Idaho Cleanup Project crews are preparing for the next stages of construction of a waste disposal facility expansion project following recent progress that includes completion of excavation for a new disposal cell and evaporation pond areas.
Office of Environmental Management
February 4, 2025
minute read time
U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management crews completed excavation for a new disposal cell, background, and two evaporation ponds, foreground, as part of a major expansion project at the Idaho National Laboratory Site’s Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility.
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho — Idaho Cleanup Project crews are preparing for the next stages of construction of a waste disposal facility expansion project following recent progress that includes completion of excavation for a new disposal cell and evaporation pond areas.
For 14 months, crews carefully excavated over 13 acres for the new cell. It will provide more than 500,000 cubic meters of disposal space, increasing the long term capacity of the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility (ICDF) threefold and extending its operational life by 25 years.
The additional disposal volume supports major footprint reduction projects at the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site, including the demolition of legacy reactor prototypes at the Naval Reactors Facility. When construction began on the new cell in 2023, the ICDF disposal volume was approaching 80% capacity, incapable of meeting future disposal needs.
Crews also excavated nearly 8 acres for two evaporation ponds, which will protect the environment and the Snake River Plain Aquifer by collecting stormwater that falls into the disposal cell and preventing this water, known as leachate, from percolating into the soil below.
EMTV: Watch this video on the progress of construction of the Idaho CERCLA Disposal Facility at the Idaho National Laboratory Site. CERCLA stands for the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, which is a law enacted by Congress in 1980.
The new disposal cell is designed like the existing landfill, with multiple liners, various water collection and detection systems, and lined evaporation ponds, all of which comply with state-of-the-art disposal facility requirements protective of the environment and human health.
In coming months, the U.S. Department of Energy Office of Environmental Management (EM) and contractor Idaho Environmental Coalition (IEC) will focus on construction of the cell and the neighboring evaporation ponds. This includes bringing the excavated areas to final grade and placing the liner systems in both the new cell and the evaporation pond areas.
During the winter months, which create challenges for the project, crews will continue screening operations, in which excavated soil and gravel are sifted, separated and staged. Some of the material will be used during construction of the new cell and evaporation ponds later this year, while the rest will be used to bury waste during disposal.
CERCLA stands for Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act, a law enacted by Congress in 1980. As a result of the CERCLA regulatory process, the ICDF has stringent waste acceptance criteria. It only accepts waste generated from CERCLA and deactivation and decommissioning remediation efforts. It does not accept offsite waste.
EM and IEC are expected to complete construction of the new cell and evaporation ponds this year. The new cell is projected to begin accepting waste in 2027.
-Contributor: Carter Harrison