Monitoring well installation could affect Pajarito Road traffic

Contact: James E. Rickman, jamesr@lanl.gov, (505) 665-9203 (02-082)

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LOS ALAMOS, N.M., July 17, 2002 -- Hydrologists with the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory are in the process of constructing four new groundwater characterization-and-monitoring wells to help assess whether historic Laboratory operations are affecting the water that supplies Los Alamos County with drinking water.

The new wells are part of a continuing, long-term plan to construct 32 characterization-and-monitoring wells in the Los Alamos area. More than a dozen wells have been completed to date. All water samples taken from the regional aquifer indicate that Los Alamos groundwater meets all federal and state drinking water standards.

Since three of the new wells are in the immediate vicinity of Pajarito Road, Laboratory officials are urging motorists to be extra cautious, or to seek alternate routes, for the next three months due to the increased presence of heavy equipment, truck traffic and personnel at or near the well sites.

"Motorists will be seeing a lot of activity in the section of Pajarito Road east of Technical Area 18 and west of the N.M. 4 turnoff," said John McCann of the Laboratory's Risk Reduction and Environmental Stewardship Division. "Trucks, heavy equipment, drill rigs and other vehicles will be traveling to and from the well sites throughout the drilling operation on a 24-hour basis. Safety is our number one concern during this project, so we want to urge everyone who uses Pajarito Road to be wary and alert until the drilling projects are finished — planned for the end of September."

The four new wells — R-16, R-20, R-23 and R-32 — will help Laboratory hydrologists better understand the complex characteristics of groundwater flowing underneath Los Alamos National Laboratory. By drilling the wells, hydrologists will be able to take samples of the regional aquifer to see whether legacy wastes or other substances have migrated from the surface. In addition, hydrologists will be able to monitor the regional aquifer for water quality for years to come.

Crews will drill the wells in series, beginning with R-32 and ending with R-16. The first three wells are positioned in the vicinity of Technical Area 54, the Laboratory's radioactive waste storage and disposal facility. The fourth well, R-16, will be located on Los Alamos County land in Overlook Park near a County wastewater treatment facility. Well R-20 will be located near a municipal drinking water supply well, PM-2.

With an accelerated drilling schedule, each well should take about six weeks to complete. Like the other characterization-and-surveillance wells drilled so far, crews will use drilling methods that ensure no surface or subsurface materials will adversely affect the boreholes or groundwater bodies as drilling progresses and monitoring wells are installed. Crews expect to reach the regional aquifer at the new well sites at a depth of about 800 feet below the surface.

Los Alamos National Laboratory is operated by the University of California for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) of the U.S. Department of Energy and works in partnership with NNSA's Sandia and Lawrence Livermore national laboratories to support NNSA in its mission.

Los Alamos enhances global security by ensuring the safety and reliability of the U.S. nuclear stockpile, developing technologies to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction, and solving problems related to energy, environment, infrastructure, health and national security concerns.

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