ESU graduate wins Missouri Governor’s Quality award

A 1972 graduate of Emporia State College in Kansas has received the Missouri Governor's Award for Quality and Productivity.

Gene Gunn, who also obtained his master's degree at ESU in 1978, was recognized in the category of innovation for his work on the Weldon Spring Superfund site about 30 miles west of St. Louis.  Gunn is a supervisory environmental scientist with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Region 7 office in Kansas City.

The award recognizes teams that demonstrate a quality of effectiveness, responsiveness and efficiency that would serve as a model of excellence nationwide.  Gunn teamed with employees from EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy and the Missouri Department of Natural Resources.

Their project involved cleaning up the Department of Energy's 17,000-acre Weldon Spring site, which was contaminated with hazardous and radioactive materials from a World War II explosive manufacturing plant and later a uranium processing facility. Their solution was to isolate the 1.5 million cubic yards of waste in an on-site disposal cell instead of shipping it to some other location.  The material, which included buildings equipment, and soil, will be monitored for generations to come.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>