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LANL Waste Violations Carry Civil Penalties

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico says the Los Alamos National Laboratory violated its hazardous waste permit and should expect to face civil penalties.

The New Mexican reports that the New Mexico Environmental Department found 12 violations during a June 2015 inspection, including open waste containers, failure to label containers as hazardous waste, failure to note what was inside certain drums and failure to properly package waste drums containing free liquids.

A November review of the site by the National Nuclear Security Administration in November found several issues, but it indicated that the lab had made several improvements and could receive a financial award in 2016.

The department told the lab that a civic penalty will be issued because of a past history of noncompliance and the nature of the violations.