Joe Goldfield papers

Joseph Goldfield (1918-2002) worked at the Manville Corporation for thirty one years. For twenty of those years he was the Manager of Environmental Engineering, and, in that capacity, responsible for remaining in compliance with ever-changing regulatory codes throughout the world at over one hundred mines, mills, and manufacturing plants.

In his career as an environmental engineer, Mr. Goldfield gained expertise in ovens and driers, kilns and process air systems, waste heat recovery, plant heating, and the design of dust and fume control systems, especially for asbestos fiber mining, milling, and manufacturing. He also had extensive experience with the filtration of particulates, gases, and also with high efficiency filters. In fact he held the patent on the HEAF filter and had been responsible for the engineering, purchase, and installation of one of the largest air handling systems was built.

Joseph Goldfield first appeared on the Rocky Flats scene in 1987 when a trial burn of plutonium-bearing waste in a fluidized-bed incinerator was proposed. He showed that no filter could prevent some particles of plutonium from escaping into the external environment. Plans for the trial burn ended. He also helped to stop a trial burn at the Idaho National Engineering and Environmental Laboratory.

Next, Mr. Goldfield took up the cause of cleaning up Rocky Flats. As one of the original members of the Rocky Flats Cleanup Commission he authored many well-researched, clearly focused issue papers. He drew attention to the large quantity of plutonium at Rocky Flats by making educated guesses about the amount of plutonium stored there based on publicly available information. In 1996 after radionuclide soil action levels (RSALs) were set for Rocky Flats, Joseph Goldfield demonstrated that the plutonium in the soil levels was too high. This persuaded the Department of Energy to fund an independent scientific study of the RSALs. On the basis of the independent study, the RSAL Oversight Panel, with Joseph Goldfield a member, recommended a 95% reduction in the quantity of plutonium permitted to remain in soil at Rocky Flats. The government agencies involved in the process decided to recalculate the RSALs and set up the Rocky Flats Cleanup Agreement Focus Group. Joseph Goldfield remained an active participate in the group until late in 2001.