[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 148 (2002), Part 9]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page 12401]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




       TRIBUTE TO THE DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY'S ROCKY FLATS MANAGER

                                 ______
                                 

                            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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