Saturday, April 24, 1999
Fernald to have new DOE manager
BY RACHEL MELCER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
When Susan Brechbill arrives at Fernald as the new manager of the Department of Energy's Ohio field office, she will have a lot to learn.
And plenty of anxious teachers.
Ms. Brechbill was appointed Friday to replace Leah Dever, who will head up the DOE field office in Oak Ridge, Tenn.
Both women will oversee multimillion-dollar cleanup projects at former Cold War-era nuclear weapons complex sites.
In Ohio, Ms. Brechbill will manage operations at the former Fernald uranium processing plant as well as at facilities in Miamisburg, Columbus and Ashtabula and a site in West Valley, N.Y.
Fernald-area activists say they are eager to meet her — and let her know that they will continue to play a key role in local decision-making.
“We'll start over and get to indoctrinate a new one,” said Lisa Crawford, who has worked with several field office managers during her own long tenure as president of Fernald Residents for Environmental Safety and Health (FRESH).
“You just extend a hand and open the lines of communication and go from there.”
Community members, as well as employees of DOE and site contractor Fluor Daniel Fernald, say they will miss Ms. Dever, who has led the state office for nearly two years.
For her part, Ms. Dever said she is proud to have overseen major accomplishments in the projected 17-year Fernald cleanup. U.S. Energy Secretary Bill Richardson made his first visit to the site last month to celebrate the decontamination and shut-down of the last of the production-era buildings.
“It really feels good to be making that kind of progress,” she said. And she expects Ms. Brechbill to continue the trend.
Ms. Brechbill said in her more than 30-year government career, she has had great experience in completing goal-oriented projects on time — and always with a primary concern for safety.
“One of my strengths is getting things done,” she said. “I make decisions, I get on with it and I like to see results. And I think it's important to do the right thing.”
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