Affidavit

Eric Nuttall, Ph.D., hereby submits this Affidavit to the New Mexico Court of Appeals in support of the Appeal for the Approval Plan of the on! "erm by Monitorin! Action and New

Maintenance Mexico.

# "MMP$

brou!ht

Citi%en

&f called upon to testify in this matter, & could testify to the followin! facts of my own

competently 'nowled!e(

1. "his affidavit is to support Petitioner)s appeal for the performance of a five*year report for the feasibility for excavation of the +andia National Mixed ,aste 2inal 3rder aboratories #+andia$

andfill #-M, .$ as set forth in the /001 of the New Mexico Environment Department

#-NMED.$ in para!raph 1 of pa!e 1 #-Condition 41.$. 2. & am a Principal Professional with 5leinfelder, &nc. in Albu6uer6ue, New Mexico. & have over /00 publications

and presentations. & was a Professor Emertitus at the 7niversity of New Mexico for 89 years, where & tau!ht environmental en!ineerin! and directed !raduate student research with an emphasis on in situ and in remediation situ of

!roundwater

usin!

bioremediation

chemical

oxidation. & have performed extensive consultin! for over /0 years with many industries, and national laboratories

os

Alamos

National

aboratory #-+N .$ in

#- AN .$, fate and

and

+andia of

National

aboratory

transport

radioactive nuclear waste and mana!ement. #+ee attached resume$. My experience with caps #dirt covers$ comes from consultin! with both AN and +N to cover radioactive

waste sites, includin! the M,

at +N . +o & am familiar

with their many studies and tests. 3. & have collaborated with D3E national laboratories # AN , +N $ on modelin! and understandin! radionuclide mi!ration in !roundwater with #the :;ucca Mountain: would pro<ect= include colloid

mi!ration,

AN $.

"his

published

studies for contamination and remediation for subsurface uranium, nitrate contamination, solvents and heavy

metals, such as chromium. 4. &n /00/ Con!ress funded the Consortium for Environmental Education and "echnolo!y Development #-,E>C:$ to ma'e an independent study of the corrective action plan for the M, . & was on the Citi%ens Advisory ?oard #-CA?.$ that

preceded two ma<or reviews that the Department of Ener!y #D3E$ sponsored on the M, . & was on the /00/*/008 ,E>C review for the M, by experts throu!hout the state. A

second ,E>C review was written by external reviewers from around the country. http(@@www.ieenmsu.com@wp*

content@uploads@/0AA@0B@finalreport.pdf, 2

5. "he 2inal ,E>C >eport Canuary 8A, /008 states( -"he Panel in felt the #or final stron!ly M, that the uncertainty lead of to the the by

contents

could of

eventually excavation of the

re6uirement subse6uent

choice$ disposal

followed

M,

contents.

.http(@@www.ieenmsu.com@wp* content@uploads@/0AA@0B@finalreport.pdf p.iv. 6. &n meetin!s & attended with the CA?, the discussions with +andia en!ineers and environmental en!ineers demonstrated their intent that the M, 7. &t was the intent of would be excavated. the ,E>C review boards, which

preceded the 2inal 3rder for the M, , that there would be a five year review and that +andia would come up with a plan durin! each five year review to excavate and

properly dispose of the M,

wastes.

8. "he ,E>C 2inal report stated #p.iv$( "he Panel)s stron!est recommendation is to include a scenario that would be titled :Cover with 2uture

Excavation:. "he su!!ested cover could be the current ve!etative cover option, or the ve!etative cover with a low profile bio*intrusion barrier. "he Panel felt stron!ly that the uncertainty of the contents in the M, could eventually lead to the re6uirement #or

choice$

of

excavation

followed

by

subse6uent

final

disposal of the M, 9. "he 7. +. Con!ress

contents. commissioned a study by ,E>C. & have of the +ince become

contamination issues at the +andia M, the ,E>C hearin!s and recommendations,

aware of issues re!ardin! unreliable data from defective !roundwater monitorin! practices prior to ,E>C. Dowever,

the ,E>C Expert Panel did not review the reliability of !roundwater monitorin! data provided by the Department of Ener!y@+andia. ,E>C was not informed at the time about documents re!ardin! unreliable data from a defective and

networ' of !roundwater monitorin! wells at the M,

the contamination of !roundwater. No references to the reports from the EPA #AEE9$ and Disapproval that documented NMED AEEF Notice of !roundwater

unreliable

monitorin! were provided to the ,E>C. "he 'nowled!e of such information at present ma'es the 1*year review even more ur!ent to perform. 10. "here is a list of over A00 radioactive and carcino!enic or!anics, chlorinated solvents and heavy metals provided in the ,E>C reviews. #+ee ,E>C 2inal >eport Appendix E$. 11. ?ased on my wor' in the radioactive waste business for /0 years, & can assure the Court that the wastes in the M, will continue to transport and hit the !roundwater. 4 My

prior

wor'

