News Releases
Environmental Sciences
Environmental Sciences
Laboratory Begins Environmental Sampling in Townsite
September 25 — Environmental sampling, conducted on behalf of Los Alamos National Laboratory in the town of Los Alamos near upper Los Alamos Canyon, has begun.
Laboratory Disputes Citizens' Lawsuit
February 7 — Los Alamos National Laboratory officials today expressed surprise to a lawsuit alleging noncompliance with the federal Clean Water Act filed today by citizens groups against Los Alamos National Security LLC and the U.S. Department of Energy.
Facility upgrades will facilitate repackaging and shipment of 'hotter' waste from Los Alamos to WIPP
September 20 — Los Alamos National Laboratory has completed much-anticipated upgrades to its transuranic waste repackaging facility.
Local company gets Laboratory environmental remediation contract
June 27 — Accelerated Remediation Company, a local small business with offices in Los Alamos, received a contract from Los Alamos National Laboratory to begin remediation of an historic waste site known as Material Disposal Area B.
Laboratory installing 'sentinel well'
May 3 — The Laboratory has taken the next step toward protecting Los Alamos drinking water from byproducts of a chromium-based corrosion inhibitor that was discharged into the environment more than three decades ago.
Sue Stiger to manage environmental cleanup at Los Alamos National Laboratory
April 19 — Sue Stiger has been named associate director for environmental programs at Los Alamos National Laboratory, announced Laboratory Director Michael Anastasio.
Scientists discover the roots of the fast pace of life in big cities
April 16 — Humanity has crossed a historic threshold where a majority of people worldwide now live in cities. Yet, even as the debate on how humans impact the natural environment grows, urbanization and its consequences remains poorly understood.
Scientists develop ecological early warning device
April 9 — Working with collaborators from around the globe, scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method for constantly measuring climate change impacts at ecosystem scales using the stable isotope composition of atmospheric CO2 in plants.
Director announces management change
March 6 — In a message to Los Alamos National Laboratory employees, Director Mike Anastasio announced that he has reluctantly accepted a request from Andy Phelps, Associate Director for Environmental Programs, to be reassigned to other duties.
Radioactive liquid waste treatment facility upgrades completed
February 26 — Los Alamos National Laboratory has completed refurbishments to its high-level Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility waste tanks and collection system at Technical Area-50.
Detecting explosives with honeybees
November 27 — Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method for training the common honey bee to detect the explosives used in bombs.
Plasma assisted engines fuel efficient, cleaner
August 29 — Gasoline, diesel, and turbine engines could soon burn cleaner or be more fuel efficient through the application of Plasma Assisted Combustion, a technology originated and developed at Los Alamos National Laboratory, and now poised to enter the marketplace.
Los Alamos National Laboratory's hurricane response wins medal
August 24 — The Environmental Protection Agency this week recognized members of the Los Alamos National Laboratory Integrated Reachback Center.
Laboratory receives latest data on chromium in regional aquifer
March 17 — Los Alamos National Laboratory has just completed a comprehensive groundwater sampling effort to test for levels of chromium in the groundwater.
Fault expansions on Pajarito Plateau subject of talk Wednesday at Bradbury Science Museum
December 2 — A Los Alamos National Laboratory technical staff member will talk about fault expansions on the Pajarito Plateau of the Rio Grande rift in north central New Mexico at a talk Dec. 7 in the Bradbury Science Museum.
Talk at Laboratory's Bradbury Science Museum Tuesday on Cerro Grande Fire impacts to vegetation, elk population
December 1 — Los Alamos National Laboratory technical staff member Susan Rupp will speak about the effects of the 2000 Cerro Grande Fire on elk and vegetation in Bandelier National Monument at a talk Tuesday (Dec. 6) in the Bradbury Science Museum.
Using computers and DNA to count bacteria, measure effects of metal toxicity in soil
August 26 — Don't call them the Dirt Doctors, or Sultans of Soil, they're just clever Lab guys. A team from Los Alamos National Laboratory has a paper in this week's Science Magazine with a new way to count bugs in dirt. Bacteria, that is, in the highly complex world beneath our feet.
Sealed sources leave the Hill, destined for WIPP
August 17 — In the first shipment since May 2003, fourteen 55-gallon drums of radioactive sealed sources were shipped from storage at Los Alamos National Laboratory to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) on Thursday, July 28.
Who goes there . . . Species flourishing is feather in Lab cap
July 28 — For the first time since the Cerro Grande Fire, Laboratory ecologists have spotted three Mexican Spotted Owl chicks on Laboratory property. The Mexican spotted owl (Strix occidentalis lucida) was listed as a threatened species in 1993.
Laboratory to provide technical assistance to Valles Caldera National Preserve
May 10 — Los Alamos National Laboratory will provide technical expertise to assist the Valles Caldera National Preserve with environmental and geological research that will lead to a greater understanding of the Preserve.
Airborne Los Alamos instruments test for toxins from fires
April 12 — A unique hazard-detecting plane, supported by scientists from Los Alamos National Laboratory and operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, was on duty to warn first responders and residents with information about potential chemical hazards during a recent Houston oil refinery disaster.
Los Alamos helps Texas schools remove radioactive gammators
April 12 — Crews hired by the state of Texas and advised by Los Alamos National Laboratory have recovered three large radioactive sources from high schools in San Antonio, the latest success in the Laboratory's nationwide effort for the National Nuclear Security Administration's program to reduce security and other risks associated with radioactive material.
Los Alamos and business partner ZECA Corporation recognized by ScientificAmerican
December 3 — Los Alamos National Laboratory and ZECA Corp. have been recognized in Scientific American's December issue as providing one of the most significant "path-breaking developments that have taken place in recent months in laboratories, corporate suites and the halls of government," according to the article.
Vast nitrogen reserves hidden beneath desert soils
November 7 — A University of California scientist working at Los Alamos National Laboratory in collaboration with researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, the University of Nevada, the University of Arkansas and Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev., has recently found evidence that there may be significantly more amounts of nitrogen, in the form of nitrates, than previously estimated in desert landscapes. The discovery of these vast subsoil nitrate reservoirs could have implications for groundwater quality in arid/semi-arid environments worldwide, as mobilization of the nitrates could adversely affect drinking water supplies.
Laboratory works on Romanian environmental site
July 18 — Researchers from the National Nuclear Security Administration's Los Alamos National Laboratory are collaborating with scientists from the Romanian Institute of Nuclear Research to assist the Romanian government in establishing an effective shallow-land disposal site for the disposition of low- and intermediate-level radioactive wastes. The proposed disposal site is located near the town of Cernavoda along the Danube River, in southeastern Romania.
Hot polymer catches carbon dioxide better
May 29 — A new and economical technology for the separation and capture of carbon dioxide from industrial processes could lead to a significant reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions to the atmosphere. Scientists at the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory are developing a new high-temperature polymer membrane to separate and capture carbon dioxide, preventing its escape into the atmosphere.
Laboratory licenses nanosponge technology
September 22 — The Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory has licensed a new method that could be used to purify home water supplies.
Aamodt appointed Laboratory liaison to DOE-Carlsbad
April 22 — Paul Aamodt was recently appointed to serve as a liaison between the Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory and DOE's Carlsbad Area Office.
Stopping killers dead in their tracks
March 16 — Scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory have developed a method for neutralizing some of the world's most deadly killers -- chemical and biological warfare agents--using a newly developed Atmospheric Pressure Plasma Jet.
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