Pilot Study work at Areas D and A

Scene from March 4, 2002

Working Group Tours Pilot Study Areas: Working group members were invited to tour Areas "A" and "D" on March 4, prior to the pilot-study work that began the following day. Pictured in Area D, the site of the wetlands excavation and restoration pilot study, are  (from left ): John Hall, Ron Clipperton, Byron Young (NYS DEC), Ed Kaplan, Bob Conklin, Tom Talbot, George Proios, Charles McGuckin (contract project manager), Ken White (BNL Community Relations), Skip Medeiros (BNL Group Manager), and Kevin Shaw (BNL Project Manager).  The day after the tour, the dried canary grass was mowed using weed whackers. Sediment excavation began soon after.

Scenes from March 5, 2002

	At Area D, dried canary grass is mowed using weed whackers.
	At Area A, vacuum-guzzler crew works around plants, careful to minimize disruption to the habitat.

Scenes from March 8, 2002

	At Area D, workers remove sediment from a centrally located stock pile.
	At Area D, a truck is loaded with sediment to be hauled to the Lab's riffle beds for drying.
	At the Lab's retrofitted riffle beds, site of the long obsolete waste-treatment system used during World War II, a truck from Area D is unloaded. Approximately 1400 cubic yards of excavated sediment from Area D will fill each of the six troughs. Each trough can hold up to 300 cubic yards of sediment.
	At Area A, sediment from the vacuum guzzler is loaded into a small, red intercept box that serves as a portable storage unit. Approximately 350 cubic yards of sediment will be removed from Area A and transported in intercept boxes to a staging area for de-watering.
	At Area A, a wetland plant (lower right) is left in place as the vacuum-guzzler work proceeds further upstream.

Scenes from March 9, 2002

	At Area D, work stopped to rescue a snapping turtle hibernating in the shallow mud. The turtle was moved to the other side of the river bed where it quickly dug a new place to bed down.
	At Area A, a worker atop an intercept box prepares sediment for de-watering.

Scenes from March 11, 2002

	At the riffle beds, BNL Project Engineer Noel Blackburn answers questions of visiting working-group members.
	At the riffle beds, working-group members Bob Conklin and Ed Kaplan check one of the troughs where sediment is being dried.
	At Area A, working-group member Ed Kaplan looks over vacuum-guzzling work.
	At Area A, BNL Peconic River Group Manager, Skip Medeiros, inspects a de-watering system, while BNL Project Engineer Bob Litzke looks on.