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“TRIBUTE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S ROCKY FLATS MANAGER” mentioning the U.S. Dept. of Energy was published in the Extensions of Remarks section on pages E1214-E1215 on July 9, 2002.
The publication is reproduced in full below:
TRIBUTE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S ROCKY FLATS MANAGER
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HON. MARK UDALL
of colorado
in the house of representatives
Tuesday, July 9, 2002
Mr. UDALL of Colorado. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my appreciation for the good work of Barbara Mazurowski, the Department of Energy's manager of the Rocky Flats Field Office in Colorado. Barbara will soon be moving to DOE's national headquarters from her post overseeing the complex and monumental cleanup of the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology site after more than two years of hands-on management.
Barbara came on board during a critical time for Rocky Flats. The cleanup and closure were well underway, but concerns over worker safety, schedule and cost were ever present. She did not shy away from these challenges and met them head-on. As a result, she kept this project on track--within schedule and budget--so that we now have a good chance of seeing this site cleaned up and closed by 2006, our target date for closure.
But perhaps her most lasting legacy will be in the area of worker health and safety. When concerns were raised about the commitment of the DOE to these critically important aspects of the cleanup work, Barbara elevated this as a high priority. A number of unfortunate safety mishaps had occurred, one of these involving serious exposures to a number of workers. Following these incidents, Barbara sent a lengthy and hard-
hitting letter to Kaiser-Hill, the general contractor for the site, and insisted that the improvements be made in safety protocols. I understand such a letter was unprecedented at Rocky Flats. The end result of her intervention has been a measurable improvement in safety at the site.
These efforts and many others have earned her the respect and admiration of many, including the hard working employees at the site, both union and non-union--employees who put their health and safety on the line every day so that we can see the site closed in a timely manner. Her contribution to keeping work on schedule and her insistence on maintaining open channels of communication also have been appreciated by the local communities surrounding Rocky Flats.
Barbara also managed the site through two high profile milestones--
designating the site as a national wildlife refuge upon cleanup and closure, and complications with the plans for shipment of surplus plutonium to DOE's Savannah River site in South Carolina. Both required long hours, extensive coordination and serious attention, and throughout both she demonstrated calm, dedicated leadership.
Her work on these issues and many others will be a standard by which to judge her successor managers. We have much more work ahead at this site, much of that involving the demolition of buildings and the extensive cleanup work that still needs to be done. I hope that we can continue the progress that has been accomplished during her tenure. I wish her well and continued success in her future endeavors and ask my colleagues to join me in thanking her for her dedicated public service to Colorado and the nation.
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