The past several months have seen significant advances in the environmental restoration program at Brookhaven National Laboratory. During the summer, we worked hard to continue to move the program from an assessment and investigation phase to one of active remediation. This involved design and construction of cleanup systems as well as the conduct of several pilot studies to determine the effectiveness of innovative cleanup technologies at the Lab site.
Cleanup Systems
Continuing our program of eliminating potential sources of contamination, the capping of the "Former Landfill" was completed this fall. The caps over the two inactive landfills will prevent further migration of any remaining waste products located within. Monitoring wells located at and around the capped landfills will be sampled and analyzed on a regular basis to ensure the proper performance of the cap.
Construction of two pump-and-treat systems was initiated this summer. These systems will clean up groundwater contamination while preventing contaminated groundwater in the area from traveling off-site. We expect to begin operation of one of the systems this month, and the second by June 1997.
The design of a system for cleaning the remaining soil and groundwater contamination at our Central Steam Facility area is 90 percent complete. Final approval of the design is expected from the regulating agencies (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the N.Y.S. Department of Environmental Conservation) in the next few months.
Pilot Studies
The Environmental Restoration Division staff undertook several pilot studies this summer, including in-situ vitrification, bioremediation, in-well air sparging, and phytoremediation. Phytoremediation involves using plants to help clean soils contaminated with radiological contaminants. Several types of grasses and mustard plants were tested and found to absorb some of the contaminants through their root system. The plants were harvested, analyzed, and will be disposed of as low level radioactive waste. The practicality of this and other cleanup technologies continues to be evaluated.
In-situ vitrification, tested this past spring, uses a strong electrical current to melt soil and any adjacent waste products into a stable, glass-like form. This technology is being evaluated for use in two areas of the site.
One of the pilot studies that showed promise was a technology called in-well sparging. This technology involves the use of air injected into a well to remove solvent contaminants from the groundwater (see story, page 2). As the data from this test are evaluated and reviewed, we will be able to determine if this technique will be cost-effective in supplementing the pump-and-treat systems to achieve our groundwater cleanup goals.
Funding Limitations
In the past two years, Brookhaven National Laboratory has been fortunate to receive additional funds from the Department of Energy to help expedite restoration program projects and provide public water hookups to our neighbors who could have been impacted by groundwater contamination coming from the Lab. This year, however, funding is projected to be approximately 25 percent lower than what had been anticipated.
Because our highest priority is groundwater remediation, we will continue on schedule with the pump-and-treat systems. Some other project activities will be deferred until funding becomes available.
These delays do not represent a threat to public health or the environment. The U.S. Department of Energy and Brookhaven National Laboratory will continue with the preparation and planning for these activities so that as funding becomes available we can move ahead quickly.