PUBLISHED10/30/08
The state Environment Department, New Mexico Community Foundation, the federal Energy Department and Los Alamos National Laboratory have launched a web site that allows residents to view environmental data from the Lab online.
The online mechanism is called RACER, for Risk Analysis, Communication, Evaluation and Reduction, and is accessible at www.racernm.com. It will provide Lab data from before, during and since the Cold War.
The Environment Department directed the Lab to fund the project after it failed to disclose chromium contamination in the regional aquifer in a timely manner. Despite that pollution, drinking water supplies for Los Alamos and White Rock did not show levels of chromium above state standards. The Department wanted residents to have access through RACER to current environmental data and related compliance information.
The program is designed to identify concerns and provide input on chemicals and radionuclides in the environment around the Lab. Two important components of RACER are a database containing environmental data and a Data Analysis Tool. The Tool enables users to select data from geographic areas of interest, and to organize, manage, evaluate, and map that data on their computers.
RACER was initiated after the Cerro Grande Fire because decision makers and the public were not able to readily access environmental data.
For more information, call Marissa Stone at 827-0314 or Denise Gonzales at 820-6860.