EnvironmentAL PROGRAMS At Los Alamos National Laboratory
Protecting our Employees, the Public, and the Environment.
The Mission LANL’s Environmental Programs Directorate seeks to remedy the environmental problems caused by 50 years of Laboratory operations by bringing together multidisciplinary, world-class science, engineering, and management practices.
The Goals 1) Clean up legacy waste sites and contaminated areas for return to the public. 2) Decommission unused facilities that inhibit environmental restoration.
L
os Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was founded in 1943, as part of the Manhattan Project. In the early stages of LANL operations, activities involving the disposal of hazardous chemical and radioactive wastes were not carefully regulated. While disposal actions met the standards of that time, the science of waste management and environmental stewardship has advanced greatly to the present day. Today, the Laboratory relies upon the Environmental Programs (EP) Directorate to manage and remediate a wide range of environmental hazards associated with past and present Laboratory operations, thereby allowing the Laboratory to fulfill its critical national security and science missions.
3) Safely manage mixed, lowlevel and transuranic waste for shipment. 4) Protect, characterize, and monitor the regional aquifer.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
1
Open Communication
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
The support of community neighbors is the key to EP success. The EP Directorate is committed to twoway communication with stakeholders in a timely, open, and interactive way.
The Environmental Programs Challenge LANL is an environmentally complex site, with over 37 square miles of challenging geology and hydrogeology, 2,000 feet of elevation change, an average rainfall of less than 16 inches per year, and 14 major canyon systems that impact the Rio Grande. Ecosystems within the site range from wetland to high desert, and boast over 2,000 archaeological sites, as well as endangered species habitat. The complexity and size of LANL operations make environmental compliance a major and continuing challenge. Legacy contamination— both chemical and radioactive—exists at many locations. Remediation is scheduled for completion in 2015, with continued efforts in cleanup and monitoring planned for the future.
2
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, referred to as the Recovery Act, was signed into law by President Obama on February 17, 2009.
New Mexico Environment Department Consent Order Signed on March 1, 2005, the Compliance Order on Consent (the Consent Order) between LANL, the Department of Energy, and the New Mexico Environment Department is the principal regulatory driver for the Laboratory’s environmental restoration programs. The Consent Order contains requirements for investigation and cleanup of the Laboratory’s waste sites, dating back to the Manhattan Project and the Cold War. Under the Consent Order, legacy cleanup and remediation is scheduled for completion by the end of 2015.
LANL received $212 million for environmental cleanup projects as part of the Recovery Act. The funding greatly accelerated the Laboratory’s projects, including decontamination and demolition of 24 buildings in Technical Area 21, removal and remediation of early Laboratory waste, and installation of 16 groundwater monitoring wells. These projects created more than 400 local jobs and helped stimulate the economy of Northern New Mexico.
na izo
LOS ALAMOS CO.
Ar
Aven ue
D iam
Los Alamos
o nd
i Dr
ve
yo
NATIONAL
C
ez R
oad
Major Projects: • • •
SAN ILDEFONSO PUEBLO
TA 21 East
Pa
Technical Area 21 Technical Area 54 Balance of Cleanup
Je m ez
Ro a
d (Truck Rou
te)
BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT (TSANKAWI) ja r ito
Ro
ad
SANDOVAL CO. O.
Je m
Airport
ve d Dri
Finishing the Job
W e st
Technical Area 21
d. nR
Dia mo n
FOREST
an
SANTA FE CO.
SANTA FE
SAN ILDEFONSO PUEBLO
TA 54 Technical Area 54
White Rock LO
S
AL AM SA OS C ND OV O. AL C
O.
BANDELIER NATIONAL MONUMENT SANTA FE
Potential Release Sites Areas of Concern Assoiated with Canyons
NATIONAL FOREST
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
3
Cleanup of Legacy Waste Historic Laboratory practices for managing and disposal of waste, although generally accepted in the past, are not consistent with current standards. As a result, there are numerous environmental management challenges at LANL today. Also, while many legacy contaminant sources have been removed, residual contamination remains in local canyon systems, in areas such as soil sediments, rock layers above the water table, and shallow and intermediate groundwater. Corrective actions conducted at LANL follow the requirements of the Consent Order. The overall goal of ongoing investigation efforts is to ensure that waste and contaminants from
4
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
past operations do not pose a threat to human or environmental health and safety. At LANL, approximately 2,100 cleanup sites have been identified for action. These range from small spills to large landfills, known as material disposal areas. These sites include activities in soil remediation of hazardous and radioactive waste, closure of a low-level waste landfill, and the removal of 10,000 above-ground legacy transuranic waste containers. Using an area cleanup approach—dividing the projects into large, geographic areas— LANL is managing legacy cleanup in an integrated, holistic fashion.
Closure of Technical Area 21 Many of the buildings in Technical Area 21 were built in the 1940s, and served various uses during the Manhattan Project and Cold War eras. Used as factories, labs, and offices, many of these buildings have been vacant for years. These old buildings will be decontaminated and demolished as part of LANL’s Recovery Act work.
Decommissioning facilities that inhibit environmental restoration.
Activities also include below-ground excavation of material disposal areas, removal of industrial waste pipes, hazardous waste removal, and soil remediation, all in compliance with the Consent Order. Completion of the Technical Area 21 project will reduce the Laboratory’s footprint by more than 167,000 square feet, and will allow the area to be transferred for other purposes.
