Much has been said, but too few words have been written about Certi-

fication. ith your concurrence, I wrote Jim Liverman on November 11,
1977, proposing a format for Certification. J have not had a response
to. that letter, but I am aware that it is under consideration by OES.
I have not changed my view that the Certification provided by the
Project Manager should be documentation of the condition in which each
island is left, rather than a judgement as to whether that was the
appropriate thing for the Defense Department to dco. Amy such judgement
would necessarily contemplate the entire cleanup effort, rather than
each individual island as a separate entity. Yet DNA insisted upon,
and FRDA agreed to, an "island—by—island" Certification (see LivermanShedd MOU of September 1975). Someone at some level in one of our
departments must have the authority to make the day-to-day cleanup
decisions. In my view, that 1s clearly the Task Group Commander.
‘The DOE Project Staff is a part of his Task Group and is committed
to assisting the Commander with advice and technical support. We have
devoted a great deal of energy over the past few years to helving DNA
to interpret the AEC guidance for cleanup. If a judgement is now to
be made as to whether DNA has adequately followed the guidance, I
believe that that judgement should come from some independent appraiser
or from the authors of the guidance themselves.
Permit me one final point. Be assured that neither I nor any of my
deputies will hesitate to argue with the Task Group Commander if we
have views that are at variance with his. Nor will we hesitate to

notify you of differences which we cannot resolve.

But until otherwise

instructed and empowered, I intend that our project role continue to
be support.

Ksnu

| Roger RG, rejeot,venager
:Enewetak Radiological | Support Project

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