WC New Mexico News

Work has been postponed on an ongoing affordable housing project in Los Alamos County after a county utility crew recently stumbled upon some hazardous material that was buried in the area. 

The material was discovered on land that the U.S. Energy Department had given to Los Alamos County. It formerly was the site of Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Experts ran tests and discovered that the material was contaminated with low-level radioactive waste. The waste was buried 7 to 12 feet in the ground off DP Road. 

The discovery aroused the state Environment Department to pen a letter to the U.S. Energy Department to send more information about the discovered radioactive material. The Environmental Department wants to know how the waste got there and how the agency planned to remedy the situation.

The state agency is “extremely concerned” about the discovery and wants to know what is “the potential threat to human health and the environment,” Kevin Pierard, department’s Hazardous Waste Bureau chief, wrote, as reported by the Santa Fe New Mexican.

The Energy Department managers wrote in response that the department is currently investigating and characterizing the waste material found at the site.

“We are currently investigating and characterizing the waste located at the site to determine the extent of the contamination,” the response stated.

According to the Energy Department, the waste was locked away in three containment drums and moved to another location for further examination. Crews have closed off the discovery site and posted signs to keep people out, the letter says.

Scott Kovac, who is the research and operations director for Nuclear Watch New Mexico, says the waste shouldn't have been on the land in the first place.

“The waste is turning up on land that wasn’t supposed to have anything,” Scott Kovac told the Santa Fe New Mexican. “So what are the chances of the ex-plutonium site being cleaned up to standard?"