Lance Moore
WC Monitor
7/31/2015
The Energy Department’s Los Alamos Field Office in New Mexico has finished removal of mercury-tainted soil from the side of a canyon located on DOE land, the department’s Office of Environmental Management said on Tuesday. “We are committed to reducing the Laboratory’s historical footprint and intend to continue to make progress on environmental legacy cleanup,” Christine Gelles, the field office’s acting manager, said in a press release.
The legacy cleanup project was completed in about five weeks, roughly three weeks ahead of schedule, by the field office, management and operations contractor Los Alamos Nuclear Security LLC, and subcontractor Terranear PMC. In using a specialized telescoping crane and spider excavator to remove 160 cubic yards of mercury-contaminated soil from the rugged canyon side, the environmental and human health risks presented by the material have been addressed, according to the press release. The mercury was a leftover of work during the Manhattan Project and Cold War at the one-time Technical Area 32.
After being deposited into waste bags, the soil was removed from the canyon and transported to a DOE location in Los Alamos for the final “waste characterization,” the press release states. The material is subsequently due to be transported to a licensed disposal facility. “This cleanup project is the final step in transforming this site into property that can be used for economic development, which is beneficial in bringing new revenue to both the county and the school district,” said Los Alamos County Manager Harry Burgess in the release.
The Department of Energy fully funded the $1.7 million project.
“The TA-32 High-Angle Remediation Project addressed a site located on undeveloped slopes of Los Alamos Canyon on or directly adjacent to DOE property. Plans have been developed to address the remaining 12 sites at Los Alamos [which contain an array of other contaminants such as metals, organics, and radionuclides] and the hope is to complete the work over the next three years, contingent on funding,” said Catherine Hampton, DOE Office of Environmental Management, acting director of external affairs, via email.
Similar projects have been conducted at Los Alamos in the past due to the threat posed by legacy contaminants to nearby communities and the environment.
“The most significant cleanups within the Los Alamos Townsite were completed between 1950 and the mid-1970s,” Hampton stated.” Additional investigations and cleanups were conducted in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Since the mid-1990s, high priority mesa-top investigations and cleanups within the Los Alamos Townsite have been completed, as well as a few high-angle cleanups on canyon slopes adjacent to the Los Alamos Townsite. The concentrations of contaminants at the remaining sites have been carefully evaluated and do not pose an acute and substantial risk to the public or environment.”
