Idaho National Laboratory Environmental Monitoring Plan

Idaho National Laboratory
Environmental Monitoring Plan
1. GENERAL INFORMATION
1.1 Purpose
This plan provides a high-level summary of environmental monitoring currently being performed by
various organizations within and around the Idaho National Laboratory (INL) Site as required by U.S.
Department of Energy (DOE) Order 450.1, “Environmental Protection Program.” 1 The objective of
DOE Order 450.1 is to implement sound stewardship practices that protect the air, water, land, and other
natural and cultural resources that may be impacted by DOE operations. This plan describes the
organizations responsible for conducting environmental monitoring across the INL Site, the rationale for
monitoring, the types of media being monitored, where the monitoring is conducted, and where
monitoring results can be obtained.
Detailed monitoring procedures, program plans, or other governing documents used by contractors or
agencies to implement requirements are referenced in this plan. This plan covers all planned monitoring
and environmental surveillance. Nonroutine activities such as special research studies and
characterization of individual sites for environmental restoration are outside the scope of this plan.
1.2 INL Site Description
The INL Site is approximately 230,500 hectares (890 mi 2 ) and is located on the Eastern Snake River
Plain in southeastern Idaho (see Figure 1-1). It was established as a nuclear energy research and
development (R&D) testing station in the late 1940s and was designated a National Environmental
Research Park in 1975. All land within the INL Site is protected as an outdoor laboratory where the
effects of energy development, industrial activities on the environment, and the complex ecological
relationships of this cool desert ecosystem can be studied. The INL Site is owned by DOE and
administered through its Idaho Operations Office (DOE-ID). DOE-ID is charged with overseeing
operations at the INL Site.
Subsurface geology consists of successive layers of basalt and sedimentary strata, overlain by windand
water-deposited sediments. Most of the INL Site is in the closed Mud Lake-Lost River drainage
basin, which has been informally named the Pioneer Basin. Surface waters within the Pioneer Basin
include the Big Lost River, the Little Lost River, and Birch Creek drainages, all of which provide
drainage to the mountain watersheds located to the north and northwest of the INL Site. All three
drainages may flow onto the INL Site during high flow years, but are otherwise intermittent. In addition,
local rainfall and snowmelt contribute to surface water, mainly during the spring. The portion of surface
water that is not lost to evapotranspiration infiltrates into the subsurface. Both aquifer and surface waters
are used for irrigating crops and other applications outside the INL Site.
The primary groundwater source of the region is the Snake River Plain Aquifer (SRPA). (See
Figure 1-2). The SRPA is approximately 320 km (199 mi) long, 30 to 100 km (20 to 60 mi) wide, and
encompasses an area of about 2,500,000 hectares (9,650 mi 2 ). This sole-source aquifer is one of the most
productive in the U.S. As such, it is a source of process and drinking water to more than 200,000 people
and supplies irrigation water to a large, regional agricultural and aquaculture economy.
1-1 General Information