Lab buried under ski slope would tackle cosmic puzzles

SCENIC, King County — Deep in the granite thousands of feet directly below the Seventh Heaven chairlift at Stevens Pass ski area, white-suited scientists may one day walk through a series of dust-free chambers to figure out how matter came to exist in the universe.

That's the vision of University of Washington physicist Wick Haxton. And sometime in the next few weeks, Haxton and the rest of the world will find out whether it's likely to come true. After the UW-led team twice appeared to be knocked out of contention, it now finds itself in the final stretch of a yearslong competition among four sites competing to build one of the world's deepest underground laboratories.

The aim is to unlock the mysteries of an elusive subatomic particle called a neutrino. Scientists say the deeper they go underground, the better they can shield sensitive measuring equipment from the sun's interfering rays.

Research on the neutrino, Haxton said, could "change our understanding of everything from the Big Bang onward."

At stake is up to $300 million in National Science Foundation (NSF) funds to build the lab and $300 million to conduct the first round of experiments — not to mention bragging rights for any discoveries.

But for the UW site — in a tunnel under Cowboy Mountain — to be picked, it would need to beat out the frontrunner: the shuttered Homestake gold mine in Lead, S.D. And it's a competition the town of 3,000 is taking very, very seriously.

In fact, each Feb. 23, when snowmobiles and skis are out in force, the townsfolk of Lead (pronounced LEED) put up banners along the main drag, organize feasts and judge an art competition. The celebration? "Neutrino Day."

Compare that excitement to Washington, where the project has proceeded virtually unnoticed, especially since the UW abandoned an earlier, controversial attempt to put the lab in the Icicle Valley near Leavenworth.

NSF spokesman Joshua Chamot said the agency expects to announce a preliminary site decision for its Deep Underground Science and Engineering Laboratory (DUSEL) sometime next month. Then follows a three-year, $15 million planning study of the chosen site before the final go-ahead to build the lab.

4-way split

Haxton, 57, has a fascination with the way the universe works. He relishes describing everything from theoretical hidden dimensions to the exhaust-venting system in the Cascade Tunnel. The vanity plate on his Volkswagen Passat reads "Nutrino." (The correct spelling took too many letters.)

Haxton is one of perhaps 300 scientists in the country primarily studying neutrinos. It's a tight-knit group that, over recent years, found itself oddly divided into four camps over the lab-siting question. Haxton himself was an early leader of the push to locate the lab in Lead.

But after the 8,000-foot-deep Homestake mine closed in 2001 and the new owners switched off water pumps, the lower levels were left to flood. The new owners also questioned whether some of the existing equipment could ever be used again, because of liability concerns.

Those factors prompted Haxton to begin looking farther afield. He became convinced that tunneling under a mountain held better prospects than descending into a mine. Meanwhile, scientists in Minnesota and Colorado were promoting their own alternatives. The Soudan site in Minnesota would use a former mine that had already been converted into a lab; the Henderson site west of Denver would use a working molybdenum mine.

1920s tunnel

The UW-led group began its quest for a lab with a team of power players in late 2003. But the initial plan to burrow under Cashmere Mountain and haul away thousands of truckloads-worth of debris met strong resistance from Leavenworth locals and outdoors enthusiasts.

In mid-2005, the NSF eliminated the UW and five other sites from the race, and at that point the quest appeared to lose momentum among UW and state leaders. But Haxton successfully appealed the elimination on the basis that the NSF had strayed from its scientific evaluation by considering cost and local objections.

Haxton then switched his preferred site to Cowboy Mountain at Stevens Pass, and the NSF, taken by surprise, withdrew a $500,000 design grant. Undeterred, Haxton wrote and submitted a new design proposal in just three months.

The new proposal would use the small Pioneer Tunnel on the west side of the Cascades. The tunnel was dug in the 1920s as an access and hauling route for crews constructing the Cascade Tunnel rail route. These days, it functions only as a water-drainage system.

The tunnel would be widened to about 15 feet in diameter with rail tracks connecting to the main rail line. That would allow debris to be easily removed by rail and for loads up to 15 tons to be hauled into the tunnel, using battery-powered engines to reduce pollution.

A main laboratory with about six rooms would be built 2 ½ miles into the tunnel, under the peak of Cowboy Mountain. A hoist system would give access to a deeper set of rooms nearly 6,000 feet below the mountain peak. In the future, an even deeper third stage could be built 1 ½ miles or more below the peak.

The UW would rely primarily on NSF money to build the lab. Haxton added that private donations and state economic-development loans might be sought if the UW wins the competition.

Town, state rally to cause

While the UW's efforts have struggled to gain momentum, enthusiasm for the project in South Dakota has been building since the mine closed in 2001.

One philanthropist, Denny Sanford, pledged $70 million should the project go ahead. The state offered another $46 million — more than $50 per resident — and even called a special joint legislative session to discuss neutrino science.

"I guarantee there is more neutrino knowledge per citizen in Lead than anywhere else," said Bill Harlan, a reporter for The Rapid City Journal who once worked in the Homestake mine.

Melissa Johnson, director of the Lead Area Chamber of Commerce, describes not only the financial and employment benefits to the region but also how the project could give people a renewed sense of pride and optimism.

"It would give the kids who are graduating in South Dakota a reason to live in South Dakota," she said.

Neutrino experts studying more objective, scientific criteria for a site tend to find the politics a little disconcerting.

Marvin Marshak, a physics professor at the University of Minnesota who is leading that state's proposal, said many of his peers think the NSF has favored Homestake all along.

He agrees that political considerations likely have played a part in NSF thinking but adds that Haxton's persistence in challenging the process may have forced the agency to become more evenhanded lately.

"Wick is very determined, what can I say? He works very hard, extremely hard," Marshak said.

"I'm sure that Homestake probably considers him to be the fly in the ointment."

NW location touted

Without a socioeconomic case to press, the UW has to convince the NSF that a tunnel has scientific and practical advantages over a mine.

Haxton said his rail-based approach allows much heavier equipment to be hauled in more easily and the Northwest location puts the lab in the best position to receive neutrino beams fired from similar labs in Japan, Europe and the U.S.

Homestake has the advantage of being the deepest proposal, with a proposed second stage 7,400 feet below the surface.

"The big advantages are that it's been an operating mine, we have access to 8,000 feet underground and we know the conditions of the rock at that depth," said Kevin Lesko, a physicist at the University of California, Berkeley and lead scientist among a team assembled by the South Dakota Science and Technology Authority to pursue the Homestake proposal.

Lesko thinks the water flooding Homestake can be pumped out easily enough, but Haxton thinks it may create big headaches.

Whichever of the four sites is chosen, neutrino scientists say they hope it will offer a chance for them to put the politics and competition of the past few years behind them.

"Everyone has gone off and done what they needed to do," Lesko said. "But what is clear is that for DUSEL to work, it will really require a concerted effort from everyone involved in underground research. Everyone will need to pull back together."

Nick Perry: 206-515-5639 or nperry@seattletimes.com