95-21062. Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement for the Proposed High Explosives Waste Water Treatment Facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory

[Federal Register Volume 60, Number 164 (Thursday, August 24, 1995)]
[Notices]
[Pages 44023-44024]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 95-21062]



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DEPARTMENT OF ENERGY


Floodplain and Wetlands Involvement for the Proposed High 
Explosives Waste Water Treatment Facility at the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory

AGENCY: Department of Energy (DOE).

ACTION: Notice of floodplain and wetlands involvement.

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SUMMARY: DOE is giving notice of floodplain and wetlands involvement 
for a proposal to improve its treatment of wastewater from high 
explosives (HE) research and development activities. The proposed High 
Explosives Wastewater Treatment Facility (HEWTF) project would focus on 
greatly reducing the amount of wastewater needing treatment. This would 
entail extensive process modifications, including installation of new 
equipment and improvements in existing systems. The thrust of these 
modifications would be to prevent hazardous chemicals and HE from 
entering the wastewater stream and to curtail water use in the HE 
operations. The result would be a reduction in wastewater discharges of 
approximately 90 percent from the current volume being discharged to 
wetlands located in the vicinity of the proposed facility in Los Alamos 
County, New Mexico. Remaining discharges would be primarily from 
stormwater run-off. In accordance with 10 CFR Part 1022, DOE will 
prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment and include it in the 
Environmental Assessment (EA) being prepared for the proposed action.

DATES: Comments are due to the address below no later than September 8, 
1995.

ADDRESSES: Comments should be addressed to:

Elizabeth Withers, Acting NEPA Compliance Officer, Office of 
Environment and Projects, Department of Energy, Los Alamos Area Office, 
528 35th Street, Los Alamos, NM 87544, [phone]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS PROPOSED ACTION, CONTACT:

Jesus Amezquita, Project Manager, Office of Environment and Projects, 
Department of Energy, Los Alamos Area Office, 528 35th Street, Los 
Alamos, NM 87544, [phone]

 
[[Page 44024]]

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION ON GENERAL DOE FLOODPLAIN/WETLANDS 
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW REQUIREMENTS, CONTACT:

Carol M. Borgstrom, Director, Office of NEPA Policy and Assistance, EH-
42, U. S. Department of Energy, 1000 Independence Avenue, SW, 
Washington, D.C. 20585, [phone] or [phone]
SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

I. Project Description

    DOE proposes to improve its treatment of wastewater from HE 
research and development activities at the Los Alamos National 
Laboratory (LANL). The proposed HEWTF project would focus on greatly 
reducing the amount of HE-contaminated wastewater needing treatment 
prior to its discharge to the environment. This would entail extensive 
facility and process modifications, including installation of new 
equipment and improvements in existing systems. The thrust of these 
modifications would be to prevent hazardous chemicals and HE from 
entering the wastewater stream and to curtail water use in the HE 
operations. The result would be an approximately 90 percent decrease in 
wastewater volume from the current level of 5,539,700 L/mo (1,463,598 
gal./mo) to 535,549 L/mo (138,206 gal./mo). LANL would use two vacuum 
trucks to transport wastewater from HE processing facilities to one new 
treatment building.
    A new treatment plant would be built to handle all HE wastewater. 
The proposed location of the treatment plant is on a mesa top in 
Technical Area (TA) 16. The treated wastewater would be discharged into 
an existing National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) 
permitted outfall at TA-16. The number of NPDES outfalls for HE 
contaminated wastewater would be reduced from 16 to 1. All effluent 
would meet or exceed effluent quality standards in the recently revised 
NPDES permit, which took effect on August 1, 1994.

II. Floodplain/Wetland Effects

    In 1990, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) mapped wetlands 
at LANL in accordance with the National Wetlands Inventory standards. 
The USFWS survey identified one wetland area in the project area. This 
is an engineered pond in TA-16 behind Building 90 and is classified as 
a ``palustrine, unconsolidated shore, seasonally flooded, and diked/
impounded (PUSCh) wetland area.'' The pond received liquid waste 
sometime between the 1940s and 1980s. It now receives only seasonal 
rain and snowfall and may dry up for approximately four weeks each 
year.
    In addition to the USFWS-described wetlands, there are 27 NPDES 
outfalls within the area, 15 of which are classified as HE-
contaminated. Of these, eight (05A-052, 05A-053, 05A-054, 05A-058, 05A-
061, 05A-069, 05A-071, and 05A-072) support hydrophytic vegetation. 
These are man-induced wetlands. A man-induced wetland is an area that 
has developed characteristics of naturally-occurring wetlands due to 
human activities.
    Implementation of the HEWTF project would not involve construction 
within the boundaries of any wetlands. However, the HEWTF would stop 
the flow from over one-half of the outfalls in the area and inevitably 
eliminate some wetland areas. At the same time, it may enhance the 
wetland at the new treatment facility as a result of a four-fold 
increase in effluent volume. However, total discharge volume would be 
reduced.

    Canon del Valle and Water Canyon, both affected by HE wastewater 
outfalls, contain small floodplains. Floodplains in Los Alamos 
County have been mapped using the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' 
computer-based Flood Hydrograph Package to define the 100-year 
frequency, 6-hour design storm events. None of the proposed HEWTF 
falls within this floodplain.

    In accordance with DOE regulations for compliance with floodplain 
and wetlands environmental review requirements (10 CFR Part 1022), DOE 
will prepare a floodplain and wetlands assessment for this proposed DOE 
action.
    The assessment will be included in the EA being prepared for the 
proposed project in accordance with the requirements of the National 
Environmental Policy Act. A floodplain statement of findings will be 
included in any finding of no significant impact that it issued 
following the completion of the EA or may be issued separately.

    Issued in Los Alamos, New Mexico on August 14, 1995.
Joseph C. Vozella,
Assistant Area Manager for Environment and Projects.
[FR Doc. 95-21062 Filed 8-23-95; 8:45 am]
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