Toxic waste trickles toward New Mexico's water sources

Radioactive debris has been found in canyons that drain into the Rio Grande, but officials at the Los Alamos National Laboratory say there's no health risk.

By Frank Clifford
Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Los Alamos, N.M. - More than 60 years after scientists assembled the nuclear bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, lethal waste is seeping from mountain burial sites and moving toward aquifers, springs and streams that provide water to 250,000 residents of northern New Mexico.

Isolated on a high plateau, the Los Alamos National Laboratory seemed an ideal place to store a bomb factory's deadly debris. But the heavily fractured mountains haven't contained the waste, some of which has trickled down hundreds of feet to the edge of the Rio Grande, one of the most important water sources in the Southwest.

So far, the level of contamination in the Rio Grande has not been high enough to raise health concerns. But the monitoring of runoff in canyons that drain into the river has found unsafe concentrations of organic compounds such as perchlorate, an ingredient in rocket propellent, and various radioactive byproducts of nuclear fission.

Laboratory officials insist that the waste doesn't jeopardize people's health because even when storm water rushing down a canyon stirs up highly contaminated sediment, it is soon diluted or trapped in canyon bottoms, where it can be excavated and hauled away.

"We are seeing no human or ecological risk," said Danny Katzman, director of the lab's water stewardship program. "We won't be surprised on occasion to see a higher than normal reading. But those higher values last for 40 minutes during a flood, and maybe two hours out of a year."

Much surface contamination, however, becomes embedded in sediment or moves down into groundwater. That subterranean migration poses the greatest long-term danger to drinking-water wells and ultimately the Rio Grande.

"When you see a child's footprints and Tonka toys in canyons where there is plutonium, there is reason to believe that a lot more work needs to be done to make the environment safe," said Ron Curry, secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department.

In 2002, the department issued an extensive cleanup order stating that waste at Los Alamos may pose "an imminent and substantial endangerment to human health and the environment." Laboratory officials accused the department of exaggerating the threat and resisted the order for several years before agreeing to a revised plan to scrub about 2,000 dirty sites by 2015.

As part of that effort, about 300 monitoring wells and gauges have been installed. Contaminated soil is being removed from canyon bottoms. Wetlands are being planted and small dams built to arrest the flow of polluted storm water. In the summer, the lab began loading some of its hottest radioactive waste into sealed containers by remote control and trucking it to a federal underground storage facility in Carlsbad, N.M.

Ambitious as it is, the plan deals with surface sites, not tainted aquifers. About 18 million cubic feet of waste is sequestered at Los Alamos. No one knows how it is slipping through scrambled layers of rock described by Katzman as "unbelievably complex geology."

Moreover, scientists at Los Alamos say they haven't determined where all of the waste was buried across the laboratory's 40-square-mile property. And they acknowledge that some of the monitoring wells used to measure contamination in deep groundwater may have failed to detect certain radioactive isotopes.

Adding to the uncertainty, a draft report released last summer by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said that the lab may have substantially underreported the extent of plutonium and tritium released into the environment since the 1940s.

More recently, the state Environment Department reported finding DEHP, an organic compound used in plastics and explosives, at 12 times the safe exposure level in an aquifer that supplies drinking water to Los Alamos and the nearby community of White Rock. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency classifies DEHP as a probable human carcinogen also capable of harming reproductive systems.

In another surprise, water from a broken main flushed out buried waste near an old plutonium processing plant last year and pushed it beyond the largest dam built to stop the spread of contamination. Analysis of sediment by the U.S. Department of Energy's Oversight Bureau revealed "the highest concentrations [of plutonium] the bureau has ever recorded for this medium."

One of the canyons where radioactive waste has been found joins the Rio Grande just three miles above a diversion project the city of Santa Fe is building to capture nearly 3 billion gallons of water annually from the river. The $200-million project, scheduled to start operating in two years, is being designed to screen out and treat contaminated water. But not all radioactive isotopes are easily treatable. Tritium, which has been detected near the Rio Grande, bonds with water.

The directors of the diversion project -- while publicly expressing their confidence in the treatment system -- have been quietly urging the laboratory to do more to stop waste from moving toward the river.

