Committee Revisits Regional Water Issues
The committee invited perspectives from various environmental groups, as
well as those from select governmental agencies, such as the Environmental
Protection Agency, as part of a plenary session held at the Bishop's Lodge
Hotel.
Citing what she referred to as rising amounts of chromium in the Buckman
wells east of Los Alamos, Joni Arends of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear
Safety repeatedly demanded that LANL comply with existing environmental
laws.
"It's very basic and simple," Arends said. "Groundwater protection means
protecting water supplies now and in the future."
Chromium was detected in the regional aquifer, not far from county drinking
wells in early 2004, but went unnoticed until it was reported to NMED at the end of 2005. The chromium levels measured and reconfirmed earlier this year exceed state and federal drinking water standards.
Arends also called for a change in how public meetings are carried out,
including opportunities for the public to review ongoing groundwater
monitoring practices.
"We want to be able to evaluate whether LANL is using good scientific
practices in groundwater monitoring," she said. "We are having more and more problems with the credibility of the laboratory in its reporting."
Delays in reporting its findings, such as chromium which was eventually
reported in December 2005, do nothing to help maintain public trust, Arends
said. "We still don't know where we are with the chromium," she said. "We
still don't know where that plume is going, and there are several Los Alamos County drinking water wells nearby.
Mat Johansen, an environmental project manager for NNSA, said the current
groundwater monitoring data supports the goals of the groundwater protection program.
"There has been demonstrated compliance with standards and regulation,"
Johansen said. "The first thing I look for is, are we meeting the consent
form?"
Acknowledging a chromium plume in the regional aquifer, Johansen said "when
and if" chromium does arrive at dangerous levels, certain measures can be
taken such as wellhead treatments and taking the well offline in cooperation with Los Alamos County.
Richard Mayer of the EPA offered groundwater protection from a regulator
perspective and stated that it should meet the appropriate cleanup standards as determined by a site specific risk assessment.
"Groundwater protection may be flexible in the cleanup standards according
to the classification," Mayer said. "Typically, the longer the exposure time and higher the contaminant concentration, the lower the cleanup standard for groundwater."
It also is essential that the horizontal and the vertical extent of
contamination be determined, he said. Monitoring wells are typically
screened at the top of aquifers, where most contamination will be found.
Under recommendation by the EPA, boreholes drilled for the use of well
construction should not include the use of bentonite or organic additives
within the screened interval, Mayer said.
"Additives may be used in intervals above the target monitoring zone if
telescoping casing construction is used and the hole is adequately cleaned
before the final footage within the interval to be screened," he said.
Mayer continued that if drilling fluids must be used, the time between
drilling and well development should be minimized if additives have been
used in the screened zone.
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