Home Page Departments Personnel Reports & Data Website Index
OVERVIEW
 

Current Program Status

History and Focus

    The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring and Research Program (CEMRP) was established in 1991 with an initial grant of $27 million over a seven year period (1991-1998). Subsequently, the grant was increased to almost $33 million to support operations until 2008. The primary goals of the CEMRP are to:

  • Establish a permanent center of excellence to anticipate and respond to emerging health and environmental needs
  • Develop and implement an independent health and environmental monitoring program in the vicinity of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), and make the results easily accessible to all interested parties
    The Carlsbad Environmental Monitoring & Research Center (CEMRC) is a division of the Waste-management Education & Research Consortium (WERC), in the (NMSU). Under the terms of the grant from DOE, the design and conduct of research for environmental monitoring at the WIPP are carried out independently of the DOE, and the production and release of resulting reports do not include DOE review or approval. A brief history of the CEMRC is presented in Appendix A.

    The CEMRC is operated as a research institute within NMSU, supported through grants funding and service contracts. The CEMRC's primary objectives are to:

  • Provide for objective, independent health and environmental monitoring
  • Provide advanced training and educational opportunities
  • Develop improved measurement methods, procedures, and sensors
  • Establish a health and environmental database accessible to all sectors


Key Activities for Success

    The following is a summary of progress and status for nine key enabling activities that are necessary to achieve the goal of establishing and developing the CEMRC. Activities to achieve the second goal of monitoring in the vicinity of the WIPP are presented in the following section (WIPP Environmental Monitoring Project).
 

1.    Assemble a team of highly qualified research scientists and support staff capable of carrying
       out current and future projects.
   At the end of 1997, staffing reached 26 professional and classified employees. Currently, the CEMRC employs 27 personnel, including 23 scientific and technical support staff (Table 1) and four student employees. Four scientific positions are open and in various stages of recruitment. Staffing is projected to continue to grow as new funded projects are added to the CEMRC's activities.
 
2.    Create state-of-the-art laboratory facilities capable of supporting advanced studies in areas of
       scientific specialization.
    In January 1997, the CEMRC was relocated to Light Hall, a new 26,000 ft2 laboratory and office facility constructed adjacent to the NMSU-Carlsbad campus. The CEMRC's scientific activities are organized into five major areas of specialization, with corresponding assignment of staff roles and responsibilities. Although some of the CEMRC's projects involve only one or two of the program areas, all of the program areas collaborate in carrying out the WIPP Environmental Monitoring project, and this type of integrative research is also applied to some newly funded projects. The five scientific program areas include field operations, internal dosimetry, informatics and modeling, radiochemistry, and environmental chemistry. Detailed descriptions of each program area and associated facilities and instrumentation are presented on the CEMRC's web site. 3.    Establish effective liaisons with leading research groups and laboratories to facilitate shared
       services  and collaborative research.
    Program needs for external laboratory services have declined, but a few sub-contractual agreements were maintained or initiated to provide specific advanced methodologies for selected analyses (Appendix B). In addition to services provided by external organizations, several NMSU departments and divisions also provided support to the CEMRC for specific projects, including the Physical Science Laboratory (PSL), the Soil, Water, and Air Testing Laboratory (SWAT), the Fishery and Wildlife Science Department, and the Electron Microscopy Laboratory. Over half of the 1998 publications and presentations by CEMRC staff were co-authored with external colleagues, and one-third of the CEMRC's proposed and existing new projects involve collaboration with other departments or institutions. 4.    Establish an independent advisory body of scientists to provide expert guidance and consultation to
        CEMRC staff in the focus areas of CEMRC research.
    The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) for the CEMRC is composed of one scientific expert in each of the CEMRC's five scientific areas of specialization (Appendix C). Each SAB member visited the CEMRC during 1998 to review the individual program areas and provide expert guidance and consultation to the program leaders. Each program leader used the SAB observations and recommendations in structuring specific developmental goals, new experiments, and methods improvements. Program leaders will provide SAB members with follow-up reports prior to each SAB member's visit during 1999.

    The Program Review Board (PRB) for the CEMRC consists of three members selected by the NMSU College of Engineering administration (Appendix C). Members of the PRB are directors or former directors of leading environmental research centers with histories of long-term success in sponsored research. Members of the PRB visited the CEMRC as a group during 1998, reviewed the overall operation of the CEMRC, and provided a joint review report to the administration. An action plan responding to the review was prepared by the CEMRC director, and implementation of the plan by the director and NMSU administration is in progress. A follow-up report will be provided to the PRB members prior to their visit during 1999.

5.    Establish a program of administration to ensure effective operation of the CEMRC.
    Current administrative staff includes a director, a fiscal specialist, a project manager, a manager of program development, and two administrative secretaries. Partial support is also provided for the WERC director, two WERC assistant directors, and an administrative assistant on the main campus at NMSU, to assist in coordination with main campus business and with the WERC educational and research programs. Expenditures for the CEMRP during fiscal years 1991-1998 totaled approximately $16.9 million (Fig. 1). New funding under the CEMRP of approximately $3.4 million was received for the 1999 Federal fiscal year. Combined with carryover funds, the projected CEMRP 1999 budget is approximately $4.1 million.

