BOISE, Idaho — U.S. and state officials say ongoing Superfund cleanup work of radioactive and other contamination at the Idaho National Laboratory in eastern Idaho has been successful at protecting humans and the environment.
The five-year review by the U.S. Department of Energy, U.S. Department of Environmental Quality and the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality also says that potential exposures in areas that aren't yet cleaned up are being controlled.
Contamination at the 890-square-mile Energy Department site came from injection wells, unlined percolation ponds, pits where radioactive material from other states was dumped, and accidental spills mainly during the Cold War era before regulations to protect the environment were put in place.
