EM’s Los Alamos Field Office and its cleanup contractor N3B hosted a virtual meeting last week with stakeholders to discuss progress.
Office of Environmental Management
December 15, 2020
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LOS ALAMOS, N.M. – EM’s Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and its cleanup contractor N3B hosted a virtual meeting last week with stakeholders to discuss progress to remediate and close Cold War-era waste disposal sites at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Formed in January this year, the Technical Working Group (TWG) is a public workgroup where stakeholders can obtain technical details of upcoming cleanup decisions and monitoring data associated with EM’s legacy cleanup at LANL.
At the Dec. 9 meeting, the workgroup focused on design criteria for a landfill cap. EM-LA is responsible for remediation and closure of a number of waste disposal sites at LANL.
“The TWG is a key component of our stakeholder engagement efforts,” said EM-LA Manager Kirk Lachman. “These monthly meetings enable EM-LA to have an ongoing and substantive dialog with a wide range of stakeholders on the technical aspects of our legacy cleanup efforts.”
The TWG consists of stakeholders from communities and pueblos surrounding LANL. Participants include elected officials, members of the public, and staff from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED).
Throughout the past year, the TWG meetings have focused on EM-LA legacy cleanup priorities, including the Compliance Order on Consent milestones and major environmental remediation activities. That order is an enforceable agreement between NMED and DOE for legacy waste cleanup at LANL.
“The TWG is invaluable as it allows EM-LA, N3B, and NMED to engage with the public on the technical details of upcoming decisions,” said Joe Legare, N3B vice president. “The working group members’ commitment to this dialogue during the COVID-19 pandemic highlights the shared value of this forum in addressing the technical issues underlying critical cleanup issues.”