Fire danger: Moderate

A NASCAR rival?

Planes from Aero Tech Inc. of Clovis, N.M., on Monday continued to drop green hydromulch over severely burned hills and slopes in Los Alamos. The four Aero Tech planes fly from 6 a.m. until sundown, but don't fly in turbulent weather. The pilot in this picture makes one of many pit-stops during the course of a long day. Photo by Michael Carlson

Task force back on task

The Laboratory's Task Force on Enhancing Experimental Science is back at work looking at issues relative to conducting experimental science at the Laboratory.

The task force unveiled a Web site just before the Cerro Grande Fire to give employees opportunities to comment on issues they face while conducting experimental science at the Laboratory. The Web site is located at http://int.lanl.gov/taskforce/experimentalscience/index.html.

In addition to explaining the mission and goals of the task force and offering opportunities for employee input, the site also will allow employees access to various reports written by the task force, as the reports become available.

The task force has been working since mid-February to define critical issues effecting experimental science at the Laboratory, but are at a point where they hope to garner more input from employees at all levels. As employee contributions continue over the summer, the group will distill the information into a document that can be used by management to mitigate or eliminate obstacles and improve the environment for experimental science at the Lab.

Task force members hope employees will provide both anecdotal and statistical contributions to the Web site. To make a contribution, go to the Web site and click on the text link "Your Input to the Taskforce."

--Todd Hanson

Projects completed ahead of schedule and under budget Doug Volkman, left, of Engineering and A/E Services (PM-2) receives an award for exceptional performance from Walt Kirchner, director of the Project Management (PM) Division, for completion of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Upgrades Project "Stacks A." Volkman and Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico construction crews worked with the CMR Facility system engineers to complete this project ahead of schedule and under budget. The project implemented the use of a hydraulic "man-lift" to provide roof access without requiring internal CMR Facility support. Additionally, a method to remove perchloric salts was developed and used to permit welding of new materials to the existing stacks. This is the fifth subproject that has been completed to date; fifteen remain to be completed by mid-2002. These upgrades are designed to improve CMR Facility safety and support operation through the year 2010. Photo courtesy of the PM Division

Teflon sealing material in radiological service/compression fitting testing and acceptance

The Facility and Waste Operations (FWO) Division has issued a notice describing required testing and acceptance processes designed to minimize hazards associated with incorrectly installed compression fittings and misapplied Teflon sealing materials.

Additional information is available in the online notice at
http://labreq.lanl.gov/pdfs/ops/alerts/Notice0051.pdf (Adobe Acrobat required).

ERT public meeting scheduled this morning

David Gurule, area manager of the Department of Energy's Los Alamos Area Office, is hosting the fourth Emergency Rehabilitation Team public meeting today at 10 a.m. The topics of discussion will include the procedures for environmental impact documentation and the basis for permitting the actions. Members of the media and public will be able to ask questions, provide input and engage in discussions with team members. The meeting will be held in Room 100 at DOE LAAO, located at 528 35th Street, off Trinity Drive.

Protect Laboratory facilities and infrastructure

Los Alamos and Pueblo Canyons

• Construction work on the low-head weir in Los Alamos Canyon has been delayed today due to wet conditions. The construction site is receiving water from the pumping that is taking place at Los Alamos Reservoir, which had filled and become clogged in recent storms. The reservoir is being drained in preparation for additional rainfall. Construction on the weir is expected to resume tomorrow. Weirs are low walls, constructed of rock gabions, that will stretch across the canyon channels and will act to slow the flow of water and trap sediment in the event of flooding.
• Crews continue clean-up and removal of structures from Technical Area 2 in Los Alamos Canyon.
• The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continues to assess designs for a proposed weir in Pueblo Canyon.

Pajarito and Two-Mile Canyons

• Crews from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers continue work on the flood retention structure in Pajarito Canyon, upstream from Technical Area 18 (the Laboratory's criticality facility) and White Rock. The Corps is working 24 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week on the project. Crews are nearly complete with construction of the concrete batch plant (99 percent complete) and the conveyor belt system that will transport the concrete from the batch plant to the canyon bottom (98 percent complete). Today, crews continue to dig the foundation for the flood retention structure (96 percent complete), plan start-up procedures and set up a quality control lab. The goal of the concrete structure is to allow a normal flow of runoff down Pajarito Canyon, but prevent significant flooding downstream. The structure is designed to discharge the water at a controlled rate over a period of time not to exceed 96 hours.
• Further down Pajarito Canyon (just upstream from TA-18), crews have nearly completed the sheet piling protective fence around some facilities at TA-18. The main fence structure is 100 percent complete, but crews continue to install smaller metal plates to close up some remaining gaps in the sheeting. The wall is designed to prevent debris from hitting Kiva One, one of the nuclear facilities at TA-18.
• An additional Corps of Engineers crew is doing strengthening work at the intersection of Two-Mile Canyon and the abandoned Anchor Ranch Road land bridge. The land bridge is being strengthened so that it does not wash out during potential flooding and so it will act as a stormwater retention structure, helping to minimize downstream flooding. Today, crews are focused on application of shotcrete to the spillway slopes. Shotcrete is sprayed, liquid concrete designed to prevent water from penetrating or causing erosion.
• Crews continue work today strengthening State Road 501 at Two-Mile Canyon. Crews are clearing the site and preparing it for shotcrete.
• Johnson Controls Northern New Mexico crews continue to install protection around utility poles in Pajarito Canyon.

Minimize movement of contamination off Laboratory property

• Crews are approximately 55 percent complete with the removal of debris and shrapnel from R-44, a firing site located at TA-15. Laboratory officials decided to remove the shrapnel now because the vegetation and brush that used to cover it were destroyed in the fire. The shrapnel is being removed now to take advantage of the unique circumstances and meet the Laboratory's goal of environmental stewardship. Once the shrapnel is removed, it will be analyzed to determine proper disposal.

On today's bulletin board
Commuter's Corner | Parking areas around TA-3 | Parking shuttle routes (pdf) or jpeg
Leadership Center offers Management & Leadership Institutes Ski club needs volunteers to help clean up fire damage Lost: gold ring Lost: soft black leather computer case Los Alamos County to hold open house on Saturday IBM Thinkpads available through McBride ASQ Certified Quality Engineer (CQE) beginners' class continuing PC User Group meeting scheduled for July 25 Modification of schedule in Notice 0045 University Technical Representative training for subcontracts News from CJ's FSN offers sessions on how to deal with catastrophes Facility Management Work Control job types and work order types Anthro Corp. will participate in Information Technology Expo Information Assets Management, Inc. Lost: set of house/car keys Found: two black key	Pool memberships available at prorated rates Sportmen's Club hold Co-Ed Introductory Shooting class Federal Business Council host information technology expo on July 26 Training Center to offer "Fast Feedback: The Four Best Practices of Coaching Style Managers" Research Library looking for donations of books destroyed by fire Research Library offers electronic access to journals published by IEEE and IEE Los Alamos Historical Society needs essays, etc. Los Alamos Symphony Orchestra looking for strings, winds and brass players 'Project Management Toolbox' scheduled Aug. 1 through 3 Project Recovery assisting foreign nationals Mesa Public Library sponsors summer reading program TA-53 special program for its fire victims continues Franklin Covey coming in July and Aug.

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