Los Alamos Reporter

County: Public Encouraged To Hear New Mexico Environment Department Presentation On LANL Hexavalent Chromium Plume At June 3 Board Of Utilities Meeting

COUNTY NEWS RELEASE

The public is encouraged to hear a presentation from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) regarding the hexavalent chromium plume at the Board of Public Utilities meeting on June 3, 2026 at 5:30 p.m.

Hexavalent chromium was used by the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) from the 1950s – 1970s. Contaminated water was periodically released into Sandia Canyon and Mortandad Canyon during this time frame. The Department of Energy Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office has a contract with N3B for legacy waste cleanup at LANL.

The Department of Public Utilities does have a drinking water well located outside of the current known extent of the plume. However, this well has not been in operation for four years out of an abundance of caution to protect the drinking water supply

The DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and N3B provided a status update on the remediation efforts at the May 20, 2026 BPU meeting. To view that presentation, please visit ladpu.com/BPULiveProceedings.