Cincinnati Radiation Society of the Health Physics Society
Presents:
An Evening at the Environmental Protection Agency’s
Environmental Response Center
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Douglas Draper, CHP
Topic: Overview of the Environmental Protection Agencies
A few years ago, the Cincinnati Radiation Society (CRS) held a meeting at the U.S. EPA’s
Environmental Response center in Erlanger, Kentucky. The meeting was different than our
typical dinner and presentation meeting in that it was a pizza meeting with hands on
demonstrations of the EPA’s radiological response capabilities and equipment. This meeting
was very well received and has been one of the most talked about meetings we have had in the
recent past. If you didn’t get a chance to attend two years ago, we highly recommend your
attendance. If you attended the last time our host, Doug Draper has informed us that since the
last meeting the EPA Environmental Response center has obtained additional new
instrumentation enhancing their capabilities. Therefore even if you attended before there should
be something new for everyone.
After dinner (salad and pizza from LaRosa’s), the meeting will kickoff with two short (10 min)
presentations on the History of the EPA’s Erlanger facility by Jerry Gels and additional EPA
capabilities by Dave Kappelman. Our host Doug Draper will then give an orientation for the
tour of the facilities. The tour is divided into four distinct areas including the 1) response
vehicles, 2) RSX gamma monitoring units for vehicle deployments (including aircraft), 3)
Remote gamma logging with radio communication and 4) General monitoring instrumentation.
All of the instruments will be demonstrated and attendees will have the opportunity for some
“hands on” information. After the tour and demonstrations, we will reconvene back in the
conference room for some dessert and a Q&A session. We hope you all will join us for a fun
and informative meeting.
Biographical summaries of our host Doug Draper and the presenters (Jerry Gels, Dave
Kappelman, and Bill Connell) are below.
Doug Draper
Doug Draper has over 35 years experience. After a few years teaching, he joined the Kentucky
Radiological Control Program as radiochemist. He left the program in 1981 to become a health
physicist at the Mound Facility in Miamisburg, OH. He retired from Mound in 2005 and has
since worked as Health Physicist for Dade Moeller and Associates at the Erlanger KY warehouse
maintaining the radiological response instruments for the US EPA Environmental Response
Team.
Jerry Gels
Gerald Gels has over 40 years experience in a variety of health physics areas, including nuclear
medicine, but with emphasis primarily on environmental sampling and monitoring. Most of the
environmental experience (over 30 years) was acquired by means of work for or with the Public
Health Service Bureau of Radiological Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA),
the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), and private sector contractors. Jerry was a Senior
Instructor in the U.S. EPA Environmental Response Training Program where lessons learned at
Superfund sites are incorporated into a variety of training courses presented for federal, state and
local radiological response and emergency response personnel. Jerry latter became the project
manager for the U. S. EPA Environmental Response Team contract for Radiological Support and
Emergency Response, which included radiological response at Superfund sites, as well as
radiological, chemical and biological emergency responses for post-9/11 Homeland Security
support with EPA.
Dave Kappelman
Dave has been involved in Health Physics and Nuclear Engineering with DOD, DOE, and the
USEPA. He has been with EPA for the past 16 years. Prior to working at this facility for the
EPA Environmental Response Team last year, Dave was a Deputy Team Commander for the
EPA Radiological Emergency Response Team in Montgomery, AL. Dave has been involved
with design, testing, and evaluation of radiological equipment and developing EPA policy for
radiological response operations for emergencies and remedial sites.
Bill Connell
Bill has been involved in operational health physics since 1974 at several locations including the
University of Cincinnati, Dosimeter Corporation, and Fernald. Bill currently conducts data
capture for the Dose Reconstruction Project and provides instrumentation and field support for
the EPA's Environmental Response Team. During his tenure at Dosimeter Corporation Bill
performed product engineering and taught calibration courses at customer facilities. At Fernald
he was a Radiological Control Supervisor and Radiological Engineer.
Location: 4820 Olympic Blvd, Erlanger, KY 41018
Phone (Security): 513-487-2101
Dinner will be salad and pizza: We will be seated in the back room for dinner
which will also be where the technical presentation will be conducted.
Social Time / Arrival (Sorry no bar as this is a government facility): 6:00 pm;
Dinner: 6:30 – 7:30 pm;
Short Presentations: 7:00 – 7:30pm
(We will start the presentations during dinner)
Tour of the Facility: 7:30 – 8:30 pm
Fee for Dinner: Members: $10; Non-Members $10, Students $5
Please reserve. We need to get a list of attendees to the EPA security office prior to
the meeting. Annual $10 dues can also be paid at the meeting.
Please RSVP at meeting@crs-hps.org by October 29, 2010 as we need get
Security a list of attendees
Directions: I-275 to Mineola Pike (1 exit east of CVG exit). Mineola Pike south to
Olympic Blvd (~0.1 miles). Left (east) on Olympic Blvd ~0.3 miles to Olympic
Center. Go to Building A, address 4820.
Building A
Next Meeting: Mid January – Topic TBD