    Formal tracking of CEMRP project schedules and deadlines is conducted for current studies, as noted in later sections. Regularly scheduled work sessions for scientific program planning and problem solving are used to define accountabilities and track progress. Administrative and individual program area staff also have regularly scheduled review and planning sessions. Significant accomplishments and events are reported in monthly summaries provided to the DOE, NMSU, SAB and PRB.

6.    Publish research results and create a database management system to provide access to
       information generated by the CEMRC.
    CEMRC staff authored or co-authored 14 presentations at international, national and regional scientific meetings, and ten papers were published, are in press, or have been submitted for publication in peer-reviewed scientific journals during 1998 (Appendix D). A cumulative list of publications by CEMRC staff since 1996 is presented on the Publications page.

    The CEMRC issued two special study reports during 1998, "Cancer incidence in Lea and Eddy Counties, New Mexico, 1970-1994" and "Survey of factors related to radiation exposure and perceptions of environmental risks in Carlsbad, Loving, Malaga, and Hobbs, New Mexico." The CEMRC also issued a CEMRC 1997 Report that presented extensive data on radionuclides, non-radioactive constituents, and other basic environmental parameters from the WIPP Environmental Monitoring project. These reports and other CEMRC information are available via the CEMRC data page.

7.    Establish regional, national and international outreach and collaboration.
    During 1998, the CEMRC hosted six colloquia presented by visiting scientists (Appendix E). Each colloquium was advertised locally, resulting in participation by representatives from several local scientific, technical, and natural resource management organizations. The CEMRC was involved in a variety of other outreach activities ranging from presentations for special NMSU student programs, to hosting groups of visiting foreign scientists (Appendix F). As described in a later section, over 250 volunteers from the local community have participated in the "Lie Down and Be Counted" project. In addition, CEMRC scientists provided leadership in a variety of professional and scientific organizations and meetings (Appendix G).

    Inquiries have been received, and arrangements are in progress, for placement of two visiting scientists at CEMRC during 1999. The candidates are from the National Nuclear Center, Institute for Radiation Safety and Ecology (Kazakhstan), and the State Key Laboratory of Loess & Quaternary Geology, Shaanxi Province (People's Republic of China).

8.    Procure additional research grants and service contracts from external sources.
    CEMRC scientists generated 17 proposals, pre-proposals and contract modifications during 1998 (Appendix H). New or expanded funding was achieved on ten projects totaling over $400,000, two proposals are pending, and five proposals were not funded. Five previously funded projects were completed in 1998 or remain in progress. These projects represent a wide array of activities, and they have resulted in significant expansion and diversification of the scientific program.

9.    Implement programs to offer technical training in specialized research techniques and
       methodologies and to involve CEMRC resources and personnel in providing educational
       opportunities for students nationwide.
    During 1998, a total of 16 undergraduate NMSU students worked in laboratory and office aide positions at the CEMRC; these positions provide training and basic skills development relevant to the position assignments. Two CEMRC scientists received Graduate Faculty appointments at NMSU, which will facilitate future involvement of graduate students in CEMRC projects. Seven major presentations and special programs were provided for student groups (Appendix F).

HIstory of CEMRP Funding and Expenditures graph

Figure 1. History of CEMRP Funding and Expenditures
 

Table 1. Listing of CEMRC Staff as of December 31, 1998


Name

Position
Arimoto, Richard Senior Scientist-Environmental Chemistry
Brannan, Katrina Laboratory Aide (student)
Brown, Becky Fiscal Specialist II
Chatfield, Randy Programmer/Analyst I
Clarkston, Adam Technician I-Field Operations 
Conley, Marsha Director
Freisinger, Brandye Laboratory Aide (student)
Khaing, Hnin Laboratory Aide (student)
Kirchner, Thomas Senior Scientist-Informatics & Modeling 
Lynch, Sherry Technician IV-Science
Madison, Tom Project Manager
Marshall, Ida Office Aide (student)
Maung, Okka Assistant Scientist-Radiochemistry
Nesbit, Curtis Associate Health Physicist
Nottingham, Amy Assistant Scientist-Environmental Chemistry
Patterson, Kris Technician I-Field Operations
Sage, Sondra Assistant Scientist-Field Operations
Schloesslin, Carl Assistant Scientist-Radiochemistry
Schloesslin, Cheryl Assistant Scientist-Environmental Chemistry
Schoep, David Science Specialist-Field Operations
Staley, Jeremy Technician II-Informatics & Modeling
Stewart, Barry Associate Scientist-Radiochemistry
Stroble, Carolyn Administrative Secretary I
Webb, Joel Manager, Program Development
Yahr, Jim Assistant Scientist-Field Operations
York, Larry Technician II-Radiochemistry
Young, Karen Administrative Secretary II