As part of its regular engagement with stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office recently hosted a public Environmental Management Cleanup Forum.
Office of Environmental Management
October 27, 2026
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Participants at the Environmental Management Cleanup Forum listen to a presentation on the sampling and monitoring program for the legacy cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory.
LOS ALAMOS, N.M. — As part of its regular engagement with stakeholders, the U.S. Department of Energy’s Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) recently hosted a public Environmental Management Cleanup Forum (EMCF). EM-LA conducted the EMCF with legacy cleanup contractor Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC (N3B) to inform community members, local elected officials and New Mexico congressional staff on the legacy cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
EM-LA Acting Manager Stanley Pyram provided an update on cleanup priorities, emphasizing collaboration between EM-LA, N3B, state regulators, stakeholders and pueblos.
Pyram highlighted a standout year for legacy transuranic waste shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), noting a significant increase over the previous year.
“We dramatically increased waste shipments to WIPP,” Pyram said, highlighting 89 shipments completed in fiscal year 2026 – a 107% increase over 43 shipments in fiscal year 2025. Pyram also emphasized that N3B’s “excellent safety record in getting the mission done” remains a foundation for the program’s success.
Pyram also addressed ongoing work for the Hexavalent Chromium Campaign. In November 2025, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) directed EM-LA to immediately cease all injection operations associated with the interim measures (IM), which necessitated IM shutdown. EM-LA and N3B have continued to drill new groundwater monitoring wells, update the conceptual site model and transition to the MODFLOW groundwater modeling software.
“Is the IM a perfect system? No, but it supports us getting to a remediation solution for the hexavalent chromium plume,” Pyram said. Pyram added that the data demonstrates the IM works.
The Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and Newport News Nuclear BWXT-Los Alamos LLC (N3B) respond to questions during public Q&A at the Environmental Management Cleanup Forum. Pictured left to right: EM-LA Acting Manager Stanley Pyram, N3B President and General Manager Brad Smith and N3B Water Program Director Stefanie Fountain.
During the EMCF, N3B Water Program Director Stefanie Fountain discussed how environmental data informs LANL legacy cleanup activities. Fountain’s presentation explained how sampling detects contamination, guides field decisions and verifies that protective actions work.
The N3B sampling and monitoring team collects about 7,000 environmental samples annually, including groundwater, surface water, stormwater, sediment, soil and vapor.
“By collecting and analyzing data, we are able to track contaminant pathways closely and confidently determine whether we should maintain our current approach, adjust our field controls or implement additional corrective actions,” Fountain said.
For example, in Chaquehui Canyon, adding biodegradable logs and rock to stormwater controls helped lower copper and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) levels below the regulatory limits. In Ancho Canyon, N3B continues testing additional controls as they monitor and adjust operations.
"The success we are seeing in places like Chaquehui and Ancho Canyons proves this methodology works," Fountain added. "When our monitoring detects a threshold exceedance, it closes the loop by triggering a targeted mitigation effort. We don't stop adjusting our field controls until the data confirms we are meeting our compliance and environmental protection goals."
The EMCF included time for public comment and questions from in-person and virtual participants. A portion of the meeting was dedicated to an interactive session for in-person attendees to speak directly with N3B subject matter experts.
Environmental data is publicly accessible through the Intellus New Mexico database. Reports and deliverables submitted to NMED are available in the LANL Electronic Public Reading Room.
-Contributor: Donavan Mager
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