Soil and Groundwater Remediation (2020 DOE transition)
| Book 2 - Issue Papers
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| Entire 2020 DOE Transition book As of October 2020 |
The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Office of Environmental Management (EM) manages one of the largest groundwater and soil remediation efforts in the world. Soil and groundwater remediation activities include a variety of technologies to address different radioactive and hazardous contaminants. EM has successfully cleaned up 1.7 trillion gallons of contaminated groundwater and 40 million cubic meters of contaminated soil and debris.
Summary
EM is performing major soil and groundwater remediation activities at all of its sites, and complex groundwater plumes remain at the major EM sites. Highlights of EM progress to date include:
- EM has successfully treated 23 billion gallons of groundwater at the Hanford Site in Washington state using systems located along the Columbia River and at the Site’s Central Plateau. The systems along the river treat approximately 1 billion gallons per year. In FY2020, Hanford has removed 30 tons of contaminated soil from areas near the Columbia River.
- EM has successfully treated more than 4 billion gallons of groundwater to remove trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination at the Paducah site in Kentucky. EM has also made progress in tackling the TCE contamination source term by installing systems and conducting projects that have removed almost 8,000 gallons of TCE from soil and groundwater at the site.
- EM has been successfully mitigating a chromium groundwater plume using pump-and-treat systems at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico. This interim measure is successfully keeping the chromium from migrating off site.
- EM has made significant soil and groundwater cleanup progress utilizing an area completion approach at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. To date, work has been completed at the Site’s T, M, P, and R areas. In 2020, the Department recognized the successful cleanup of coal ash-contaminated land, which was completed $8 million under budget. This project received DOE’s Project Management Excellence Award. EM has also removed more than 1 .6 million pounds of non-radioactive material from groundwater at the site .
Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC)
One of EM’s more visible soil-and-groundwater remediation efforts is the cleanup of the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC) in California. EM is responsible for the cleanup of soil, groundwater, and building demolition in Area IV and the Northern Buffer Zone (NBZ) at the ETEC site, located at Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL).
DOE signed an Administrative Order on Consent (AOC) in 2010 to clean up chemically and radiologically contaminated soils to background levels .
In 2020, DOE reached a Consent Order with the State of California to demolish 10 of the remaining 18 DOE-owned buildings at the site . EM expects
to complete the demolition of the 10 buildings by the end of CY 2020 and continues to work with California on a path forward to address the remaining 8 buildings .
Los Alamos DP Road
- EM is responsible for legacy waste cleanup activities at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s (NNSA) Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.
- Contaminated debris, likely from legacy DOE activities in the area, has been discovered on property being privately developed for housing. NNSA conveyed the property to Los Alamos County following the completion of cleanup activities in an adjacent former solid waste management unit. This property is known as the Middle DP Road Site (MDPR Site).
The full extent of contamination is still unknown, pending sampling efforts that are currently underway .
Issue(s)
ETEC
The Department continues to work with the state of California on groundwater and soil remediation activities at the Energy Technology Engineering Center (ETEC).
Los Alamos
- The extent of buried laboratory debris at the MDPR Site is unknown; therefore, work is underway to determine the potential presence of radiologically contaminated debris. The parcels upon which the MDPR Site is located are planned for business and residential development starting as early as FY2021.
- EM currently operates a network of 35 monitoring, extraction and injection wells at the Los Alamos National Laboratory to characterize a chromium plume and contain its movement, as part of an interim measure. The plume has responded positively to the interim measure, but the Department owes a final plan to the state of New Mexico as part of a Consent Order.
Status
ETEC
Planning for soil and groundwater remediation is underway .
Los Alamos
- The EM Los Alamos Field Office is preparing a preliminary screening plan to determine the extent of the MDPR Site contamination.
- Investigation is planned to begin in the second quarter of FY2021.
- The chromium plume interim measure was initially put on hold due to schedule delays as a result of COVID-19 but has been restarted as part of Phase 1 work scope.
Milestone(s)
Los Alamos
MDPR Preliminary Screening Plan is due to the New Mexico Environment Department by December 2020 .
Major Decisions/Events
ETEC
In consultation with the State of California, EM will proceed with soil and groundwater remediation after the State issues its Environmental Impact Report .
Los Alamos
EM will determine the level of contamination and develop a remediation approach for the Middle DP Road Site .
Background
ETEC
In 2007, a court ordered that DOE complete an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). The final EIS, completed in 2018, identified preferred alternatives for building demolition, groundwater and soils remediation. In 2019, DOE issued a Building Demolition Record of Decision (ROD) and is making steady progress on tearing down the 18 DOE-owned structures .
Los Alamos
The EM Los Alamos Field Office will perform additional investigation at the MDRP site.