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Tuesday, February 02, 2010
Buckman Pressures Lab
By Phil Parker
Journal Staff Writer
The Buckman Direct Diversion board is putting more pressure on Los Alamos National Laboratory to finish an early-warning notification system in the canyons around Los Alamos.
The board on Monday asked state legislators to implement a formal memorandum of understanding “to set forth commitments and a completion schedule for the monitoring system.”
But a LANL official said work is under way to update three gauges that will detect water running in the canyon at a predetermined height, so operators at Buckman could be contacted to stop diversion at that time. Samples would also be taken from the water for analysis.
BDD project manager Rick Carpenter said tests have shown spikes in the levels of some contaminants when the water reaches a certain level. Radionuclides like plutonium have been shown to bind tightly with smaller-sized sediment. A large influx of water from a storm causes sediments to churn, and the result can be slightly elevated contaminant levels.
“There is some data we've seen that suggests it's a potential problem,” Carpenter said.
Carpenter said he wants legislators to act in the matter because LANL has continually delayed completing the system.
“Our project is on a hard timeline,” he said. “Sooner or later, this gets on a critical path. That's our concern.”
LANL spokesman Fred deSousa said, by e-mail, “LANL is absolutely committed to the success of the Buckman Project.
“Despite the weather, our crews are in the field building these gauging stations right now. Our intent is to have them up and running before the monsoon.”
New Mexico's monsoon season usually starts in July.
That would put the system in place well before Buckman's target date to start running sometime next year.
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