DOE/RL-97-56

Classification Of Structures

Historic Buildings Task Group

DOE-RL, SHPO, and ACHP determined that the formation of a single historic district offered the best opportunity to efficiently and effectively organize, evaluate, and mitigate the various buildings constituting Hanford through both the Manhattan Project and the Cold War Era. An historic district is defined as "a significant concentration, linkage, or continuity of sites, buildings, structures, or objects united historically or aesthetically by plan or physical development" (NPS 1991, p. 5). This definition clearly applied to the Hanford industrial complex. DOE-RL established an Historic Buildings Task Group to define the historic district, evaluate Hanford's Manhattan Project and Cold War Era buildings and structures as contributing or non-contributing properties within that district, and identify a representative sample of the contributing properties for mitigation.

A Task Group was selected in keeping with the advice of the Secretary of the Interior that:

The protection and preservation of America's important historic and cultural properties depends upon the participation of all citizens; however, certain decisions must be made by individuals who meet nationally accepted professional standards in order to assure credibility in the practice of historic preservation at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as in the private sector (NPS 1997, p. 1).

The Task Group was a multi-contractor, interdisciplinary team composed of cultural resource professionals (representing the fields of archeology, history, and architectural history), engineers (with specializations in the fields of chemical, mechanical, and nuclear engineering), and facility managers.

DOE-RL lists approximately 2,200 buildings and structures within its computerized RL Property System Database. To facilitate a systematic, simultaneous evaluation of these properties, the Task Group devised a cross-classification matrix that combined buildings and structures into analytic units based on shared characteristics of function and property type (see Table A.1 in Appendix A). The "function" axis classified properties according to the process performed or supported. This axis included the primary site operations of Fuel Manufacturing, Fuel Irradiation (Reactor Operations), Chemical Separation, and Plutonium Finishing. This axis also incorporated the support functions of Waste Management, Research and Development, Site Security, Military Operations, Health Safety, and Infrastructure (Transportation, Communication, and General Site Support).

The "property" axis considered the types of buildings and structures necessary to operate and maintain the industrial complex. It identified properties associated with Water Treatment, Main Production and Processing Facilities, Byproduct, Waste Treatment, Operations Support, Administrative Support, Security, Power Generation and/or Production, Medical Treatment, and Research and Development. Facilities Support was also included on this axis, but facilities were so varied that they required subclassification. Subclassifications defined properties associated with Crafts and/or Maintenance, Change Houses, Firehouses, Fuel Storage, Uranium Fuel Storage, Materials Storage, Chemical Storage, Product Storage, Waste Storage, Monitoring, and Infrastructure (see Table A.2 in Appendix A).

The analytic units (boxes) defined by this classification system were not designed to be mutually exclusive, that is, any one property could fall within more than one unit depending upon the activities or functions associated with that property throughout its operable history. For example, the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility (WESF, 225-B) fell within the units defined by (1) Chemical Separation/Byproduct, (2) Facilities Support/Product Storage, and (3) Waste Management/Waste Treatment. Again, the objective of this classification was solely to group similar buildings and structures together for comparative evaluation. This classification satisfied the provision that a property "be evaluated against other examples of the property type to determine its eligibility" for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NPS 1991, p. 9).

Filtering Criteria

The Task Group did not consider every building and structure on the Hanford Site during this exercise in cross-classification. Three primary filters were applied:

1. Buildings/Structures Exempt from the Inventory and Evaluation Requirement Where Excluded.

   One of the first things the Task Group did was to begin negotiations with the SHPO through DOE-RL to exempt multiple classes of buildings from the inventory and evaluation requirements. Of the 2,200 buildings on the Hanford Site, the Task Group noted that many building types (for example, mobile trailers, recent modular buildings, below ground structures, fuel storage tanks) need not be drawn into the review process. On September 1, 1995, SHPO concurred in these exemptions. These exemptions removed approximately 1,100 properties from full consideration. However, as required under Stipulation III(A) of the Historic Buildings Programmatic Agreement (DOE 1996a), representative examples of these property types will be documented and their functions will be accounted for within the final report.

2. Only Buildings/Structures Dating to the Manhattan Project or Cold War Era were Considered.

   Historic properties predating the creation of the Hanford Site (for example, Bruggeman's Warehouse, Hanford High School, White Bluffs Bank) as well as buildings constructed after the end of the Cold War (for example, Environmental Molecular Science Laboratory, Tank Waste Remediation System, Treated Effluent Disposal Facility) were not considered during this classification. The period under review encompassed the Manhattan Project (1943-1946) through the end of the Cold War Era (1947-1990).

3. Buildings/Structures Not Owned by DOE-RL were Not Considered.

   The geographic boundary drawn for this application included the primary process/production areas (100, 200, and 300 Areas), nuclear technology (400 Area), the facilities surrounding them (600 Area), personnel and health services (700 Area), and maintenance (1100 Area). Only properties currently owned by DOE-RL were considered. Thus, while the 1100 Area used to include the residences and services established in Richland in support of the Hanford Site, these privately owned buildings and structures were not appraised.

Utilizing these criteria, approximately 1,100 buildings and structures were classified for evaluation.