George Rael, assistant manager of environmental operations at the lab, said it would cost as much as $13 billion to remove all accessible contamination. Even if there were enough money available, exhuming the waste could put more people at risk than leaving it alone -- at least in the short run.

"Some of the waste offers quite a challenge," said David McInroy, director of the lab's corrective action program. Digging it up, he said, could expose workers and others to a toxic cloud of debris. If left in place, it might turn up years later in groundwater.

With a population of more than 12,000, Los Alamos today is a far different place than it was in 1943 when the secret weapons complex was known as "Site Y."

The lab conducts climate-change research, screens AIDS vaccines, evaluates new tests for breast cancer and analyzes biological pathogens. Yet most of its budget still goes toward national defense. Los Alamos is the nation's sole manufacturer of plutonium pits, the triggers for nuclear weapons, and it continues to produce toxic waste.

Many residents of Los Alamos have become inured to the hazards of their environment. They hike and picnic in canyons dotted with toxic hot spots.

Just north of Los Alamos, the Santa Clara Pueblo recently installed air monitors that confirmed fears that the wind carries radioactive dust.

Joseph Chavarria, head of Santa Clara's environmental affairs department, said dust settles on the ground after it rains and contaminants are absorbed by edible plants. He said even potters are at risk: "When we make pottery, we test the texture of the clay by putting it in our mouths."

Pueblo officials would not reveal the levels of contamination detected by the air monitors. "I can say they were high enough to raise concerns about the future," said Santa Clara Gov. Walter Dasheno. "It made me think it might not always be safe to live here."

Senate passes bill to close Nevada's Yucca Mountain nuclear waste site

The $34.3-billion energy measure would also allow water transfers to help California farmers suffering from severe drought conditions. Similar legislation has been approved by the House.



Associated Press
Los Angeles Times



Outside Yucca Mountain.


Washington -- The Senate on Wednesday passed a $34.3-billion energy spending bill that backs up President Obama's promise to close the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste facility in Nevada.

The bill, passed by a 85-9 vote, also covers water transfers to help farmers in California and hundreds of water projects by the Army Corps of Engineers.

The House passed a similar bill two weeks ago. Once the measures are reconciled, the bill will go to the president for his signature.

The Yucca Mountain project, 90 miles from Las Vegas, was designed to hold 77,000 tons of waste but has been strongly opposed by the Nevada delegation.

The move fulfills Obama's campaign promise to close Yucca Mountain, which was 25 years and $13.5 billion in the making. It would, however, leave the country without a long-term solution for storing highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants.

The 1987 law requiring waste to be stored at Yucca Mountain remains on the books, however, so the project could in theory be revived. The Yucca Mountain project would still receive the $196.8 million budgeted by Obama for work on the site, although the money wouldn't be used to ship waste there.

The Senate also adopted an amendment by California Democratic Sens. Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer to allow water transfers to help California farmers suffering from severe drought conditions.

"I view this as a breakthrough in the water wars in California," Boxer said. "We were able to bring environmentalists together with the water districts."

The provision would facilitate transfer of water from the eastern portion of the San Joaquin Valley to the western part of the valley that has been particularly affected by a multiyear drought. Comparable language is in the House measure.

Abandoned mines pose 'ominous' threat, report finds

Bureau of Land Management workers were warned by supervisors to ignore any problems at the sites, the Interior Department inspector general says


By Vimal Patel, Staff Writer
Los Angeles Times



A Suzuki Samurai is hoisted out of an open mine shaft in March 2006. DOI OIG.


WASHINGTON -- Abandoned mines in California, Arizona and Nevada have "ominous" potential for causing more deaths, and government supervisors have ordered staffers to ignore the problems, according to a new report by the Interior Department's inspector general.

Based on visits to more than 45 abandoned mines, the report concludes that dangerous levels of contaminants such as arsenic, lead and mercury are present at sites easily accessible to the public.

It also says that several adults and children have fallen to their deaths in abandoned mines that often remain uncovered.

"The potential for more deaths or injuries is ominous," the report states. The office said a "limited search" of accident records showed that 12 people were killed at abandoned mines from 2004 to 2007.

"Growth of the population and use of off-road vehicles in the West will increase the likelihood of additional deaths or injuries," the report says.

It states that Bureau of Land Management supervisors, apparently worried about liability and cost, told staff members to ignore these problems and that employees "were criticized or received threats of retaliation" for identifying contaminated sites.

