U.S. Water News Online
ALBUQUERQUE -- A layer of contaminated sludge on a 47-year-old underground wastewater tank at Sandia National Laboratories is too dangerous for a person to clean.
So members of Sandia's robotics research group have added snow tires to a small robot in an effort to come up with a way to scoop up the sludge.
The water tank, which sits nearly 30 feet underground, has leaked 4,000 gallons of potentially contaminated water beneath Sandia's nuclear reactor area.
Sandia's federal managers reported the problem to the New Mexico Environment Department last spring. The department has since concluded there is little risk of the contaminants reaching groundwater 400 feet beneath the site.
But Sandia officials say they are committed to finding a way to clean up the mess.
No water remains in the tank, but it still has a layer of sludge contaminated with hazardous chemicals, including mercury, lead and arsenic.
Getting the sludge out of the ground is the best way to ensure the contaminants don't reach groundwater, said David Wheeler, one of the Sandia officials in charge of the cleanup.
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