Lance Moore
WC Monitor
7/24/2015
The selection of Douglas E. Hintze as the permanent manager of the new Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) Los Alamos Field Office has paved the way for a more fluid transition of responsibilities for the remaining legacy cleanup at the facility from the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) to EM. Hintze is a longtime DOE manager who most recently served as assistant manager for mission support at the DOE Savannah River Operations Office (DOE-SR) since September 2012. Acting EM Assistant Secretary Mark Whitney highlighted his experience as the catalyst for a positive transition. “Doug’s experience in helping to manage work at one of our largest cleanup sites makes him an excellent choice to head up the EM-LA Field Office as we continue to assume direct responsibility for the remaining legacy cleanup activities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory,” Whitney said in a press release.
The further transition of responsibility is critical to the ongoing cleanup of the environmental contamination and legacy wastes resulting from nuclear weapons development and government-sponsored nuclear research at Los Alamos (LANL). This cleanup includes program management; accountability for the cost, schedule, safety, and quality implications of all decisions relative to the overall program performance and enhancement of the EM-LA contractors’ performance. Hintze’s role will include coordination between the EM headquarters mission units, mission support offices, EM-LA, the Los Alamos NNSA Field Office, and LANL for establishing and implementing field office-specific policies, plans, and procedures.
Hintze will take the reins from Christine Gelles, associate deputy assistant energy secretary for waste management, who headed the office in an acting capacity and handled initial transition activities. Hintze and Gelles will work collaboratively to sort out effective strategies moving forward, DOE said in a press release. This cooperative effort will be effective immediately.
This renewed progress of administrative confidence and cooperation represented by Hintze’s arrival comes at an appropriate time, as DOE and management of the EM-LA Field Office have been looking point the new office in the right direction. DOE has been refining cleanup operations at Los Alamos while it passes the baton from the NNSA to EM. Quality oversight and effective operational implementation underlines the framework of this transition.
The transition has not been easy, and tests of managerial effectiveness have already occurred. This was highlighted by a May electrical incident involving serious injury. According to the report from the team investigating the incident, “An interdisciplinary, learning-focused, and joint Federal and Laboratory team investigated the causes of an electrical accident at Technical Area (TA) 53 at Los Alamos National Laboratory. This event affected nine Los Alamos employees, two of whom required hospitalization. The Joint Accident Investigation Team (JAIT) determined the direct cause of the accident to be cleaning fluid sprayed into the air gap between an energized switchgear bus and the grounded enclosure. The aerosolized fluid created a path to ground, resulting in an arc-flash. The root cause was less-than-adequate management of control implementation.”
A lab spokesman said Los Alamos management has taken steps to prevent further such incidents: “Immediately following the accident, Lab Director Charles McMillan took actions to address some of the initial electrical safety concerns raised by the accident. These included an all-staff meeting to emphasize importance of safety, reviews of electrical safety procedures, additional oversight of high-voltage electrical work, and implementation of enhanced signs and barriers around energized equipment.”
