More Groundwater Contamination Problems at Brookhaven National Lab

More soil and groundwater contamination—with some hot spots above proposed cleanup goals—reportedly has been discovered at the Energy Department's Brookhaven National Laboratory.

A site assessment report, conducted to guide Superfund cleanup efforts at the New York facility, comes shortly after a hazardous chemical release incident in late January that appears to have violated state regulatory limits set for Brookhaven. The tetrachloroethylene leak occurred when a valve was inadvertently left open on a soil vapor extraction air sparger. This is part of a groundwater cleanup treatment system. The Jan. 28 incident actually was a release to the air, resulting in less than 0.1 lb (estimated) being released over a 64 hour period. The New York environmental authorities were informed immediately upon discovery of the leak to the atmosphere, and new procedures to avoid future similar incidents are being investigated.

The environmental problems could further strain state and community relations at Brookhaven, which is still struggling to overcome public concerns raised by contamination leaks discovered in 1997 coming from a spent reactor fuel storage facility at the site.

In regard to groundwater, the report said significant tritium contamination was found in groundwater near a Brookhaven facility that makes radioisotopes for medical use. Sampling close to the facility showed tritium concentrations up to 53,000 picocuries per liter (pCi/l) of water, more than two times above the federal drinking water standard of 20,000 pCi/l. In assessing potential health and environmental risks from the contamination, the report said cesium-137 was relatively insoluble and thus was considered not likely to move into groundwater.