EM-LA Manager Doug Hintze

DOE News:

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) is moving forward with the removal of contaminated soil along the south-facing slopes of Los Alamos Canyon adjacent to the Los Alamos Townsite.

The contaminated soil is primarily associated with legacy outfalls from the Manhattan Project and early Cold War research activities from 1943–1965.

“Cleaning up historical properties from areas within and around the Los Alamos Townsite is among our top priorities. We are committed to performing this work safely and efficiently,” EM-LA Manager Doug Hintze said.

The contaminated sites are within, or directly adjacent to, DOE property and will be accessed through private property along the north rim of the canyon in the area of the former Los Alamos Inn. The total combined area to be cleaned up is less than one acre. The location and topography requires temporary site infrastructure for equipment and materials staging to ensure safe and effective site access, soil cleanup, site restoration, and waste management operations.

The project is part of the Historical Properties Completion Campaign, one of the campaigns included within the recently finalized 2016 Compliance Order on Consent (Consent Order). Work is scheduled to begin in the first week of July and is expected to be completed by the end of September. Cleanup work will be performed in collaboration with TerranearPMC, a subcontractor to LANS that completed the highly successful cleanup on DOE property near Smith’s Marketplace in the summer of 2015.

The work will include all necessary and appropriate safety, security, and environmental protection measures. The excavated soil will be temporarily staged on DOE property pending final characterization results and will then be shipped off site to a licensed facility for final disposition.