The bureau declined an interview but released a statement Friday in response to a question from The Times.

"Threats or intimidation of employees will not be condoned or tolerated," the statement said. "In any specific case where the BLM management is made aware of such allegations, we will act to investigate and address the matter."

It added: "The BLM accepts the recommendations and will work diligently to implement them."

The National Park Service, which also is responsible for managing abandoned mine sites, declined to comment Friday afternoon, stating that officials had just begun to look at the report, which was released late Thursday.

"They couldn't state it more frankly that there's an urgent need for action," said Velma Smith, manager of the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining, which has been urging lawmakers to pass legislation to address mine health and safety concerns. "They have a greater responsibility in light of this report."

The hard-rock mining industry for minerals such as gold, silver and lead is largely governed by the General Mining Law of 1872, which created a process for the public to explore, claim and mine public lands.

The legislation was meant to promote settlement of the West. Advocates of change see the law as outdated.

"We're talking about a toxic legacy of older mining when there weren't any environmental regulations," said Mike Thornton, mining project community organizer for the Sierra Fund, based in Nevada City, Calif. "Certainly, the environmental regulations that are in place now would have went a long way to prevent this disaster we're currently in from happening."

Congress in 1976 passed the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, which improved federal management of mining and its safety and environmental effects.

However, historical mining activity left "hundreds of thousands of unmitigated abandoned mine sites," according to the report.

It's unclear exactly how many abandoned mines exist. The California Department of Conservation estimates about 47,000 in the state. Some estimates put the number nationwide as high as 500,000.

The inspector general's report says that several employees informed investigators about "threats against their careers" for reporting abandoned mine sites. One employee was told by a field office manager not to identify abandoned mine sites because it distracted from other land management activities.

"Another employee stated that putting sites on an inventory was more detrimental to BLM than leaving them off, because listing them acknowledged a hazard and therefore created a potential liability," the report states.

The report says that abandoned mines pose dangers including deadly gases, asphyxiation, collapsing walls, explosive and toxic chemicals, and rotting structures.

It recommends temporary measures such as more fencing and signs and more costly permanent measures including adding steel and concrete covers.

In 2006, the report states, BLM identified dangerous levels of arsenic contamination at the Rand Mining District near Ridgecrest, Calif. -- levels thousands of times higher than recognized as safe by the EPA.

"BLM had known about this potential contamination for decades but had never taken samples to assess the danger to the public," the report says. "We confirmed these serious environmental hazards and also found numerous physical safety hazards. These hazards were endangering the residents of Randsburg and Red Mountain as well as thousands of off-road-vehicle recreationalists who routinely visit the area."

But the cleanup of the district alone could exceed $170 million. A nationwide cleanup could cost $50 billion, according to Smith, of the Pew campaign.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) has introduced legislation that would require mining firms to pay a 4% royalty on existing mining operations and 8% on new ones, with the revenue going to an abandoned-mine cleanup fund, but the bill stalled in the Senate after the House passed its version.

"Bottom line: This report is a clarion call to action," Feinstein said in a statement. "We need to move swiftly [to] clean up these abandoned mines."

Two agencies blamed for dangers at old mines

Audit: Park Service, BLM failing to clean, close sites


by Ginger D. Richardson
The Arizona Republic



Seth Johnson looks down into the mine shaft behind a makeshift memorial marking the site where two sisters fell into a 125-foot-deep abandoned mine shaft while driving their all-terrain vehicle in Chloride, Ariz. Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press

The federal government put the public at risk by failing to clean up and close off abandoned mines in Arizona, California and Nevada.

That is the conclusion of a 42-page, blistering audit released Friday by the Department of Interior's inspector general.

Western mines have "dangerously dilapidated structures, serious environmental hazards and gaping cavities," according to the report, which also said that unsafe levels of lead, arsenic and mercury were found at sites easily accessible to the public.

At least 12 people died in abandoned-mine accidents from 2004 to 2007, according to the report, which specifically mentioned the death last year of 13-year-old Rikki Howard, who was killed when the ATV she was riding plunged into a Kingman-area mine shaft. Her sister was seriously injured. The shaft is surrounded by federal property, and the Bureau of Land Management maintains a campsite nearby.

