skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Annual Site Environmental Report: 2003

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/881542· OSTI ID:881542

This report provides information about environmental programs during 2003 at the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center (SLAC). Seasonal activities that span calendar years are also included. Production of an annual site environmental report (ASER) is a requirement established by the DOE for all management and operating (M&O) contractors throughout the DOE complex. This summary demonstrates the effective application of SLAC environmental management to meet the site's integrated safety management system (ISMS) goals. For normal daily activities, all SLAC managers and supervisors are responsible for ensuring proper procedures are followed so that worker safety and health are protected; the environment is protected; and compliance is ensured. Throughout 2003, SLAC focused on these activities through the SLAC management systems (described in Chapter 3). These systems were utilized by SLAC to implement such ''greening of the government'' initiatives like Executive Order 13148. The management systems at SLAC are effective, supporting compliance with all relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. There were no reportable releases to the environment from SLAC operations during 2003. In addition, many improvements were continued during 2003 in waste minimization, recycling, decreasing air emission rates, stormwater drain system, groundwater restoration, and planning for a system to better manage chemical use. Program-specific details discussed are: (1) Air Quality--SLAC operates its air quality management program in compliance with established permit conditions; 2003 was the sixth consecutive year the air quality management program operated without any NOVs issued by regulators. Nevertheless, SLAC has an active program to improve its environmental performance in air quality. (2) Hazardous Waste--The Environmental Health Division of the San Mateo County Health Services Agency is the California certified unified permitting agency (CUPA) responsible for overseeing hazardous materials and waste management at SLAC. The CUPA made facility enforcement inspections of SLAC in August and September of 2003. These inspections covered SLAC's hazardous materials and waste management, business plan, California Accidental Release Prevention Program (CalARP), and tiered permitting/permit-by-rule programs. No notices of violation were issued as a result of either inspection. (3) Stormwater and Industrial Wastewater--SLAC operates its industrial and sanitary wastewater management program in compliance with established permit conditions; 2003 was the seventh consecutive year the program operated without any NOVs issued by regulators. SLAC actively pursues projects to reduce flow to the wastewater system, and through a variety of measures, has managed to keep its facility-wide wastewater discharge constant during a period in which many new connections were made to the system. SLAC continues to make the transition to a new facility-wide sanitary sewer flow-monitoring scheme, and made substantial progress towards completing the project during 2003. SLAC discharges stormwater with the potential to come into contact with industrial activities. SLAC has an extensive monitoring program in place at the eight discharge locations where the greatest potential for contact exists. During the 2002-2003 wet season, SLAC met all the requirements of its monitoring plan, with the exception of consistent sample collection within the first hour of discharge. For the eleventh consecutive year, the surface water program operated in 2003 without receiving any NOVs from program regulators. After expenditures of more than $1 million, SLAC was nearly complete with its Unauthorized Stormwater Connection Project at year-end; only 32 connections (less than 10 percent of the original total) remained to be replumed. SLAC actively pursued several other BMP-related performance improvements during the year. (4) Hazardous Materials Program--Although SLAC has been successful in meeting regulatory requirements for managing hazardous materials, it has decided to pursue a more active strategy to reduce the use of such materials. The cornerstone of this reduction effort is the chemical management system (CMS). (5) Environmental Radiological Program--In 2003, no radiological incidents occurred that increased radiation levels or released radioactivity to the environment. In addition to managing its radioactive wastes safely and responsibly, SLAC reduced the amount of waste generated. As detailed in Chapter 5, SLAC has implemented programs and systems to ensure compliance with all radiological requirements related to the environment. (6) Groundwater Protection and Environmental Restoration--In general, environmental concerns at SLAC are limited in number, small in scale, and are actively managed or eliminated.

Research Organization:
SLAC National Accelerator Lab., Menlo Park, CA (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
DOE Contract Number:
AC02-76SF00515
OSTI ID:
881542
Report Number(s):
SLAC-R-788; TRN: US0603166
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English