LOS ALAMOS, N.M. - The EM Los Alamos Field Office and cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos have finished cleaning up soil contaminated with chemicals near the at DOE’s Los Alamos National Laboratory.
The source of the polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) contaminated soil is suspected to have been electrical transformers that served the Omega site. The contamination was discovered during sampling of a former storm drain adjacent to the transformers.
Workers removed 300 cubic yards of PCB contaminated soil from the site and restored the area to its original contour. Because of the tight confines of the cleanup site in Los Alamos Canyon, the excavated soil was securely placed in large sacks, which were temporarily staged nearby. The soil will be transported to a disposal site in Utah.
Several research reactors were located at the Omega site. The first reactor was built in 1943 at the start of the Manhattan Project. The last one operated until 1992. Workers demolished site facilities in 2003.
Source: U.S. Dept. of Energy, Office of Environmental Management
