Acid Canyon cleanup done in a vacuum

Contact: James Rickman, elvis@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9203

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., Sept. 4, 2001 -- Personnel with the U.S. Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory are using a giant vacuum to clean up contaminated sediments from the south fork of Acid Canyon, where treated and untreated radioactive liquid waste was discharged during the early days of Laboratory operations.

Crews expect this week to begin removing contaminated sediments from the canyon, which received radioactive effluent from former Laboratory facilities for 20 years beginning in 1944. The south fork of Acid Canyon is Los Alamos County property located near Canyon Road in a rugged wooded area dotted with hiking trails. One such hiking trail parallels the stream bed where former effluent discharges flowed. A county skateboard park, located about 200 feet above the stream bed and on the former treatment plant site, overlooks the canyon.

The outfall area where waste was discharged has been cleaned up previously to remove the most highly contaminated areas, and the canyon bottom itself has been the subject of multiple past studies by Laboratory scientists. Despite cleanup efforts, however, personnel from the New Mexico Environment Department identified several isolated "hot spots" along the stream channel about 30 feet away from the closest hiking trail.

After NMED officials announced the discovery of these "hot spots," Laboratory scientists comprehensively studied Acid Canyon’s south fork and confirmed that the potential risk to people using the canyon was low. The study determined that children playing along the stream channel one hour a day, 200 days a year, would receive a minimal radioactive dose that is below limits established for members of the public under Environmental Protection Agency guidelines.

Nevertheless, under DOE’s principle of ALARA — "As Low As Reasonably Achievable," which dictates that exposure to radioactive materials should be reduced to the lowest threshold possible — personnel with the Laboratory’s Environmental Restoration Project developed a canyon cleanup plan and coordinated it with Los Alamos County, NMED and DOE officials.

Under the plan, cleanup crews will use a large, truck-mounted vacuum to remove between 200 and 300 cubic yards of contaminated soil and sediment from Acid Canyon’s south fork. The vacuum machine will deposit sediments in specially designed waste containers. It also will capture any dust generated by the cleanup operation. Sediments and soils captured in the cleanup operation will be disposed at the Laboratory’s low-level radioactive waste disposal area.

The actual cleanup project itself is scheduled for completion in less than a month. Hiking trails in the immediate vicinity of the cleanup area will be closed during the work period to minimize the chance of accidents associated with the movement of heavy equipment. Crews are scheduled to work Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. until the project is completed. Total cost of the remediation effort is estimated at about $1.2 million.

Los Alamos residents in the vicinity of the cleanup project will experience elevated noise levels while the vacuum system is operating. In addition, crews are working on improving some existing access roads into the area. Officials with the Laboratory’s ER Project have sent letters explaining the project to residents located in Los Alamos’ Orange Street and Nickel Street neighborhoods.

"We are aware that this project may create some annoyances to people in Los Alamos who live in the vicinity or use the trail systems in the area," said Julie Canepa, leader of the ER Project. "We hope people will understand the benefits associated with this project, and we are thanking everyone in advance for their understanding and cooperation."

Those with questions or concerns about the Acid Canyon remediation effort can contact Carmen M. Rodriguez of the ER Project’s Communications and Outreach Team by telephone at 665-6770 or by electronic mail at carmenr@lanl.gov.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the U.S. Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration.