Because of the significant number of PMI members working in environmental remediation and restoration, a PM Network Special Topics Issue on the subject has long been overdue.
At the 1994 Council of Chapter Presidents Meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Fran Webster (then PMI Editor-in-Chief) discussed the idea that the PMI Environmental Restoration Specific Interest Group (now merged with the Project Earth SIG) organize a special topics issue dedicated to the virtuosity of environmental remediation. This led to a promise of whole-hearted support from the Tri-Cities Columbia Basin PMI Chapter and a willingness from the Department of Energy (DOE), Richland Operations Office, to provide support and write an Executive Suite-type article for the issue.
This issue is the result of these efforts and support. But DOE was not the only supporter in the development of this special issue—virtually every contractor involved with the massive environmental remediation effort at Hanford gave time and effort.
The environmental remediation field is multi-faceted and multi-disciplinary. Its projects range from a few weeks and a few thousand dollars, using established and proven remediation technologies, to spanning decades and costing billions of dollars, employing one-of-a-kind innovative technologies. As such, it was not easy to identify a topical outline for the issue that would equally serve all PMI members working in the environmental remediation and restoration field. I believe that we found success when we articles for this issue depicting work performed at DOE's Hanford Site as a primary focus and model to describe the applied project management concepts used on environmental remediation projects everywhere.
In part, the Hanford Site remediation consists of the clean-up of over 1000 inactive past-practice hazardous waste disposal sites as well as 177 large-volume metal tanks containing about 410,000 metric tons of waste. The waste was generated as a by-product of the manufacturing of special nuclear materials that ultimately served as deterrents in the Cold War. During the peak years of the Cold War (the 1940s, ’50s, and ’60s), the production work was performed under different priorities and technical pressures. Decisions that were then based on production needs are today considered frightening by project managers who must take into account environmental consequences and current environmental regulations. In addition to considering cost, schedule, and technology performance, today's project manager is equally concerned about safeguarding public health and safety, and the complex state and federal regulatory legal framework, all of which need to be balanced in attaining critical schedule milestones and allocating finite budgetary resources to the clean-up program.
As a result of the complex regulatory compliance issues, the enormous volume and nature of the hazardous and nuclear waste, the significant technical scope, a need for not-yet-developed technologies, a politically driven budgetary cycle, intense public scrutiny, and the need for a high degree of certainty in decision making, Hanford offers both novice and seasoned project management professionals an unprecedented opportunity and a learning laboratory to apply the best of the art and science of project management.
Some Unique Challenges for the Environmental PM
Although using the same basic scientific, design engineering and construction concepts and operating under similar cost and schedule constraints, project managers at environmental remediation project sites often work under different psychological pressures. For example, remediation and restoration activities do not create anything new—rather, they try to bring back the original conditions. The progress on such projects means going backward. The work often lacks the professional satisfaction one gets by visually looking at one's creation.
The environmental remediation project manager often operates in a less-than-perfect operational environment. He or she is expected to motivate a work force that needs ongoing training that includes a change in attitude and approach, while coping with an unusually high level of public scrutiny, criticism, and debate.
Also consider that the project manager makes risk-balancing decisions in a regulatory environment that is still evolving. He or she leads costly, lengthy, and sometimes inconclusive studies of hazardous waste site problems. He or she is entrusted to find clean-up alternatives and perform engineering analysis and then decide on a remedy, often with less than sufficient technical information. The project manager is regularly expected to find solutions that are often not in line with real-world constraints of budget, information, technology, and time.
In short, the project manager of an environmental remediation project, in addition to managing cost, schedule, and scope, also manages complex risk models, growing public apprehension regarding environmental issues, and a technological credibility gap over which he or she has no control. The project manager provides technological as well as socially responsible management that must withstand rigorous scrutiny by the scientific community and the public both today and for several decades after the project is complete. This integration of technology and social values is a new challenge as well as an opportunity for those project managers leading environmental remediation projects.
This issue presents eight articles, all related to Hanford remediation efforts. With directness and clarity, the authors present the environmental remediation and project management challenges they face as well as a look forward, exploring the decisions that must be made today, the trends that are likely to become environmental regulations tomorrow, and the need to face the tradeoffs between environmental protection and economic considerations. These articles provide important insights into applied project management approaches employed by those who take seriously the public's concern for environmental protection of the Hanford area at a cost that the taxpayers can bear.
This issue is a glimpse of project management practices in the pursuit of the Hanford vision of building a clean, safe and healthy environment, a place of technological accomplishments, and a resource center that nations turn to for environmental remediation solutions.
Thanks and Acknowledgment
The preparation for this Special Topics Issue was on a voluntary basis, turning into a massive effort. In addition to the authors, a number of individuals and organizations contributed time and resources to make this issue a success. My profound debt of thanks goes to our panel of technical article reviewers: Mr. Keith Dempsey (ICF-Kaiser Hanford), Dr. Thom Dunning, Mr. Dale Knutson, and Dr. James McClusky, all from Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory Hanford.
I am also grateful to the U.S. Department of Energy, Richland Operations Office, Westinghouse Hanford Company, ICF-Kaiser Hanford, Bechtel Hanford Company, Battelle Pacific Northwest Laboratory, Tri-Cities Industrial Development Corporation, and the Hanford Environmental Health Foundation for responding to PMI's request to provide support in the preparation of articles.
I recieved invaluable support from the Tri-Cities Columbia Basin PMI Chapter and the PMI Project Earth Specific Interest Group, co-sponsors of this issue.
My special thanks to Scott Spence (ICF-Kaiser Hanford) for his ideas, support, and assistance.
Shakir Zuberi is manager of Environmental Restoration Projects, ICF Kaiser Hanford Company, Richland, Washington. He has over 20 years of professional management experience both in the U.S. and abroad. He has expertise in major federal program management, regulatory compliance, multidisciplinary hazardous waste clean-up projects, system integration of high-level nuclear waste repository site characterization, business development and project turnaround. He is also vice chair of PMI's Project Earth SIG.