Moderate
Acid Canyon cleanup done
in a vacuum
Personnel with the 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 (E-ER) 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 from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday 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, 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 Rodriguez of the ER Project's Communications and Outreach Team at 5-6770, or carmenr@lanl.gov by electronic mail.
--James E. Rickman
This week for several days a large low-flying plane operated by Fugro Airborne Surveys, a Canadian company, is scheduled to fly over lab and townsite areas at low altitude. The survey is part of an ongoing study of groundwater and subsurface geologic features by the Lab's Environmental Restoration Project. Photo courtesy of Fugro Airborne Surveys
Low-flying plane to perform hydrology survey
Laboratory employees and Los Alamos County residents may notice a low-flying plane with a tethered apparatus maneuvering over Laboratory and townsite areas for several days this week but they should not be alarmed. The plane will gather data that will help hydrologists in the Laboratory's Environmental Restoration (E-ER) Project better understand groundwater locations and subsurface geology.
As part of a Laboratorywide effort to better understand groundwater systems in the Pajarito Plateau area, ER Project researchers are using a specially equipped plane from Fugro Airborne Surveys, a Canadian company, to search for certain geologic features and subsurface water using electromagnetic signals. Fugro's large four-engine aircraft will fly over most Laboratory property and some townsite property located between Pueblo Canyon and the Lab's southern boundary near N.M. 4, and between N.M. 501 and White Rock.
The plane itself will carry a large, external loop antenna that will generate an electromagnetic field. Tethered to the plane is a device designed to record electromagnetic waves to a depth of nearly 1,200 feet below ground. Based on the behavior of these electromagnetic signals, scientists will be able to "see" geologic features and bodies of water that lie below the surface. Consequently, ER Project scientists will be able understand the flows of water at great depths below the ground surface.
This activity is tied to an ongoing Laboratory effort to understand how and how much water moves from the surface into bodies of water beneath the surface. This understanding is necessary for the ER Project to make meaningful decisions about how to protect the regional water supply from contamination from past Laboratory operations.
The plane will fly at an altitude of about 400 feet above ground; the tethered electromagnetic receiver, called a "tow bird," will fly 230 feet above ground. The plane is scheduled to fly back and forth over the study area in flight paths about 330 feet apart. The slow-moving plane may be noisy, but is not scheduled to fly over the same area more than once. And the plane will not fly over some areas at all due to security and safety considerations, natural or manmade obstacles, or habitat locations of threatened and endangered animals.
Since low-altitude airspace over Laboratory property is restricted, a permit is required for the flight. Laboratory and Department of Energy officials approved the plane's flight into restricted airspace for five days to accommodate potential delays due to weather or other factors. The plane's total flying time is estimated to be 15 hours.
Scott Baldridge of Geophysics (EES-11), who is managing the project, said people on the ground shouldn't be overly concerned about the electromagnetic waves generated by the plane. Anyone on the ground directly below the plane when it flies over will receive an amount of electromagnetic energy comparable to what is generated from a common cellular telephone and less than the energy generated from street-side power lines.
The biggest potential inconvenience to people from the project is the noise generated by the plane, a de Haviland DASH-7.
"This a big, slow, noisy plane," Baldridge said. "The good news for any affected residents, businesses or people is that it will only fly over an area once. I would like to thank everyone up front for their support and understanding for this important project."
The project will cost $200,000. Compared to drilling a well, which can cost $1 million or more, the project is cost effective. Moreover, once the perched groundwater zones are mapped, the data potentially will help hydrologists drill wells in better locations for groundwater monitoring and surveillance activities.
--James E. Rickman
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Maryland congressman tours Laboratory facility Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, R-Md., seated, and Mahlon Wilson, standing right, of Electronic and Electrochemical Materials and Devices (MST-11), discuss a unique Los Alamos hydrogen-air fuel cell powering the laptop computer on the table during a visit to a Materials Science and Technology (MST) Division fuel cell laboratory last week. Also shown from left to right are Bryan Pivovar MST-11; Olin Van Dyck of Los Alamos' Government Relations (GRO) Office; and Ken Stroh, partially obscured, of Energy and Sustainable Systems (ESS). Bartlett was in Los Alamos for a day-long series of briefings and tours of Laboratory activities. Bartlett toured the ASCI Visualization Laboratory, the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center's proton radiography facility, and the high-temperature superconductivity labs in the Materials Science Laboratory. He also heard briefings on threat reduction, biothreat and infrastructure simulation and analysis. Photo by David Lyons, Public Affairs |
Editor's Note: The message below is from Laboratory Director John Browne.
School's back in session: let's watch our driving
Gen. John Gordon and I met recently with Governor Martinez of San Ildefonso Pueblo and Governor Gutierrez of Santa Clara Pueblo. Both governors pointed out their concerns for traffic safety along NM 30 from Española to Los Alamos. With children returning to school, I would like to remind all employees and subcontract personnel to be especially careful and courteous on their commute to and from the Lab. I know that construction can lead to delays and frustrations, but someone being seriously injured or killed in an auto accident is something that we cannot undo. Imagine the impact on you if such a tragedy involved a member of your family. That thought should emphasize the importance of driving as safely as possible on the highways, on our neighborhood streets and around the Lab worksite.
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Dressing up the Strategic Computing Complex Exterior landscaping has begun Workers from Westwind Landscape Contractors and Architects in Albuquerque transplant a Russian hawthorne tree on the north side of the Strategic Computing Complex under construction at Technical Area 3. At left with back to camera is Ponce Reynaga. Standing left is Trinidad Gamboa-Avitia. Partially obscured behind tree is Ortiz Quezada-Calletano. |
Ash trees were recently transplanted on the east side of the Strategic Computing Complex by Westwind Landscape Contractors and Architects. Hensel-Phelps Construction is the general contractor for the three-story, 300,000-plus-square-foot facility, which is nearing completion. More information, including Webcam photos of construction progress can be found at http://www.lanl.gov/projects/asci/scc/index.shtml online. Photos by LeRoy N. Sanchez, Public Affairs
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Operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration, of the US Department of Energy. |
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