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Final Release LLNL Site 300 (USDOE) These practices should not only prevent further releases but should also reduce contaminant concentrations in the environment. Although remedial activities are proposed for 30 years, contamination at many sites is predicted to be cleaned to below MCLS much sooner. For example, as of spring 2002 the TCE plume that once extended for over a mile along the Corral Hollow River basin from the eastern GSA in 1991 has been reduced to below EPA's MCL of 5.0 ppb (see the Groundwater section of this document). Funding for long-term monitoring will be provided by the federal government and is assumed to be sufficient to meet the monitoring requirements publicly agreed upon by the appropriate regulatory agencies. LLNL Environmental Protection Department publishes a Site Annual Environmental Report(SAER) that is available at: http://www.11nl.siov/saer/. This report highlights the environmental monitoring and compliance effort at LLNL as well as an assessment of the environmental impact of operations at both LLNL and Site 300. The clean-up standards for groundwater contamination at Site 300 are based on state and federal Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCLS). An MCL is an enforceable standard set by the EPA. This contaminant-specific value is based upon the maximum level of a contaminant in drinking water at which no known or anticipated adverse effect on the health of persons would occur. Additional safety factors are then utilized to make the MCL protective of human health. The MCL for trichloroethylene (TCE, the only contaminant detected off site) was established in 1989 and has not changed since. Active treatment will be completed when groundwater containing contaminant concentrations above MCLs is restored;however, groundwater monitoring will continue(LLNL 2000). Airborne Contamination and LLNL Conducted Controlled Burns: Comments: Citizens expressed concerns about the controlled burns conducted by LLNL Site 300 and the possible effects on an asthma condition. Comments included Open-air tests of high explosives carried by winds. Wild fires or controlled burns carrying contaminated air. Response: Concentrations of various radionuclides and of beryllium are monitored at LLNL Main Site, Site 300, and various other locations in the city of Tracy and throughout the Livermore Valley. Air monitoring results from areas around Site 300 indicate that there has been no off-site atmospheric transport of contaminated particles resulting from weapons testing or otherwise. Detailed information concerning the air monitoring performed by LLNL can be found in the SAER referenced above. Since 1960 LLNL has been conducting controlled burns at Site 300 for wildfire control (LLNL 2004). A Summary Document for Controlled Burning Operations at Site 300, which describes the steps taken to ensure the effectiveness and safety of these operations,has been released by A-4