EM-Los Alamos, NMED Host Annual Public Meeting on LANL Legacy Cleanup

Brian Harcek, the Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) director of the Office of Quality and Regulatory Compliance, and designated agency manager, presents at the Annual Public Meeting for Cleanup of Los Alamos National Laboratory Legacy Waste. EM-LA and the New Mexico Environment Department hosted the meeting to inform the public of progress on campaigns for the revised 2016 Compliance Order on Consent as reflected by completion of milestones and other deliverables over the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 last year, as well as the plan for the current fiscal year that ends Sept. 30 this year.

LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — The Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) recently hosted the Annual Public Meeting for Cleanup of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Legacy Waste.

Caitlin Martinez, water resource professional with NMED, provided updates on the revised 2016 Compliance Order on Consent, including classification of LANL legacy cleanup Class A and Class B campaigns.

The Class A campaigns are those in which EM-LA and NMED agree that campaign completion dates can be established. These campaigns have five-year schedules.

Class B campaigns are those in which EM-LA and NMED agree that campaign completion dates cannot yet be established due to the status of corrective action activities. The designation of a campaign as Class A or Class B does not reflect the priority of that campaign.

Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office Manager Jessica Kunkle addresses public comments and questions.

Brian Harcek, the EM-LA director of the Office of Quality and Regulatory Compliance and EM-LA’s designated agency manager, presented on consent order milestones completed for fiscal year (FY) 2025 and agreed milestones for FY 2026. For FY 2025, all 11 milestones were completed on or ahead of schedule; and EM-LA submitted 83 other consent order deliverables to NMED. For FY 2026, EM-LA and NMED agreed to 10 milestones, in areas such as soil investigation and remediation, the hexavalent chromium plume, and material disposal areas. EM-LA has already completed one FY 2026 milestone.

EM-LA will provide updates on the status of FY 2026 milestones and LANL legacy cleanup progress at public engagements throughout the year, which can be found on the EM-LA website.