LM honored in U.S. Department of Energy virtual ceremony Feb. 20
February 20, 2024
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U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm gave an Achievement Award to the Office of Legacy Management (LM) Beneficial Reuse team in a virtual ceremony Feb. 20.
The Secretary of Energy’s Achievement Award and Excellence Award are the highest forms of recognition for DOE federal, contractor employees and external partners. The awards are given to individuals and teams who go above and beyond in service to the country and make lasting impacts.
LM’s Beneficial Reuse team was one of 53 teams to receive an Achievement Award for accomplishments in 2023. During his award announcements, Deputy Secretary of Energy David Turk said he was happy to see LM get the recognition.
“For those communities in which our LM team is actively involved, they know the value, and the commitment, and the passion that all our LM colleagues bring to the table,” Turk said. “Thank you to members of this phenomenal team.”
LM provides long-term stewardship of sites that supported the nation’s World War II and Cold War nuclear weapons complex, ensuring continued protection of human health and the environment for future generations. One of LM’s priorities, if possible, is returning properties to communities for safe, efficient, beneficial reuse, while ensuring the history of the site and an understanding about important sacrifices people made during that time are remembered for future generations.
The award given by the Secretary recognizes the team for their dedication to this goal and notes the team’s work at Las Colonias Park, formerly the Grand Junction, Colorado, Processing Site; the Rocky Flats Site in Colorado; the Fernald Preserve, Ohio, Site; the Weldon Spring Site in Missouri; and the Middlesex South, New Jersey, Site.
“The LM Beneficial Reuse team is thrilled to have been awarded the 2023 Secretary Achievement Award,” said LM Beneficial Reuse Program Manager Diana Kamenel Trettin. “This award recognizes the important work we do and the team effort that is required to accomplish this work.”
Kamenel Trettin added, “Our team is stronger because of the cooperation and diligence of each member of the LM family and the willingness to work together towards the common goal of protecting human health and the environment and finding the most beneficial use of our sites wherever we can — be that conservation, energy related, disposal for a new purpose, community use, agriculture or for cultural purposes. I would like to say thank you to each of the team members and to the Secretary for honoring Legacy Management with this recognition.”
Since 2019, LM has received various awards for beneficial reuse efforts at multiple sites, including the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Phoenix Award for Las Colonias Park in Grand Junction, Colorado, five National Federal Facility Excellence in Site Reuse Awards for Las Colonias Park; Fernald Preserve, Ohio, Site; Weldon Spring, Missouri, Site; Rocky Flats Site, Colorado; and the Middlesex South, New Jersey, Site.
LM Asset Management Supervisor Bud Sokolovich added, “What a great honor for the LM Beneficial Reuse program to be awarded the 2023 Secretary’s Achievement Award. This award recognizes many people’s hard work and dedication to bringing environmentally impacted sites full circle and back into use. Congratulations!”
During the ceremony, LM employees who worked across other teams and departments were also recognized, including members of the Fleet Management Team and the Leadership in Climate Action Team.
