Welcome to the homepage for the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Natural Resource Damage Assessment and Restoration (NRDAR). This website is a portal for the public to learn more about the NRDAR process at LANL, the LANL Natural Resource Trustee Council (hereafter Trustee Council), and public involvement opportunities.
The Trustee Council is currently implementing the Final LANL Damage Assessment Plan which was released on April 30, 2014. The Trustee Council’s responses to public comments on the Draft Damage Assessment Plan can be found in Appendix F of the Final Plan. Additional details on the implementation of the LANL Damage Assessment Plan and the progress the Trustee Council has made to-date are provided on the Assessment Updates page.
What is a natural resource damage assessment and restoration (NRDAR)?
In circumstances where releases of hazardous substances or oil are suspected to have resulted in natural resource injuries, natural resource trustees can conduct a NRDAR process. The purpose of NRDAR is to determine if there are resource injuries and to determine whether the restoration of these injured natural resources is warranted. The ultimate goal is to restore natural resources to the condition they would be in but for the release of the hazardous contaminants or oil. A NRDAR process is conducted in four phases:
1. Pre-Assessment Screen: Determines if an assessment is warranted.
2. Damage Assessment Plan: Identifies the approach for conducting assessment activities.
3. Damage Assessment Implementation: Conducting the assessment.
4. Post Assessment: Planning and implementation of restoration.
The Trustees for natural resources in and around LANL have formed a Trustee Council. The Trustee Council issued a Pre-Assessment Screen (Phase 1) in January of 2010 in which it was determined that a damage assessment was warranted. In April 2014, The Trustee Council issued the Final Damage Assessment Plan (Phase 2) to guide future damage assessment activities. The Trustee Council has commenced implementation of the natural resource damage assessment (Phase 3) at LANL.
What is the difference between remediation and NRDAR?
Remediation is the cleanup or other methods used to remove or contain contaminants released into the environment that pose a threat to human health and the environment. NRDAR is the restoration of resources and their services to the condition they would have been in absent the release of the contaminant substances.