Closure of Technical Area 54 Technical Area 54 is a 100-acre area that served as the Laboratory’s primary low-level radioactive waste management facility for below-ground disposal and above- and belowground storage in the 1960s and 1970s. Technical Area 54 includes the four material disposal areas—G, H, J, and L—which are storage areas for hazardous and mixed waste, and supporting structures or offices. Material Disposal Area G is the only remaining active area. It consists of 32 pits, 194 shafts, and 4 trenches, with depths ranging from 10 to 65 feet below the original ground surface. In accordance with the Consent Order, disposal areas at Technical Area 54 must be closed by 2015. Retrievable waste will be sent to licensed facilities for disposal. Closure of the area requires that the buried waste be protected from erosion, rain, wind, and intrusion from plant roots, animals, and people. While the New Mexico Environment Department will determine a final remedy after a thorough public input process, one remedy could consist of a deep cover of crushed rock and a bentonite soil mixture. ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
5
Waste Disposition Project The primary goal of the Waste Disposition Project is to deliver safe, compliant, and environmentally responsible management of Laboratory wastes. Most of these waste operations are currently housed in Technical Area 54. These activities will slowly ramp down or move to other Laboratory facilities as Technical Area 54 is closed.
Safely managing mixed low-level and transuranic wastes for shipment and disposal.
The types of waste include dirt, building rubble, chemicals, lab equipment, and radioactive material that must go to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Each type of waste has specific requirements for safe containers, handling procedures, and shipping. The mission of the project for transuranic (TRU) waste is to reduce risks to the public, and complete legacy TRU waste characterization, certification, and transportation to the WIPP. In addition, LANL works to safely manage and ship newly-generated TRU waste.
Environmental Remediation While Technical Areas 21 and 54 are two of LANL’s major projects, one of the Laboratory’s main environmental duties is to investigate where hazardous chemical and radioactive wastes are present—as a result of past LANL operations— and to clean up sites where such materials are still found. These solid waste management units and areas of concern are collectively called “potential release sites.” Locations include sites of former Laboratory buildings, in and under existing buildings, on hillsides, in canyon bottoms, and old landfills. LANL has 14 major canyons, and is conducting investigation, remediation, and cleanup activities in each. All remedies go through a public input process, and must be approved by the New Mexico Environment Department.
6
Environmental Monitoring and Stewardship The Laboratory uses data from monitoring and surveillance of known release points and in air, water, soil, plants, and animals over a long time period as a basis for recommending actions to protect the environment. The Laboratory also collects data from the surrounding region to establish baseline environmental conditions that are not influenced by its operations, and to indicate whether operations are impacting areas beyond LANL boundaries. On an annual basis, the Laboratory takes more than 11,000 samples from 1,700 locations, including the following: • • • • • •
Ambient air Stack monitors Soil Sediment Groundwater Surface water base flow, snowmelt, and storm runoff
The Laboratory has an expanding network of dozens of groundwater monitoring wells. The wells are used to monitor water for contaminants at many depths, ranging from shallow water to the regional water supply. Installation of the proper number of monitoring wells, in the proper locations, is crucial to recommending remediation activities for legacy waste sites.
Keeping Workers and the Public Safe The Laboratory strives to make safety and security integral to every work place activity. LANL’s first priorities include the following: 1) To make safety and security the personal responsibility of all of employees 2) To make Los Alamos a safer and better place through ongoing employee involvement with safety/security initiatives.
In addition, the safe shipment of waste is just as important as cleanup activities. LANL contracts with industry leaders who use only government-approved transportation containers and safety procedures.
Protecting, characterizing, and monitoring the regional aquifer.
In all of its projects, the EP Dirtectorate works to ensure public safety. For example, workers take caution when demolishing buildings, because of their age and the fact that many of the buildings have not been used for decades, which means that drawings showing electrical lines and other design data may not exist. To reduce risks, crews disconnect all utilities, remove asbestos, lead paint and other wastes, and remove old equipment, machinery, and pipes before any demolition begins.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROGRAMS
7
The Drive to Completion The Environmental Programs Directorate has implemented a long-term plan aimed at completing Consent Order requirements on time. Sites are completed only after approval by the State of New Mexico, following the Consent Order process.
Cleaning up legacy waste sites for return to the public.
8
In the future, the Laboratory will continue to protect the Los Alamos natural environment, clean up contamination and waste, decommission and demolish unused or contaminated LANL facilities, prepare waste for proper disposal, and maintain safety and security in all operations.
Year
2009-2010
2011-2014
2015-2017
Phase
Building Capability & Ramping Up
Full-scale Remediation
Completion (2015) and Closeout
Funding Range
$600-700M
$1 billion +
$800-900M
World-class environmental remedies for the benefit of future generations.
LA-UR-10-XXXXX • Los Alamos National Laboratory, an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer, is operated by Los Alamos National Security, LLC, for the National Nuclear Security Administration of the U.S. Department of Energy under contract DE-AC52-06NA25396.
Contact Information Michael Graham, Associate Director, Environmental Programs Phone: 505-606-2337 mjgraham@lanl.gov Environmental Communication & Public Involvement P.O. Box 1663 MS J591 Los Alamos, NM 87545 Phone: 505-667-0216 FAX: 505-665-1812 envoutreach@lanl.gov http://www.lanl.gov/environment