Los Alamos Outlines Cleanup Progress in Community Meeting

Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office Manager Jessica Kunkle engages with audience members at the Environmental Management Cleanup Forum.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - The Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) recently conducted an Environmental Management Cleanup Forum.

The public meeting focused on the following topics: resumption of partial operation of the chromium interim measures groundwater treatment system; the revised 2016 Compliance Order on Consent; and legacy cleanup progress at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

EM-LA and N3B provide the quarterly forums to engage with local communities and stakeholders, and offer attendees a regular opportunity to learn more about the legacy cleanup mission at LANL.

Jessica Kunkle, EM-LA manager, kicked off the forum with an update on the chromium interim measures to treat a hexavalent chromium plume beneath Sandia and Mortandad canyons at LANL.

"On September 30, 2024, EM-LA resumed partial operation of the chromium interim measures," Kunkle announced. Restart has been successful and the system will operate with three extraction wells and three injection wells.

"We appreciate working together with the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) to restart partial operation to control migration of the plume and protect water supplies," Kunkle added.

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos (N3B) President and General Manager Brad Smith presents on N3B's dedication to mission excellence and legacy cleanup at the October Environmental Management Cleanup Forum.

On March 30, 2023, EM-LA shut down operation of the chromium interim measures to comply with NMED's direction to cease injection by April 1, 2023. To help resolve differing technical positions between EM-LA and NMED, the parties jointly engaged an expert technical review team to assess the operation of the chromium interim measures.

The team, led by Ines Triay, interim dean of the College of Engineering and Computing at Florida International University, analyzed five areas: the ability of the interim measures to control the plume; current state of plume monitoring; NMED's proposed corrective actions and conditions; readiness to propose and begin evaluating remedial alternatives; and monitoring well design.

"The expert technical review team's draft report is being reviewed by EM-LA and NMED for factual accuracy and a final report is expected to be issued by the end of this year," Kunkle said. Public meetings will be scheduled once the report is finalized to discuss the team's conclusions.

Kunkle also reviewed major revisions to the consent order, the principle regulatory document governing legacy cleanup at LANL. On Sept. 30, the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and NMED executed the revised 2016 consent order.

As part of the revisions, DOE and NMED agreed to Appendices A, a list of solid waste management units and areas of concern; B, milestones; and C, list of campaigns for fiscal year (FY) 2025. DOE and NMED will work together to align these three appendices with the revised consent order for FY 2026.

Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos Environmental Remediation Program Manager Troy Thomson, front center, assists in answering technical questions during the Environmental Management Cleanup Forum.