This week, a coalition of 13 attorneys general issued Multistate Guidance affirming the necessity and legality of environmental justice initiatives to ensure a healthy environment for all people to live, play, learn, work and worship.  Despite attempts by the Trump administration to eliminate this critical work by businesses, nonprofits, and other organizations as illegal through the use of Executive Orders, the attorneys general are pushing back.

The coalition of attorneys general issued its Multi-State Guidance Affirming the Importance and Legality of Environmental Justice Inititative.  https://www.mass.gov/doc/multi-state-guidance-affirming-the-importance-and-legality-of-environmental-justice-initiatives/download

In part, they write:

The federal actions attacking environmental justice have created concerns about – but do not impact – the continued legality and importance of environmental justice efforts. These actions include several executive orders issued by President Trump, as well as memoranda issued by United States Attorney General Pam Bondi. These federal actions inaccurately label environmental justice and diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility activities as “illegal discrimination.” They rescind prior executive orders embedding environmental justice principles throughout federal administrative programs. They discontinue enforcement actions aimed at addressing disproportionate environmental burdens and terminate federal environmental justice programs and funding.  The recent federal actions also direct the United States Department of Justice to de-prioritize environmental justice in its enforcement work and to take actions to stop the enforcement of state environmental justice laws that the United States Attorney General deems illegal. These actions cloud the meaning of environmental justice and the legality of the work itself. But the limited effect of these actions is clear: the President cannot alter the laws passed by Congress, nor can his executive orders or agency memoranda change the protections afforded by the Constitution or state law. Additionally, while complementary, environmental justice is a distinct concept that addresses distinct challenges from diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility. Like the best practices for workplace diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility addressed in the February 2025 guidance from multiple state attorneys general, the advancement of environmental justice is not only lawful but also benefits the public.

The Attorneys General of California, Massachusetts and New York led the effort to issue the multi-state guidance.  The Attorneys General of Arizona, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maryland, Minnesota, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Vermont joined to form the 13-member coalition.  Together, they stand “committed to pursuing environmental justice and enforcing related laws in our jurisdictions.”

1. Join your neighbors and friends on Friday, June 20th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. Watch the “Television Event” 2:13 minute trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5RGRsTwjM It is about the television movie of the week during about nuclear war during the Reagan administration.

3. Thursday, June 26th from 4 to 5 pm MT – Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to a training webinar on how to submit a comment to ensure NNSA fully considers the public and environmental risks that come with planned expanded plutonium pit production.

Comment periods help increase transparency to the public, and it is crucial that the NNSA and the US Department of Energy hear from scientists, experts, and community members like you.  See UCS’s 4-page fact sheet at:  https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2025-05/Plutonium%20Pit%20Production_ES.pdf

Training webinar registration at:  https://secure.ucs.org/a/2025-6-26-peis-comment-training-2

4. Thursday, July 10^th from 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm ET; 10:30 am to 3:30 pm MT – From Trinity to Today: Nuclear Weapons and the Way Forward, a hybrid event. Registration is required to attend. You can register to attend in-person or on-line

The Arms Control Association and Win Without War invite you to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the atomic age through a three panel series that highlights the impacts of the bomb and showcases the role citizen campaigns have had in changing the course of nuclear history.

Join one or all the three panel series:

• • Toxic and Radioactive Legacy of Nuclear Use, Production, Testing
  • The Role of Citizens in Reducing the Nuclear Danger
  • Today’s Nuclear Dangers/Consequences of Nuclear War

For more information and registration:  https://www.armscontrol.org/From_Trinity_to_Today

5. Friday, July 11^th from 6 pm MT to Saturday, July 12^th to 6 pm – Fourth Annual 24-hour Peace Wave – addressing the need to abolish nuclear weapons. Peace Wave is a 24-hour long Zoom featuring live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world, moving around the globe with the sun. The Peace Wave visits dozens of location around the globe and includes rallies, concerts, production of artworks, blood drives, installations of peace poles, dances, speeches, and public demonstrations of all variety.

 To sign up to watch Peace Wave, to embed the sign-up on your website, to watch the past three years’ peace waves, and to answer most questions, go to https://24hourpeacewave.org   To discuss including your live event in the Peace Wave, email info@worldbeyondwar.org

6. Sunday, July 13^th – Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test: 80 Years and Still Waiting – doors open at 2 pm and event starts at 2:30 to 5 pm, at St. Pius X School, 5301 St. Josephs Drive NW, Albuquerque, NM. 80 year ago the U.S. government did not warn New Mexicans about the atomic bomb Trinity Test. To this day, downwinders of the first atomic bomb test have never been acknowledged or compensated. Today we are locked in a second nuclear arms race and again New Mexico plays a crucial role. It is long overdue that the nuclear powers honor their promises in international treaties to rid the world of the most dangerous weapons.

 Free event — all are welcome, pre-registration is encouraged. RSVP here.

7. Monday, July 14^th – public comments due to NNSA about the scope of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production.