The report focused exclusively on those mines under the jurisdiction of the BLM and the National Park Service.

Inspectors visited 45 areas in the three Western states from March 2007 to April 2008, including those near Kingman, Wickenburg, Octave, Quartzsite, Vulture and the Grand Canyon.

There are estimated to be 100,000 mine sites in Arizona.

At the Arizona sites, federal investigators found open shafts, inadequate fencing and signs, unrestricted access to open mines, safety hazards because of deteriorating structures and, in some cases, high levels of radiation.

Steps had been taken to mitigate the danger at only one of the two Grand Canyon sites: the so-called Orphan Mine on the South Rim Trail.

"The potential for more deaths and injuries is ominous," the report said.

The inspector general's audit ultimately concludes that the BLM's program for dealing with abandoned mines is "ineffective" and recommends establishing a specific line item in the budget for the abandoned-mine program, as well as the employment of experienced and trained staff.

The report also says the BLM should issue a clear policy statement that forbids retaliation against employees who identify or report abandoned mines. The audit said it is "disturbing" that some would-be whistle-blowers were criticized or threatened if they documented such locations.

The BLM, which administers more than 12 million acres of public land in Arizona, issued a lengthy statement in its own defense Friday, in which it called its abandoned-mine program "highly effective."

"Considerable progress is being made to address the program priorities of water-quality restoration and elimination of physical safety hazards," the statement said. The BLM added that from 2000 to 2007, it had inventoried 5,500 abandoned-mine sites and had mitigated safety hazards at "many" of them.

Conservationists lauded the inspector general's report, saying it underscores the need for mining reform and the need to dedicate a funding source for cleanup.

The Environmental Protection Agency and other groups have estimated mine-cleanup costs to be anywhere from $52 billion to $72 billion.

"The real culprit, in our opinion, is that there is no royalty in place to fund abandoned-mine reclamation," said Alan Septoff, research director at Earthworks, a Washington, D.C.-based mining watchdog organization. "There is no dedicated funding source."

Others renewed their call for an overhaul of the General Mining Act of 1872, which was designed to promote the search for valuable minerals and the settlement of the West. The law, as written, contains minimal requirements for remediation of mine sites.

"Hazards like these exist because the outdated 1872 mining law does not have adequate cleanup positions," said Velma Smith, manager for the Pew Campaign for Responsible Mining. "This report shows a real-world need for mining-law reform."

The House of Representatives last year passed revamped mining legislation that includes more stringent environmental protections for mined land and requires miners to pay royalties for the gold, copper and other minerals they extract. The proposal has stalled in the Senate.

Report: Abandoned Mines Threaten Health, Safety

By Derek Kravitz
Washington Post

Sam Layne, abandoned mine supervisor, looks over a derelict mine shaft in the Arizona desert off U.S. Highway 60 between Florence Junction and Superior. Layne said plans are underway to fill in the shaft.


Thousands of dangerous and deteriorating mine shafts scattered across California, Arizona and Nevada contain unhealthy levels of arsenic, lead and mercury, according to a report from the Department of Interior inspector general.

Inspectors said they visited about 45 federal parks and conservation areas with abandoned mines between March 2007 and April 2008 and found the lands to have "dangerous physical safety and serious environmental hazards."

"The potential for more deaths and injuries is ominous," the report said, because of population growth and the use of off-road vehicles.

The report cited several problem spots within the lands operated by the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service, including a dilapidated, two-story concrete building at the American Flat Mill site, near the town of Virginia City, Nev., that is "extremely dangerous" and a known "party hangout" for local teens; thousands of open mine shafts near the Windy Point Recreation Area in Kingman, Ariz., where a 13-year-old girl died after falling into a 125-foot mine shaft over Labor Day weekend; and acidic water found at the Caselton Tailings site, near the town of Panaca, Nev., that reportedly can burn human skin on contact.

Inspectors also found health and safety problems at Death Valley National Park and the Mojave National Preserve in California; and Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona.

Several Department of Interior employees also alleged that supervisors at the Bureau of Land Management told them to ignore abandoned mine shafts that lacked fencing or warning signs and criticized employees for trying to identify contaminated sites, the report said.

