00-64
September 18, 2000

Brookhaven Lab Releases 1999 Environmental Report

UPTON, N.Y. - Improved environmental management systems, continued pollution prevention initiatives, and environmental cleanup advances are among the highlights of Brookhaven National Laboratory's 1999 Site Environmental Report. The document can be found on the Internet at http://www.bnl.gov/ewms/ser/.

The Site Environmental Report is prepared annually to summarize the status of the Laboratory's environmental programs and performance, including the steady progress toward cleaning up the site and fully integrating environmental stewardship into all facets of the Laboratory's mission. These cleanup and integration efforts are major commitments for Brookhaven, one of nine national laboratories owned and funded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).

Brookhaven maintains a comprehensive environmental monitoring program to ensure protection of human health and the environment. This program monitors potential pathways of exposure, measures potential environmental impacts from Laboratory operations, and provides data to evaluate compliance with applicable regulatory and permit limits. Environmental program highlights from 1999 include the following:

• Brookhaven continued to develop and implement procedures and management systems to ensure that it operates in a safe and environmentally responsible manner. Brookhaven's program is consistent with federal, state, and local environmental requirements and with the International Standards Organization (ISO) 14001 environmental management system standards, with increased emphasis in the areas of compliance assurance, pollution prevention, and community outreach. In 1999, the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider became the first DOE Office of Science and first Long Island-based facility to achieve this level of recognition. Seven additional organizations plan to be registered in 2000, and the entire Laboratory is scheduled for registration by the end of 2001.

• Brookhaven continued implementing pollution prevention opportunities, recycling programs, and conservation initiatives, significantly reducing waste management costs. In 1999 alone, these efforts saved over $1.6 million and reduced, recycled, or reused over 16 million pounds of materials (including conserving more than 12 million pounds of water).

• The maximum credible radiation dose to the public due to Laboratory air emissions was 0.13 millirem (mrem) in 1999, less than 0.05 percent of the average natural background level of radiation and well below the 10-millirem limit set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Clean Air Act. This dose is calculated for a hypothetical individual residing at the Laboratory boundary 24 hours a day for the entire year. Brookhaven's radiological air emissions are governed by the EPA and are authorized under National Emission Standards for Hazardous Air Pollutant regulations.

• The Laboratory's sewage treatment plant, a discharge point regulated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, was 100 percent compliant for liquid discharges in 1999. Tritium concentrations in the sewage treatment plant discharge were at the lowest levels since routine monitoring began in 1966. During 1999, the average tritium concentration was 133 picocuries per liter, or less than one percent of the EPA drinking water standard of 20,000 picocuries per liter (a picocurie is a radiation measurement equivalent to one-trillionth of a curie). For surface water samples, all water-quality measurements were consistent with off-site control locations (areas not influenced by Brookhaven operations).

• Areas of the Laboratory site where past activities have caused groundwater, soil, and sediment contamination continued to undergo monitoring and cleanup in 1999. Program highlights included the construction and operation of Brookhaven's first off-site groundwater treatment system and the start of decommissioning work at the Laboratory's graphite reactor. In addition, six on- and off-site groundwater treatment systems cleaned more than 757 million gallons of water and removed 634 pounds of chemical contaminants from the aquifer. Environmental restoration at the Laboratory is conducted under the oversight of the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation, the EPA and the Department of Energy, in cooperation with the Suffolk County Department of Health Services.

• Monitoring showed that deer and fish on and near the site still contain low levels of Brookhaven-related radionuclides. Calculated maximum credible radiation doses due to deer and fish consumption were estimated at 0.25 mrem and 4.2 mrem, respectively. The annual dose due to deer meat consumption is based on a conservative consumption estimate of 64 pounds per person, while the dose due to fish consumption is based on a consumption estimate of 15 pounds per person.

Brookhaven has published site environmental reports each year from 1962 to 1966 and from 1971 to 1999. A summary report for 1967 to 1970 is also available. Data summarized in the 1999 report were obtained through testing performed by certified Brookhaven or independent laboratories, the Suffolk County Department of Health Services, the New York State Department of Health and New York State Department of Environmental Conservation. Hard copies of the report will be available by October 1. To obtain copies of the report or a summary booklet, call (631) 344-8584 or visit a library near Brookhaven.

The U.S. Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory creates and operates major facilities available to university, industrial and government personnel for basic and applied research in the physical, biomedical and environmental sciences and in selected energy technologies. The Laboratory is operated by Brookhaven Science Associates, a not-for-profit research management company, under contract with the U.S. Department of Energy.

-30-

* * *