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Env i" ronmental. Comm.Mit"111-T Letter
<br /> LLNL Environmental Community Letter
<br /> Lawrence Livermore Nation,al L a lb 6 r,Of d4f Y
<br /> P.O. Box 808, L-790, Livermore, CA,945:I1," ntA
<br /> Questions ®r Comments DISCLAIMER
<br /> If you have questions or comments,or if you would like more This document was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of
<br /> the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor
<br /> information about LLNL's Speaker's Bureau and the environ- the University of California nor any of their employees,makes any warranty, January 1996
<br /> mental tour,or if you wish to be included on the mailing list express or implied,or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy,
<br /> for DOE/LLNL environmental projects,please call or write: completeness,or usefulness of any information,apparatus,product,or process
<br /> disclosed,or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights.
<br /> Reference herein to any specific commercial products,process,or service by
<br /> Bert Heffner trade name,trademark,manufacturer,or otherwise,does not necessarily consti- LAB ISSUES ENVIRONMENTAL were consistent with historical records and well below regulatory
<br /> tute or imply its endorsement,recommendation,or favoring by the United limits.Measured radioactivity in surface water,potable water
<br /> P.O.Box 808,L-404 States Government or the University of California. The views and opinions of
<br /> Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United REPORT FOR 1994 and drinking water wells was well below drinking water stan-
<br /> Livermore,CA 94551 States Government or the University of California and shall not be used for The 1994 annual environmental report for Lawrence Livermore dards,with the exception of measurements of storm water sam-
<br /> (510)424-4026 advertising or product endorsement purposes. National Laboratory shows Lab operations continue to pose no ples collected in November at one location upstream and off the
<br /> (e-mail address)heffnerl@llnl.gov Work performed under the auspices of the U.S.Department of Energy by threat to the environment or to human health. Livermore site.The origin of this source is unknown,and there
<br /> Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory under Contract W-7405-Eng-48. were no analytical results from air sampling that would tie the
<br /> And please let us know what you think of the Environmental UCRL-AR-112812-96-1 The report,released by the U.S. Department of Energy,sum- storm water results to airborne emissions from the Lab.
<br /> Community Letter. marizes the results of the Laboratory's environmental monitor-
<br /> ing and modeling programs, and demonstrates Laboratory The overall trend is a decrease of tritium in Valley ground water.
<br /> compliance with federal, state and local environmental laws The mean tritium activity in ground water wells has declined
<br /> and regulations. more than 50 percent in the past six years.
<br /> The Environmental Protection Department last year performed In 1994 there were two releases to the sanitary sewer system that
<br /> analyses on more than 200,000 analytes from more than 17,000 slightly exceeded discharge limits.Those involved methylene
<br /> environmental samples taken on and off Lab sites.The chloride (found in a monthly sample at 1.5 parts per million
<br /> H.F.Heffner Department's environmental monitoring program samples air, above the discharge limit of 1.0 part per million)and zinc
<br /> Environmental Communications soil,ground and surface water,tap water,rain,stormwater (found one day at 3.3 milligrams per liter above the discharge
<br /> Environmental Protection Department runoff,wastewater,sewer effluent,vegetation and foodstuff. limit of 3.0 milligrams per liter).
<br /> Measurements also are made of environmental radiation.The In general,Lab impact on vegetation and foodstuff in 1994 was
<br /> LLNL News releases are also available on the World Wide Web results of monitoring analyses,environmental impact assess- minimal.
<br /> of the Internet at URL http://www.11nl.gov,on NASW in ments and environmental compliance activities are used to pro-
<br /> Compuserve's Journalism Forum,and on UC Newswire. duce the annual report. Tritium levels in Valley vegetation were far below regulatory
<br /> The 1994 report shows that any amount of radioactivity standards,and generally lower than those observed in previous
<br /> released from the Laboratory continues to be far below the reg- years.Tritium concentrations in Livermore wines remained at
<br /> ulatory limits set for radiation protection of the public,as it levels far below drinking water standards.
<br /> has been since publication of the report began in 1971.The Analytical results and evaluations generally show a decrease in
<br /> potential radiation dose to a member of the public caused by contaminant levels,reflecting both decreased Lab operations
<br /> radioactivity released from the Lab in 1994 was less than I per-
<br /> cent of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency standard, involving potential pollutants and the responsiveness of the Lab and 4,000 times smaller than the dose received from natural in controlling those pollutants.
<br /> background radiation. Copies of the Laboratory's Site Annual Environmental Report for
<br /> The Lab routinely monitors ground water wells in the Livermore 1994 are available for review at the Lab's Visitors Center on
<br /> Valley and at Site 300 to complement its extensive on-site mon- Greenville Road in Livermore;at the Livermore,Stockton and
<br /> itoring activities associated with known areas of ground water Tracy Public Libraries.The Lab's Site Annual Environmental
<br /> contamination.Tritium,a radioactive form of hydrogen,is mea- Reports for both 1994 and 1993 are on the Internet at
<br /> sured,as well as other radioisotopes and a wide range of inorgan- <http://www.11nl.gov>.The reports will be listed under the
<br /> is and organic constituents of potential concern.All measure- home page headings"Institutional Publications"and
<br /> ments indicated Lab operations had minimal impact on Valley "Technical Papers."Or,call Bert Heffner at (510) 424-4026
<br /> ground water in 1994. for a"hard"copy.
<br /> Concentrations of compounds of concern measured in surface
<br /> water,rainfall,potable water and water supply wells for 1994
<br /> 1
<br /> Recyclable
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