Matt Spangler, a spokesman for the Bureau of Land Management, released a statement saying the agency "worked closely with the IG audit team over the last year in examining the complexities and challenges that land management agencies face in addressing hard rock abandoned mine lands (AML) impacts. The BLM accepts the recommendations and will work diligently to implement them."

Spangler noted that between 2007 and mid-year 2007, officials inventoried 5,500 sites and fixed physical safety hazards at 3,000 sites.)

The Department of Interior, acknowledging its mining safety program has been underfunded, said it has undertaken "temporary or interim measures" to mitigate hazards while "seeking additional funding to complete the needed remediation," according to the report.

The U.S. Mine Safety and Health Administration identified 33 abandoned mine deaths between 1999 and 2007 in the western United States.

In response to the report's findings, the Department of Interior and lawmakers recommended posting more warning signs and building fences to ward off visitors to dangerous mine shafts and installing sprinklers and temporary covers to reduce air and water-borne contamination at environmentally contaminated sites.

Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-W.Va.), the chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, said the report "paints an abysmal picture" of the efforts done to fix abandoned mines.

"It captures a snapshot of agencies that are failing to oversee abandoned hardrock mines, allowing these scarred properties to pose real and serious threats to the health and safety of Americans," Rahall said.

The committee held hearings last year to reform the Hardrock Mining Law of 1872, which regulates the bevy of mines built as gold, silver, copper and lead production in the West picked up steam in the 1850s.

Other environmental issues have been raised about old mines. Judy Pasternak of the Los Angeles Times wrote an award-winning series of articles in 2006 about the health problems caused by abandoned government uranium mines on Navajo land in the West.

Northbound I-15 reopened at border

By AARON AUPPERLEE, City Editor
Desert Dispatch

KINGSTON ROAD — The northbound lanes of Interstate 15 near the Nevada state line have been reopened and cleaned.

An oil spill from an overturned semi truck caused the closure on Wednesday morning at about 7 a.m. Shelly Lombardo, a spokeswoman for Caltrans, said the roadway reopened at 3:51 a.m. Thursday morning.

Lombardo said the Caltrans maintenance department did not report any damages to the roadway, and Greg Veigler, a hazardous material specialist for San Bernardino County, said he does not expect any soil or water contamination. The motor oil was pure, he said, and free of any contaminates. He said the roadway had been cleaned with large vacuums, steam and pressure washers and a lot of kitty litter.

“It’s completely cleaned off the highway and shoulders,” Veigler said. “Just splashes of it made it off the road.”

Veigler said the oil that left the roadway ended up in an abandoned drainage ditch once used by Molycorp, a Colorado-based mining company that owns a mine in the Mountain Pass area. Crews will return to the site on Tuesday to finish cleaning up that oil but will have to use shovels and wear respirators because the site is contaminated with low levels of uranium waste, Veigler said.

Crews worked through the night to clean up the 1,500 to 2,000 gallons of oil that spilled from the truck. California Highway Patrol Officer Matt Sais said the truck was carrying oil containers ranging from five gallons to 200 gallons. When the truck overturned, many of the containers ruptured, Sais said.

The CHP approved a detour route around the stretch of the I-15 that was closed about 15 miles south of the Nevada state line.

I-15 Spill Causes Major Traffic Diversion Through Park

Mojave National Preserve
National Park News

On the morning of October 31st, a tractor trailer rolled over on Interstate 15 at Mountain Pass, spilling 1,000 gallons of motor oil onto the freeway and ground. This section of I-15 follows the northern boundary of the park.

California Highway Patrol officers closed down all northbound lanes at the Cima exit and routed traffic through the park for over 30 miles while a hazmat team cleaned up the oil.

An estimated 8,000 vehicles passed through the park between 8 a.m. and midnight.

Numerous incidents occurred during that period, including three motor vehicle accidents. Six citations and 14 warnings were issued for various traffic infractions, including operating a vehicle with a revoked license, unsafe passing, speeding, and possession of an open container of alcohol.

Rangers also assisted motorists by providing information and directions, dealing with flat tires, and helping obtain towing services and gasoline.

During the afternoon, San Bernardino County maintenance personnel had to repair potholes created by the large volume of traffic.

Rangers acted professionally by maintaining order and keeping the number of incidents to a minimum through highly visible patrols and education.