LM Site Manager Stephen Pitton presents the work being performed at remote site in Aleutian Islands.
March 1, 2023
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The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Office of Legacy Management (LM) was a proud participant at the 25th annual Alaska Forum on the Environment conference at the Dena’ina Center in Anchorage, Alaska. The event was billed as the largest environmental conference in Alaska. Attendees included environmental professionals, government agencies, conservationists, biologists, and nonprofit and for-profit businesses.
Amchitka, Alaska, Site Manager Stephen Pitton discusses LM’s ongoing surveillance and maintenance work at the remote location in the western Aleutian Island chain during the Alaska Forum on the Environment in Anchorage on Feb. 8.
The conference in early February featured speakers from various governmental entities, community leaders, tribal elders, and Alaska youth, and attendees and exhibitors participated in-person and virtually. LM hosted an exhibit, and Amchitka, Alaska, Site Manager Stephen Pitton presented about long-term stewardship activities at the site.
LM staff and support contractors attended the Alaska Forum on the Environment in early February. From left, Amchitka Site Lead Mary Holder; Tribal Specialist Shine Salt; Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act and Nevada Offsites Team Lead Paul Kerl; Site Manager Jalena Dayvault; Site Manager Stephen Pitton; and Program Communications Specialist Shawn Montgomery.
During his presentation, Pitton told attendees LM has two Amchitka site objectives. “One is to make sure there is no test-related contamination in the marine environment,” he said, “and, two, is to determine if the subsistence and commercial catch food resources are safe.”
In the 1960s and 1970s the U.S. Department of Defense and the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission used the Amchitka site, which is near the western end of the Aleutian Island chain, to conduct underground nuclear tests. Then, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service took over managing the island after the site was decommissioned in 1993. Now, LM manages Amchitka site long-term surveillance and maintenance, including maintaining site records, marine and terrestrial environmental monitoring, and monitoring and maintaining seven mud pit caps.
Amchitka Island is located at the western end of the Aleutian Islands, 1,300 miles west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
Amchitka Island is located at the western end of the Aleutian Islands, 1,300 miles west-southwest of Anchorage, Alaska.
Because reaching the remote, uninhabited island is difficult, Pitton said the LM team completed as much work as possible. “We had a great team that went out there and coordinated all these logistics,” he said. “It’s something we’re not used to in the lower 48. You can’t just go down to the local hardware store if you forget something.”
During his presentation at the Alaska forum, Site Manager Stephen Pitton discussed the maintenance and repair work the LM team performed at Amchitka in spring 2022. The team flew in and out from Adak and set up camp at the end of Fox Runway.
Pitton also presented on:
- LM history.
- The environmental sampling program.
- Current and past Amchitka site activities and work.
- The 2022 Amchitka repair and investigation effort
The exhibit ended with a discussion about upcoming work. “Our responsibility now under LM is to continue monitoring and inspections approximately every five years and perform any maintenance needed,” Pitton said.
LM members also took advantage of this very effective platform to engage with many key and essential stakeholders in the region, forge stronger relations, and help set the stage for and refine our engagement going forward.
For more information on the Alaska Forum please visit: https://akforum.org/ Watch a video of LM’s maintenance and repair work at Amchitka Island in May 2022 here.