Characterization of septic and drain system releases at Sandia National Laboratories, New Mexico

Sandia National Laboratories/New Mexico (SNL/NM) is located in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The SNL/NM Environmental Restoration (ER) Project is tasked with performing the assessment and remediation of environmental releases resulting from the almost 50 years of engineering development and testing activities. Operable Unit 1295, Septic Tanks and Drainfields, includes inactive septic and drain systems at 23 separate ER sites that were listed as Solid Waste Management Units (SWMUs) in the SNL/NM Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) Hazardous and Solid Waste Amendments (HSWA) Module Permit. These sites were identified, based on process histories and interviews with facility personnel, as the subset of all SNL/NM septic and drain systems that had the highest potential for releases of hazardous and radioactive wastes into the environment. An additional 101 septic and drain systems not currently classified as SWMUs also have been identified as needing future characterization