons lab and will pay the price, which is droping in value by the day. Boy just think if only we were half and half (that is half weapons and half research).

Anonymous said...

The natives are getting restless.

Anonymous said...

my favorite quote from that article:

"On the nuclear side, he said there could be between zero and a billion dollars available."

there are so many gems in there...i don't know if it's bad reporting or if he really said that.

Frank Young said...

I've never met Carol Clark but I can say I've been reading her work for years and so far I have never seen her get the facts wrong.

Anonymous said...

Beryllium was not the only thing
found at Ta-41. It was pointed out
in the meeting today that that they
also found cadmium and lead.

Anonymous said...

It was pointed out in the meeting today that that they also found cadmium and lead. (6:23 PM)

Hmmmm, yummy!!! Now if they could only find some silver and gold, perhaps LANS could begin mining the place for a profit.

Anonymous said...

6:23 pm: "Beryllium was not the only thing
found at Ta-41. It was pointed out
in the meeting today that that they
also found cadmium and lead."

Imagine that, a bunch of substances that were used there, and were not required to be monitored or cleaned up to today's standards, were actually found! What a surprise. Round up the usual suspects and hang them!

Anonymous said...

6:23 PM: Beryllium was not the only thing found at Ta-41. It was pointed out in the meeting today that that they also found cadmium and lead.

It was further postulated that the cadmium and lead came from the paint in the area being common ingredients of paint of that era. They will conduct more tests to verify. I would suspect that all buildings at the lab of that vintage would also test positive for cadmium and lead.

Anonymous said...

Stay tuned for Livermore to announce Beryllium exposures at the Nevada Test Site affecting far more people than at LANL.

Anonymous said...

It was further postulated that the cadmium and lead came from the paint in the area being common ingredients of paint of that era. They will conduct more tests to verify. I would suspect that all buildings at the lab of that vintage would also test positive for cadmium and lead.

Well, sure. But similar to Be (and Asbestos which also can be found in vintage LANL buildings), it essentially depends on it's condition. If the paint is still in fair condition and not crumbed to dust, then you are fine. If it is the latter or the pint is disturbed, e.g. by sanding, hold your breath.

Anonymous said...

One quote in the article: '“We found the contamination in November,” he said, adding they didn’t go back into the closed up facility at TA-41 until recently' is a lie (shocker). Yes, they found the contamination in November and stopped access to the facility. In late Nov & early Dec, LANL conducted extensive sampling, which evidently showed the need for wide-scale cleanup. They did not tell us what those results were specifically, but the facility remains closed to group tours even now. What does that tell you??? I smell a lawsuit coming.

Anonymous said...

All lab buildings of that vintage are "crumbling to dust" as is the mission, science, ect, ect.

Anonymous said...

I've had the same thoughts, 5:07 PM.

The crumbling 1950's style offices, old labs and broken transportables than many on the staff are forced to use are much like a symbol of LANL, itself: Broken, dysfunctional, and slowly rotting away.

Meanwhile, back over at the new, expensive NSSB building, Mike and his buddies rule over the decaying lab in royal splendor, issuing edicts that are strangling what little is left of LANL's science.

Anonymous said...

8: 04 pm: "Meanwhile, back over at the new, expensive NSSB building, Mike and his buddies rule over the decaying lab in royal splendor, issuing edicts that are strangling what little is left of LANL's science."

In the NSSB, amid electrical wiring non-compliant with DOE security rules, filthy unsanitary restrooms, leaky pipes, cracked walkways, unsafe floor-loading limits, and disintegrating window hardware. The two-year-old infrastructure is no better off than the fifty-year-old. Taxpayers should be outraged. Definitely not "royal splendor."

Anonymous said...

"Stay tuned for Livermore to announce Beryllium exposures at the Nevada Test Site affecting far more people than at LANL."

Hey, you're way behind the times - except it was Bechtel Nevada. Not too long ago one office building at the North Las Vegas facility was torn down and another one vacated due to Be contamination. The vacated building was remediated and just recently repopulated. In the meantime, many hundreds of employees were housed in fairly expensive leased commercial space in NW Las Vegas. IIRC, they never really did find out where the contamination came from.

Anonymous said...

This sure smells of another AD Watkins cover up. When are you people at DOE going to wake up about this guy.

Anonymous said...

Two points.

1) Beryllium exists

2) We are managed by morons.

Neither is going go change.

Anonymous said...

"In the NSSB, amid electrical wiring non-compliant with DOE security rules, filthy unsanitary restrooms, leaky pipes, cracked walkways..." - 8:26 PM


What surprises me about the NSSB is that it is always so quiet and uncrowded in the hallways.

It's creepy in a way. Here you have this huge and expensive new building and yet you see very few people moving about in it. It's like some dark, cold mausoleum.

The old Admin building (now decommissioned) never felt quite like this. It seemed to always have some life or 'soul' about it even if it was getting a bit funky and dated. It's going to be a sad day when the wrecking crews show up and start bringing the old Admin building down. There were a lot of good memories that were created over the years in that place.