Los Alamos National Laboratory has received $212 million for environmental cleanup activities under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The funds will shore up environmental compliance efforts and the cleanup of Cold War-era buildings slated for demolition, said George Rael, assistant manager for environmental operations at the National Nuclear Security Administration’s Los Alamos office.

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“The Recovery Act will help change the skyline of Los Alamos, while creating jobs in the community,” Rael said in a news release. “We are ready to begin these projects immediately and plan to make extensive progress in meeting our clean up responsibilities, while stimulating the local economy.”

More than 20 unused buildings and structures in the laboratory’s Technical Area 21 are slated for demolition, including a former plutonium research and processing facility that is unoccupied. The funds also will finance clean up of LANL’s first waste disposal pits that were used from 1944 to 1948.

The lab opened the demolition work to competitive bidding in May, generating 11 bids. That includes seven from northern New Mexico businesses that will be given preference in the selection process.

The work is expected to save or create about 200 jobs.

The lab also will allocate $45 million of federal funding for water monitoring wells and other activities to ensure compliance with the New Mexico Consent Order, which sets milestones for clean up and monitoring of Manhattan Project and Cold War-era sites.

Source: New Mexico Business Weekly