involves

transport

of

the

wastes

at

os

Alamos, in former East Germany where the 7++> extracted half of its uranium, in +weden and other locations. 12. "he wastes contained in the M, toxic. "he M, are lon!*lived and hi!hly

wastes were not accurately characteri%ed,

inventoried as to amounts and locations of burial in the discrete pits and trenches, or for compatibility of the wastes. #H3Cs$, "he wastes include volatile or!anic compounds i!nitable

polychlorinated

biphenyls

#-PC?s.$,

wastes, heavy metals, /B0,000 !allons of reactor waste water and numerous radionuclides. "he wastes were placed

in 11 !allon drums and other flimsy containers such as !lass bottles, plastic bottles, plastic ba!s and

cardboard cartons that readily deteriorate. 13. "here are AAE drums containin! various levels of

plutonium that has a half*life of /9,000 years. are /0 tons of depleted uranium in the M, million years$ that can be

"here

#half*life 9 to the

transported

!roundwater. 14. "he levels of tritium released from the M, have not

reduced by half as was earlier assumed by +andia but are now ten times hi!her than earlier reported levels. "his

is due to the brea'down of flimsy containers disposed of in the M, . "he limited life for the containers placed in 5

M,

will result in !reater release and mobility for the "he fact that tritium levels were is an indicator that the

wastes in the M, .

found to be hi!her at the M, +N

2ate and "ransport Model #-2"M.$, i.e., the computer for movement of wastes beneath the M, , was

modelin!

unreliable.

"he five year review is necessary to update

the 2"M as re6uired by the 2inal 3rder. 15. "he contamination of the !roundwater and Albu6uer6ueIs a6uifer by the release of wastes from the unlined pits and trenches of the M, is assured. "he release of the

wastes due to factors such as the mixture of wastes, container brea'down, moisture entry, dirt cover

brea'down, and the /9 hr. action of !ravity assure that the wastes will remain an endurin! threat until such time that the wastes are excavated. 16. "he types of chemical and radioactive wastes found in the M, were present at other sites at +N . "he M, was the

disposal facility for chemical wastes from AE1E to AEJ/. "hese same types of chemicals were deposited after AEJ/ in the Chemical ,aste chemical wastes in the andfill #-C, .$ at +andia. C, contaminated the "he

a6uifer.

Excavation of the C,

was re6uired, but not all of the

chemical wastes could be recovered due to the len!th of

time the chemicals were allowed to remain at the C, without excavation and remediation. 17. "he dirt cover that was placed above the M, wastes was

improperly constructed because it lac's an impermeable liner to carry moisture away and to the sides of the M, . Early warnin! monitorin! for moisture penetratin! or

beneath the dirt cover that could enter into the M, wastes cannot be accomplished because the neutron tubes for such monitorin! were placed beneath the M, trenches. movement Dirt of covers are 'nown to pits and the the

accelerate to

volatile

or!anic

compounds

!roundwater.

A dirt cover will brea' down within a 10

year time span or less due to many well 'nown physical and biolo!ical factors. "he dirt cover at the M, is

inade6uate for the protection of the !roundwater for M, wastes that can remain toxic for millennia. 18. "he wastes in the M, time without dan!er can be excavated at the current to the public and wor'ers.

&nstrumentation to detect radiation at very low levels exists and prevents the exposure of personnel to

extraordinary levels of radiation.

"he technolo!y for

retrieval and pac'a!in! of wastes, such as those found at the M, , has been used at numerous other D3E sites such as +N , &daho National aboratories, 7 AN and Danford.

2ar

!reater

amounts

of

waste

and

with

much

hi!her

radiation levels than the M, those sites. "he M,

have been retrieved from

is only /.J acres and the trenches

are shallow to a depth of more than approximately /1 ft. "his ma'es the M, 19. "here are a wastes accessible. of ways to remove the wastes

variety

includin! remote robotic techni6ues. "echnolo!y and the facilities for handlin! and pac'a!in! the M, located at +andia. wastes are

"here are locations in New Mexico,

7tah and Nevada that can receive the types of wastes contained in the M, . 20. "o delay consideration of the excavation of the M, at

the current time, as re6uired by the /001 2inal 3rder would allow the unnecessary continuin! brea'down of

containers, entry of moisture, release and spread of the M, wastes from the unlined pits and trenches. Delay of

excavation will complicate the retrieval of wastes at the M, site and mar'edly increase the cost of retrieval of wastes.

the M,

21. Delay of the five year review to the NMED and +andia planned date of /0AE puts the public and environment at further ris'. "he 1*year feasibility review for

excavation of the M,

is already 8 years overdue and

should not be postponed any lon!er. 8

& hereby swear under penalty of per<ury under the laws of the 7nited +tates of America and the +tate of New Mexico that the above statement is true and correct to the best of my 'nowled!e. Dated this KKK day of KKKKKKKKK, /0A9.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK Eric Nuttall, Ph.D. A991 Doneysuc'le Drive, NE Albu6uer6ue, NM FBA// 505 269-7840