Located in the Department of Energy, the Office of Legacy Management (LM) oversees former nuclear weapons complex sites that have undergone clean up of radioactive and other hazardous wastes. LM currently manages more than 100 sites located throughout the country, performing a variety of functions from soil monitoring to benefits distribution for former contract workers.
During the second half of the 20th century, the US spent approximately $300 billion on nuclear weapons research, production and testing to amass an arsenal of 32,000 warheads in preparation for nuclear warfare with the former Soviet Union. At its peak the nuclear weapons complex—managed by the Atomic Energy Commission and later its successor, the Department of Energy (DOE)—consisted of 16 major facilities and dozens of smaller ones, including vast reservations of land in the states of Nevada, Tennessee, Idaho, Washington and South Carolina. It ranged from tracts of isolated desert in Nevada, where weapons were tested, to warehouses in downtown New York that once stored uranium. Its national laboratories in New Mexico and California designed weapons with production of various components in Colorado, Florida, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee and Washington.
The nuclear weapons complex generated vast amounts of waste, pollution and contamination. By one account, the US was left with 91 million gallons of high-level waste left over from plutonium processing, scores of tons of plutonium, more than half a million tons of depleted uranium, millions of cubic feet of contaminated tools, metal scraps, clothing, oils, solvents, and other waste, plus some 265 million tons of tailings from milling uranium ore. Some of the most serious contamination existed at three locations where uranium was enriched: East Tennessee Technology Park (ETTP); the Paducah Gaseous Diffusion Plant in western Kentucky; and the Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant in south-central Ohio.
As the Cold War came to an end, DOE officials began downsizing the nuclear weapons complex. It closed facilities such as ETTP, the Fernald uranium processing plant and Rocky Flats manufacturing plant, where decades of assembling nuclear warhead produced one of the most polluted places in the United States. The price tag for clean up at all weapons complex sites was estimated at $155 billion. This included unique radiation hazards, unprecedented volumes of contaminated water and soil and a vast number of contaminated structures ranging from reactors to chemical plants for extracting nuclear materials to evaporation ponds.
The federal government began appropriating billions of dollars in the 1990s to clean up former nuclear weapons facilities. DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM), charged with overseeing the work, has made progress over the past 15 years disposing radioactive waste, contaminated buildings and other materials from Fernald, Rocky Flats and other sites. Clean up at both Fernald and Rocky Flats was officially completed in 2007.
Even after all dangerous substances had been removed, DOE officials realized their work wasn’t entirely over. Monitoring of the sites needed to be conducted to ensure there was no unaccounted for radiation in the soil. There were other legacy issues as well, related to local communities impacted by the closing of weapons facilities including the provision of benefits and heath care for former contractor employees and the storage of records for these now disbanded facilities. In 2003, DOE turned the 9-year-old Office of Worker and Community Transition into the newly created Office of Legacy Management (LM) to handle these concerns.
US Map showing location of sites that LM oversees
Located in the Department of Energy, the Office of Legacy Management (LM) picks up where DOE’s Office of Environmental Management (EM) leaves off. Once clean up at former nuclear weapons facilities is completed by EM, LM takes over the location to manage any remaining environmental and human issues. LM currently manages more than 100 sites located throughout the country. The office is responsible for managing issues consisting of site monitoring, property management, grants to assist local communities affected by facility closure, records storage and pensions, health care and life insurance for former workers.
Office of Site Operations oversees safety policies that apply to sites that LM manages. The office also is in charge of long-term surveillance and maintenance systems. When sites are cleaned up, contaminated top soil is sometimes stripped off and replaced with new earth. LM’s surveillance, which involves its Environmental Sciences Laboratory, tests soil samples to make sure any buried contaminated earth does not pose a risk to human health.
Office of Property Management and Community Assistance helps affected communities by providing community transition grants. Through section 3161 of the Defense Authorization Act of 1993, DOE initiated a community transition program in 1993 to minimize the social and economic impacts of work force restructuring on communities surrounding DOE facilities. The program encourages communities to establish Community Reuse Organizations (CROs) in order to receive grants that help establish new jobs to replace those lost by the closure of a nuclear weapons complex site. Since the program’s inception, 15 communities have established CROs, and Congress has authorized $284 million in funding for community transition activities. Currently the LM lists only nine CROs that are in operation. With these funds, CROs have created a total of 42,750 jobs at a cost of $6,040 per job. Funding, however, for community activities has declined sharply in recent years and is not expected to continue.
Office of Property Management oversees stewardship of lands under LM’s authority. The office works to create reuse plans for restored sites, leasing them for either public or private use. To accomplish this, LM implements DOE land use planning processes that take into account economic, ecological, social and cultural factors surrounding each facility or parcel of land.
