PNNL

Abstract

Since 1989, cleaning up the Hanford Site has been the primary mission of the U.S. Department of Energy Richland Operations Office (DOE-RL). One cleanup goal is footprint reduction on the Fitzner/Eberhardt Arid Lands Ecology Reserve (ALE). Footprint reduction includes a variety of activities such as the remediation of waste sites, demolition of abandoned buildings and infrastructure, and removal of equipment and miscellaneous debris items. Footprint reduction on the Rattlesnake Mountain ridgeline also included the construction of the Combined Community Communications Facility (CCCF), which combines all communication towers on Rattlesnake Mountain into a single facility. The proposed footprint reduction activities on ALE were covered in several previously completed cultural resources reviews. Two project areas are especially sensitive to cultural resources----the Rattlesnake Mountain ridgeline, a traditional cultural property (TCP), and Rattlesnake Spring, where several National Register-eligible sites are located. The first cultural resource review for this project found that footprint reduction activities would have an adverse effect on Laliik, the Rattlesnake Mountain TCP, by compromising its spiritual qualities and its visual and natural setting. Through consultation among representatives of DOE, the State Historic Preservation Office, and local tribal groups, a number of mitigation strategies were developed to resolve the adverse effects. These strategies focused on minimizing impacts during the construction and operation of the new CCCF and during demolition and cleanup activities. These stipulations were cemented in a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA), signed by the project stakeholders on July 30, 2009. The MOA required intermittent monitoring by qualified archaeologists during construction of the new communications facility and during demolition and removal of debris and infrastructure. Archaeologists with Pacific Northwest National Laboratory performed archaeological monitoring intermittently from August 12, 2009, through May 5, 2011. This report documents all archaeological monitoring conducted for the ALE footprint reduction project in accordance with stipulations outlined in the MOA.