News Releases from the Emergency Rehabilitation Team During the Cerro Grande Fire

MDA-R Update (6/14/00)

On Friday, smoldering material on the east side of MDA-R at Technical Area 16 was completely extinguished. MDA-R had been smoldering ever since the fire ran over the site. The site is a World War II-vintage high explosives burning area, approximately 200 yards long and 60 feet wide.

Workers today extinguished the smoldering debris in the west end of MDA-R.

Crews are preparing the removed debris for disposal.

Continued monitoring shows no signs of radiological contaminants.

MDA-R Update (6/13/00)

On Friday, smoldering material on the east side of MDA-R at Technical Area 16 was completely extinguished. MDA-R had been smoldering ever since the fire ran over the site. The site is a World War II-vintage high explosives burning area, approximately 200 yards long and 60 feet wide.

Over the weekend, workers prepared a level area on the western edge of the site so the remote excavator could begin excavation of the western portion of the disposal site. Crews continue using the remote excavator to remove smoldering material from the western portion of the disposal site. Workers expect that the remaining smoldering material will be completely extinguished in the next few days.

The primary debris that has been smoldering at the site is trees and stumps that were cut down when MDA-R was constructed. Smoldering rubber and plastic cable insulation have also been removed from the pit.

Continued monitoring shows no signs of radiological contaminants.

MDA-R Update (6/8/00)

Contractor crews currently are watering down debris removed from MDA-R at Technical Area 16 that has been smoldering ever since the fire ran over the site. Materials currently burning in MDA-R include tree roots, railroad ties, and cabling. MDA-R is a World War II-vintage high explosives burning area, approximately 200 yards long and 60 feet wide. Previous limited characterization of the area has revealed significant concentrations of barium, with lower concentrations of cobalt, lead, silver, and zinc at levels greater than background. No uranium above background levels was found in this sampling.

High explosives residues, particularly RDX and TNT, also are present. As a safety precaution, the contractors are using a one-of-a-kind remote robotic excavator to scoop up chunks of smoldering debris, moving the debris to a nearby clear area and dousing it with water, making sure that none of the water reaches any of the nearby stream channels. Crews should finish putting out the smoldering materials some time on Saturday.

Preliminary air sampling at MDA-R on May 26 revealed no occupational risk to employees from hazardous materials. At this time, there is no known offsite human health risk. An environmental monitoring network was installed on May 26 that is sensitive to small concentrations of metals and radionuclides. Additional monitors that measure volatile organic chemicals were started on June 2. Los Alamos also is splitting its obtained samples with the New Mexico Environment Department for independent analysis. Preliminary air monitoring results should be available within two to three weeks. All results will be posted on the Laboratory's Air Quality webpage.