The Department of Energy’s nuclear cleanup field office at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and its environmental contractor will conduct a presentation Wednesday on the hexavalent chromium plume during the Los Alamos County, N.M., Department of Public Utilities Board meeting.
DOE’s Office of Environmental Management and contractor Newport News Nuclear-BWXT Los Alamos will discuss the current status of the plume interim measures.
The public meeting is set for the Los Alamos County Municipal Building and is also available for viewing on Zoom at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/82180323960.
The interim measure includes using wells to siphon off water from the plume, treat the water to remove the hexavalent chromium before then reinjecting the treated water back into the regional aquifer, according to a Monday DOE press release.
“Contaminated groundwater is pumped from up to five extraction wells to a facility in Mortandad Canyon, where it is treated with ion-exchange technology,” DOE said in the release. “The treated water is subsequently injected into the aquifer to establish a ‘hydraulic barrier’ in the area of injection, helping to prevent further migration of the plume.”
In November 2025, N3B and the Office of Environmental Management suspended the interim measure work at the direction of the New Mexico Environment Department. It was the second time in two years such work was suspended. DOE has said the plume is stable and poses no threat to drinking water.
The feds and New Mexico continue to discuss strategy on interim and long-term plans for combatting the plume.
The regional aquifer is more than 900 feet below ground and the chromium meanwhile is within 100 feet of the surface, according to a DOE backgrounder. The plume’s origins can be traced back to the 1950s. Chromium was often used to fight corrosion in power plant pipes.
Chromium-contaminated water from cooling towers was periodically released from the cooling towers into Sandia Canyon between 1950 and 1972, when Los Alamos discontinued the practice, DOE said.