Environmental groups sue Los Alamos lab over water

The lawsuit contends the lab has failed to comply with its national pollution discharge permit for 59 storm water sites.

SANTA FE—The managers of Los Alamos National Laboratory have been sued by a coalition of community activists and environmentalists who allege the lab is responsible for significant contamination they say is moving off lab property and into the region's water.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in federal court in Santa Fe, contends the lab has failed to comply with its national pollution discharge permit for 59 storm water sites in the Los Alamos and Pueblo Canyon watershed.

The coalition—which alleges the lab is failing to monitor, report and control pollution—wants the court to order the lab to comply with the conditions of the permits, issued under the Clean Water Act.

"We have joined forces to hold LANL accountable for more than 60 years of contamination that now threatens our future drinking water supply," said Brian Shields of Amigos Bravos, one of the groups that sued. "Every time it rains or snows, these contaminants move through our canyons and springs to the Rio Grande."

Lab officials said Thursday they were surprised by the lawsuit, and said the federal nuclear weapons lab is in compliance with its storm water permit. They also said the cities of Los Alamos and Santa Fe have independently certified the safety of their municipal drinking water supplies in annual water quality reports.

"The laboratory takes its environmental responsibilities very seriously and we are firmly committed to protecting human health and the environment," said Dick Watkins, the lab's associate director for environment, safety, health and quality.

The lawsuit said the lab's discharge permit expired in December 2005 but have been extended until new ones can be issued, and that in the meantime, the lab must continue to comply with the conditions.

The lab has generated an enormous amount of waste since it began operating in the early 1940s, including hazardous and radioactive waste such as high explosives waste, volatile organic compounds, metals, perchlorate and PCBs, the lawsuit said. The state Environment Department estimates the lab has created some 2,093 dump sites.

The lab said its own studies of the Rio Grande first identified the presence of PCBs. But, the lab said, it has shown that PCB levels upstream and downstream of the lab are comparable, and that the lab's contribution to PCBs is relatively minor compared to the widespread presence of PCBs in the Rio Grande.

The lawsuit alleges tests have shown various contaminants in water at concentrations above what's allowed.

The lab said it has sampled agricultural soils and crops irrigated with water from the Rio Grande downstream of the lab, and that its studies have shown no impacts from lab operations.

The coalition contends that during a review of the lab's permit for various sites, the Environmental Protection Agency determined that Los Alamos lab was failing to comply with conditions, including requirements to monitor and control runoff from the sites.

Los Alamos lab officials said they have been working with the EPA to develop a new storm water permit.

"During this process the laboratory also met with these citizens' groups, provided them an overview of our storm water program and a tour of a number of sites showing laboratory storm water controls," said Susan G. Stiger, associate director for environmental programs. "Rather than a lawsuit, we had hoped to continue our work with these groups along with the general public through the public permitting process."

The lab also said in a news release that it has reduced wastewater discharge areas from 141 to 17 and is working toward "zero liquid discharge." It said it has more than 200 water sampling locations in its storm water monitoring network

The lawsuit said the lab entered into a federal compliance agreement for the sites three years ago to establish a program and schedule for complying with storm water discharge regulations, but must comply with permit terms in the meantime.

The lab revised a list of sites covered by individual permits and submitted a final list in December, the lawsuit said. Last month, the lab added to that list, it said.

The lawsuit was filed by the Western Environmental Law Center on behalf of Amigos Bravos, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, the Southwest Organizing Project, two acequia groups and others. Named as defendants are the U.S. Department of Energy; Energy Secretary Samuel W. Bodman; Los Alamos National Security, which manages the lab for the DOE; and lab Director Michael Anastasio.

The coalition said runoff on the high plateau where the lab sits increased after the 2000 Cerro Grande fire that burned about 43,000 acres around the lab, including major forested portions of seven watersheds.

According to the lawsuit, the lab found the fire removed vegetation and surface layers, decreasing the ability of the soil to take in water and causing increased surface runoff and soil erosion that "adversely affect local water resources by accelerating the movement of contaminants in sediments transported in storm water downstream of LANL."

The lab has documented a dramatic increase in runoff and erosion in surrounding canyons since the fire, the coalition said.