DOE Openness: Human Radiation Experiments: What's New Finding Aids |
Finding Aids
Workplace and Environmental Monitoring |
THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S ROCKY FLATS PLANT: VOLUME VI. WORKPLACE AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING
INTRODUCTIONOverview This introduction briefly describes the Epidemiologic Records Inventory Project and HAI's role in the project, provides a history of workplace and environmental monitoring practices at Rocky Flats, and identifies organizations contributing to workplace and environmental monitoring policies and activities. Other topics include the scope and arrangement of this volume and the organization to contact for access to these records. Comprehensive introductory and background information is available in Volume I. Other volumes in the guide pertain to administrative and general subjects, facilities and equipment, production and materials handling, waste management, and employee health. In addition, HAI has produced a subject-specific guide, titled The September 1957 Rocky Flats Fire: A Guide to Record Series of the Department of Energy and Its Contractors, which researchers should consult for further information about records related to this incident. The Epidemiologic Records Inventory Project In May 1992, the DOE Office of Epidemiology and Health Surveillance (EH-42), responsible for the coordination of all health-related activities throughout the DOE complex, directed each DOE and DOE contractor site to prepare an inventory of all records useful for worker or community health-related studies. EH-42 prepared and furnished each site with guidelines that defined epidemiologic records, provided instructions for describing record series, outlined the sites' role in inventorying epidemiologic records, and discussed the relationship of the epidemiologic inventory to DOE's comprehensive records inventory. The epidemiologic inventories should be completed in 1995. It should be noted, however, that some of the information contained in the site records inventories, such as the location of active (still in use) records or the volume of the records, may change over time. The continued usefulness of the inventories and this guide depends on their systematic update. Role of HAI BACKGROUNDHistory of Workplace and Environmental Monitoring Throughout World War II, research to develop adequate alpha-counter instruments continued at a rapid pace. Hand and foot counters, air samplers, Geiger-Mhller counters, and other survey meters had to be developed and produced in sufficient number for use in the production and research sites of the Manhattan Project. By 1952, however, sufficient progress had been made so that Rocky Flats was able to begin monitoring efforts immediately upon commencement of production. (2) Workplace monitoring was usually conducted by industrial hygienists on the Rocky Flats staff. Later, these activities were often combined with the broader environmental monitoring activities, because the functions and efforts of the two areas overlapped. Federal, state, and local government agencies and the site contractors have been actively involved in monitoring the environment (air, water, and soil) around the site for potential contaminants. These operations increased during plant expansion in the late 1950s, 1960s, and again in the early to mid-1980s. However, monitoring efforts were mostly concentrated around a handful of onsite production buildings, most notably Buildings 444, 707, 771/776, 774, 779, 881, 991, and 995. (3) Rocky Flats began issuing monthly and annual environmental monitoring reports in 1970. (4) In addition, as the federal government became more attuned to the potential hazards to the environment, it began passing numerous regulatory acts, including the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976, and the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act. This legislation, along with the 1986 Compliance Agreement and other site-specific agreements, increased DOE accountability for its actions and vastly increased the oversight and reporting requirements for environmental monitoring. (5) In 1989, DOE announced an initiative to strengthen the safety, environmental protection, and waste management activities at its facilities. "Tiger Teams" were established in conjunction with this initiative to conduct environmental compliance assessments at each site. The Tiger Team visiting Rocky Flats in June 1989 concluded that the strategies and procedures designed for sampling and reporting environmental monitoring results needed to be more comprehensive and better managed. About the same time, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided the site to investigate allegations of mismanagement and negligence. Rockwell International, the site management and operations contractor, was accused of improperly burning and dumping radioactive wastes. Rockwell eventually pled guilty to ten counts, including violations of the Clean Water Act, and agreed to pay a fine of $18.5 million. (6) Later that year, the plant ceased plutonium operations, and in 1992, EG&G, Rockwell's successor, started the transition to cleanup site status. Eventually the site will be decontaminated and decommissioned. In addition to conducting routine monitoring in work areas and the plant surroundings, plant personnel have performed asbestos removal, building safety inspections and analyses, decontamination and decommissioning planning, emergency response unit evaluations, hazard assessments, weather statistics compilation, employee training, environmental impact appraisals, and seismologic and geologic studies in an effort to protect plant workers and the environment. Workplace and Environmental Monitoring Organizations Dow Chemical Company (1952-1975) Rockwell International (1975-1989) EG&G (1990-1995) ACCESSFor more complete information regarding access to the records, please refer to Volume I. The Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Plant: A Guide to Record Series Useful for Health-Related Research. For specific information or permission to review Rocky Flats records, contact: U.S. Department of Energy SCOPEThe record series found in this volume pertain to monitoring of the workplace and the environment both on and off the site. Records in this category are usually not specific to individual employees. Record series generally consist of sampling data and environmental impact reports. Other records described in this volume are discussed above in conjuction with the contracting organizations which created them. This volume reflects information collected from research conducted during site visits from March 1994 through January 1995. Users of this volume should note that omissions are likely due to the nature of the records targeted for research. For example, the June 6, 1989, seizure of records by the FBI rendered an unknown quantity of records unavailable for review by HAI staff. Moreover, HAI team members did not inventory records stored in radiation-controlled areas. HAI relied on existing finding aids prepared for Rocky Flats records. HAI was unable to verify that these research tools include all records that may exist. In addition, researchers should note that records at all of the repositories listed in this guide may be moved, transferred to a different location, reviewed for changes in disposition authority, and changed to a different format (i.e., from paper to microfilm). ARRANGEMENTRecords series in this volume are arranged alphabetically. For further information about specific data fields in the series descriptions, please refer to Volume I. The Department of Energy's Rocky Flats Plant: A Guide to Record Series Useful for Health-Related Research.NOTES 1. Barton C. Hacker, The Dragon's Tail: Radiation Safety in the Manhattan Project, 1942-1946 (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1987), 64-66. |