Office of Legacy Benefits, Work Force Restructuring and Labor Management Relations implements the Legacy Management Post-Closure Benefits (PCB) Program that makes sure former contractor workers receive their pensions and medical benefits after closure of a site or facility. Managing pensions and health benefits are by far LM’s largest responsibility, absorbing almost three-quarters of LM’s annual budget. When funding allows, this office also assists displaced workers through the Displaced Worker Medical Benefits Program and provides tuition reimbursement, relocation assistance and outplacement assistance.
Office of Business Operations takes care of thousands of records formerly maintained at sites when they were in operation. This duty involves information collection, storage and destruction.
Uranium Leasing Program: In addition to working on former nuclear weapons-related sites, LM manages DOE’s Uranium Leasing Program. Under this program LM leases 32 tracts of land (25,000 acres) located in southwestern Colorado to mining companies that dig for uranium ore. The 32 tracts contain only 2% of the nation’s known uranium reserves.
Jan-March 2008 Program Update
(PDF)
Because LM assumes control of sites after clean up is completed, the office does not engage with large private contractors like the Office of Environmental Management does. Instead, LM works more with state environmental agencies and local public interest and environmental organizations.
For instance, a handful of the more than 100 sites managed by LM are those where underground nuclear tests were conducted in the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s. Some of these sites are outside Nevada, where the vast majority of nuclear tests were conducted. These non-Nevada tests sites were found in Mississippi, New Mexico, Colorado and Alaska.
The Amchitka site, located at the very end of the Aleutian Islands off the coast of Alaska, was the home of the largest underground nuclear explosion ever conducted by the US (approximately five megatons). LM deals with the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation in managing the Amchitka site. For the Salmon site in Mississippi, LM works with the Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality and the Mississippi Department of Health. The two New Mexico sites, Gasbuggy and Gnome-Coach, are overseen by the New Mexico Environment Department. The regulatory oversight process for Colorado’s Rulison and Rio Blanco sites involves collaboration with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment and the Colorado Oil and Gas Conservation Commission
In the case of Rocky Flats stakeholders, LM deals with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, the US Environmental Protection Agency (which at one time had Rocky Flats on its Superfund list), the Rocky Flats Stewardship Council as well of residents of Boulder County and numerous small towns in the region. Clean up of the site was completed by Kaiser-Hill, which continues to perform some end-of-contract responsibilities.
For Fernald stakeholders, where the former uranium processing site has been turned into a nature preserve, LM works with the Fernald Citizens Advisory Board. Fluor, an international engineering and construction firm, was the contractor that tore down the plant and turned the area into 1,050 acres of grass and native plants.
LM’s
map
of sites it manages includes links with information about local stakeholders involved in legacy operations.
Uranium Leasing Program Faulted over Royalty Collections
In January 2008, DOE’s inspector general issued a report (PDF) faulting the Office of Legacy Management for not collecting royalties on time from mining companies. The royalties were part of the Uranium Leasing Program that LM oversees for DOE.
In some instances, LM had not collected royalties for two years. The IG also found that LM had not reviewed its methodology for calculating royalties since 1982, despite increasing demand for uranium.
The inspector general’s office recommended that LM conduct periodic reviews of
royalties to make sure they reflect current market conditions, and that it take steps to collect royalties when they are due. LM officials agreed with the findings.
Overall, LM did not collect 17% of royalties on time in 2006 and 2007, representing $700,000 in payments. A story by Platts news service paraphrased LM director Michael Owen as saying that “during that time his staff was focused primarily on completing a programmatic environmental assessment necessary for a new round of leasing”—in other words it was too busy giving out new leases instead of collecting money on the ones it already was managing.
Round Up of Nuclear News
(Platts News Service)
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Founded: 2003
Annual Budget: $188.8 million
Employees: 81
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Office of Legacy Management
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Energy Secretary Spencer Abraham appointed Michael Owen director of the Office of Legacy Management upon its creation in 2003. From 1973 to 1985, Owen served as chief of staff to Congresswoman Marjorie Holt (R-MD). From 1985 to 1994, he served as assistant secretary of the US Army and principal deputy assistant secretary of installations, logistics and environment for the Army. In this latter capacity, Owen had oversight responsibility for numerous programs under the Army Corps of Engineers and was responsible for managing the Army’s base closure and resultant environmental cleanup efforts. He was also responsible for the Army’s conventional and chemical munitions demilitarization programs.
From 1994 to 1996, Owen served as vice president of Allied Research, where he was responsible for commercial and government markets in environmental remediation processes and services. He then served as president of Governmental Strategies, Inc., a lobbying firm specializing in environmental issues. Before taking charge of LM, Owen was the director of DOE’s Office of Worker and Community Transition.
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