EM-LA Strategic Vision "Rolled-Up" Themes

The EM-LA Strategic Vision is divided into four phases. The second phase involved several engagement sessions with various stakeholders from local surrounding communities of Los Alamos, NM. In each of the engagement sessions, a presentation was provided, and feedback was solicited.

The feedback collected from each engagement session in the second phase was based on the five questions below, which were "rolled up" as common themes.

Question 1: What are you most concerned about when you think about your community and the cleanup work happening at Los Alamos? Why?

• Water quality (i.e., protection of groundwater and surface water)
  • Because everything is dependent on water
• Reducing impacts on human health and the environment
  • Because communities want to be healthy and free of contamination
• Restoration, land reuse, and protection of cultural sites, plants, and wildlife
  • Because land should be returned for indigenous way of life, recreation, and economic development
• Timeliness of cleanup – when will it be completed?
  • Because people feel it will never be complete
• Workforce readiness to execute the cleanup mission
  • If workforce availability is lacking, the cleanup will take longer

Question 2: What values should guide the Department of Energy as it plans the cleanup of Los Alamos (e.g., honesty, integrity, transparency)? Why are those values important to you?

• Transparency
  • Effective communications with Pueblos, stakeholders, and public are critical to building trust
• Accountability
  • DOE needs to be accountable/honest with the public
• Respect
  • Critical that DOE respects culture, traditions, Pueblo values and others’ opinions
• Public/worker safety and health
  • Because workers and the general public have the greatest risk of exposure
• Schedule
  • Take the time to do it right the first time and comply with applicable laws and regulations

Question 3: Based on the information you heard in the Phase 1 session about the remaining work (e.g., groundwater plumes, Pit 9, material disposal areas, aggregate areas), what should be prioritized (i.e., what should be completed first)? Why?

• Projects that focus on protection of groundwater (e.g., hexavalent chromium plume)
  • Because water is the most important resource
• Projects that focus on protecting public health (e.g., sites with the greatest risk of releases that may impact the public)
  • If a site has the potential to adversely impact an adjacent population/community or Pueblo, clean up/address those sites first
• Projects that impact publicly accessible properties (e.g., Middle DP Road, canyons)
  • Because the community wants to access these sites without fear of contamination
• Focus on “comprehensive” cleanup while factoring in long-term risk/consequences
  • The work should be done right the first time with no potential for future releases or impact to future generations

Question 4: Based on the factors the Department of Energy must consider when evaluating a remedy (e.g., long-term reliability/effectiveness, reduction of toxicity, mobility or volume of waste, short-term effectiveness, implementability and cost), which factors should be given more weight in the evaluation process? Why?

• Reduction of toxicity, mobility, or volume of waste
  • If toxicity or mobility is removed/reduced then the risk of future releases is eliminated or mitigated
• Long-term reliability and effectiveness
  • Future generations/resources will be impacted if the remedy fails
• Differing opinions on how much cost should be weighted, although most participants suggested this should be the lowest factor
  • It is DOE’s responsibility to clean up the waste, as DOE created the problem  by creating the waste

Question 5: How do you define successful completion of the legacy cleanup work at Los Alamos? What does “success” (e.g., cleanup by a certain date) look like to you?

• Remove as much contamination as possible without further environmental damage
• Protect health/safety and environmental resources for future generations
• Restore or enable land reuse to the greatest extent possible
• Learn from mistakes