The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) plans to penalize the U.S. Energy Department’s Los Alamos National Laboratory for mishandling certain waste earlier this year, a move that could entail a $10,000 daily fine for each instance of noncompliance.
“Los Alamos National Laboratory self-reported a violation earlier this year, which involved five stored hazardous waste containers that had exceeded their storage time limit. The containers were located in central accumulation areas and permitted units,” NMED spokeswoman Allison Scott Majure said in a Friday email.
The potential enforcement action was detailed in a March 15 letter from NMED’s Hazardous Waste Bureau to LANL and site contractor Los Alamos National Security. The letter says the state agency could also demand compliance within a specific time period, or bring a civil action in court against the DOE nuclear-weapon laboratory seeking to suspend the LANL permit. NMED did not offer any details on the content of the waste in the letter.
Specifically, LANL acknowledged on Feb. 1 it had failed to seek an extension to keep two containers of waste beyond the allowed 90-day limit for a central storage area. The lab did not request an extension for the containers until 20 days beyond the 90-day limit.
In addition, LANL kept three waste containers in a permitted hazardous waste holding area beyond the one-year time limit for that site, NMED added in the letter.
The New Mexico Environment Department enforces the state’s hazardous waste management regulations, as well as compliance with the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act. The agency said it will spell out exact penalties in a forthcoming penalty to LANL and terms will eventually be made public.
“LANL’s past history of noncompliance” will factor into the final penalty, the state agency said. In February 2014 a drum of transuranic waste from the facility, which was incorrectly packed with organic kitty litter, ruptured underground in the DOE Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad. WIPP was out of operation for nearly three years. DOE and New Mexico eventually a $73 million settlement over violations at LANL and WIPP.
The Santa Fe New Mexican reported Wednesday that LANL will face state action for misplacing two containers of hazardous waste, which sparked a weeklong search. The missing waste was found Feb. 5, the newspaper reported.
