While Surovchak loved working at SRS, he became interested in the former Rocky Flats Plant near Denver, Colorado, after learning about it from a colleague. That colleague offered Surovchak a job at Rocky Flats, which he accepted. He made the move to work at the plant in 1992, sight unseen.

When Surovchak arrived, the former Rocky Flats Plant was in the process of resuming operations following a 1989 plantwide safety shutdown. Surovchak’s first assignment was a daunting one — reviewing costs used to calculate a fine issued to Rockwell International Corporation, the DOE contractor at the time, for violating federal hazardous waste law and the federal Clean Water Act. The resulting fine was $18.5 million. This assignment didn’t make Surovchak the most popular person on site — one deputy director wouldn’t even let Surovchak enter his office. But Surovchak understood the reason for getting cold shoulders from coworkers, and he wasn’t bothered by it.

After President George H. W. Bush canceled the W-88 Trident Warhead Program in 1992, the plant shifted from operations to closure. Surovchak eventually moved back into environmental restoration, continuing his work at the plant into 2003. When an impending layoff was on the horizon, Surovchak again planned to pack up everything he owned, this time with his sights set on The Last Frontier state.

“I knew I didn’t have seniority, and I was cool with that. I came from consulting, where you’re always working yourself out of a job” Surovchak remembers. “I knew I was on the layoff list, and I was ready to pack up my fifth wheel and head to Alaska.”

This time, fate took a different turn, and Surovchak was offered a position with the newly created DOE Office of Legacy Management (LM). In early 2004, Surovchak became the LM representative at the former plant, now known as the Rocky Flats Environmental Technology Site, eventually becoming LM’s lead to transition the site from EM. The Rocky Flats Site transferred to LM in 2005.

In 2006, in addition to becoming the Rocky Flats site manager, Surovchak inherited all the LM Uranium Mill Tailings Radiation Control Act of 1978 Title I and II Disposal and Processing Sites in Wyoming, which were transferring from EM to LM.

Surovchak also took over as site manager for the Pinellas County, Florida, Site in 2010. In 2016, portions of the site were given a conditional Site Rehabilitation Completion Order (SRCO). In 2018, LM received an unconditional SRCO (clean closure) for the 4.5 Acre Site, an adjacent property that was sold to a private owner in 1972. The closure order specified that DOE no longer had any responsibilities for the property, and the landowner had full and unrestricted use of the property. It was the first unconditional closure for an LM site.

Surovchak admitted he will miss his Pinellas site work the most.

“It’s a different site because the [federal] government doesn’t own anything there,” explained Surovchak. “The county owns the property, and we operate in partnership with the county and all the affected property owners. It really works well.”