8. Wednesday, July 16^th – 80^th Anniversary of the first atomic bomb test at the Trinity Test Site in New Mexico. See Chapter 10, “The Trinity Test,” in the Final Report of the Los Alamos Historical Document Retrieval and Assessment (LAHDRA) Project at https://stacks.cdc.gov/view/cdc/131522  Chapter 10 provides one of the most comprehensive reports of the Trinity Test written by the scientists who reviewed actual LANL documentation for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

9. Wednesday, July 16^th – 46^th Anniversary of United Nuclear Corporation Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill. For more information, see  https://ananuclear.org/church-rock-uranium-spill-july-16-1979/

10. SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19^TH at 7:30 am – 46^TH ANNUAL URANIUM MILL TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION HELD IN RED WATER POND ROAD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

 Each year, the community of Red Water Pond hosts a commemoration of the uranium mill tailings spill that took place 46 years ago and continues to impact local community members. These gatherings include speakers, tabling, a silent auction, and a walk commemorating the spill.  https://swuraniumimpacts.org/red-water-pond-road-community-association/

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) planned to vent 30,000 curies of radioactive tritium into the air during several weekends this summer but it must have approval from the New Mexico Environment Department.  James Kenney, Environment Department Secretary, citing significant public interest in the proposed plan, determined that prior to the Environment Department making any final decision, LANL would be required to perform four additional steps.

In a June 9, 2025 letter to the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and its contractor, Triad National Security, LLC, Kenney describes four new conditions that would have to be “successfully met” by the federal entities before he would consider whether to issue a temporary authorization to vent four tritium canisters. 2025-06-09 – NMED RPD HWB NNSA Temporary Authorization Letter

The four conditions are:

• an independent, third-party technical review of alternatives to vent the canisters;
• a public meeting with interested stakeholders to examine the independent, third-party technical review of alternatives. The meeting will provide opportunities to make comments and a period for questions and answers;
• a hazardous waste compliance audit by an independent, third-party auditor;
• The resulting three reports are required to be submitted to the Environment Department and will be made available to the public on LANL’s website.

The fourth condition requires LANL to host consultation with interested tribes. The consultation will focus on the reports as well as protection of cultural practices, human health and the environment.

The current outcome is the result of a six year effort by Tewa Women United, Communities for Clean Water, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, technical experts and many individuals who signed petitions, attended meetings and communicated their health and safety concerns about the proposed venting.

Importantly, Secretary Kenney concluded his letter by stating:

“In closing, the historical gross mismanagement of these waste streams by DOE and NNSA have placed NMED in an untenable situation. Now, the risk of inaction poses a far greater threat than a technical solution, but no technical solution is free from risk. Your disregard of state laws and rules governing these wastes for almost 20 years greatly exacerbated this situation and put New Mexicans, tribal communities, and our environment at risk. Given your failure to comply with New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act and its regulations codified at 20.4.1 of the New Mexico Administrative Code, you are hereby notified that NMED is separately commencing a civil enforcement action pursuant to this matter.”

1. Join us on Friday, June 13th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. Watch the “Television Event” 2:13 minute trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5RGRsTwjM It is about the television movie of the week during about nuclear war during the Reagan administration.

3. June 10^th through June 14^th – Atomic 66: A convergence of Space, Art, Tech, and Culture, Albuquerque, NM.  A special pop-up exhibit of the Atomic Art by Tony Price is included in the immersive events at Lobo Theatre as part of Atomic 66 – billed as a “gathering of innovators, creative, the curious, and the ones bold enough to think they can reshape tomorrow.”  For more information:  https://tonypriceatomicartist.com/ ,  https://www.atomic66.org/

4. Monday, June 16^th from 2 to 3 pm MT – Union of Concerned Scientists invites you to a training webinar on how to submit a comment to ensure NNSA fully considers the public and environmental risks that come with planned expanded plutonium pit production.

Comment periods help increase transparency to the public, and it is crucial that the NNSA and the US Department of Energy hear from scientists, experts, and community members like you.  Register at:  https://secure.ucs.org/a/2025-6-16-peis-comment-training-1

5. Thursday, July 10^th from 12:30 pm to 5:30 pm ET; 10:30 am to 3:30 pm MT – From Trinity to Today: Nuclear Weapons and the Way Forward, a hybrid event. Registration is required to attend. You can register to attend in-person or on-line

The Arms Control Association and Win Without War invite you to commemorate the 80^th anniversary of the atomic age through a three panel series that highlights the impacts of the bomb and showcases the role citizen campaigns have had in changing the course of nuclear history.

Join one or all the three panel series:

• • Toxic and Radioactive Legacy of Nuclear Use, Production, Testing
  • The Role of Citizens in Reducing the Nuclear Danger
  • Today’s Nuclear Dangers/Consequences of Nuclear War

For more information and registration:  https://www.armscontrol.org/From_Trinity_to_Today

6. Friday, July 11^th from 6 pm MT to Saturday, July 12^th to 6 pm – Fourth Annual 24-hour Peace Wave – addressing the need to abolish nuclear weapons. Peace Wave is a 24-hour long Zoom featuring live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world, moving around the globe with the sun. The Peace Wave visits dozens of location around the globe and includes rallies, concerts, production of artworks, blood drives, installations of peace poles, dances, speeches, and public demonstrations of all variety.

 To sign up to watch Peace Wave, to embed the sign-up on your website, to watch the past three years’ peace waves, and to answer most questions, go to https://24hourpeacewave.org   To discuss including your live event in the Peace Wave, email info@worldbeyondwar.org

7. Sunday, July 13^th – Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test: 80 Years and Still Waiting – doors open at 2 pm and event starts at 2:30 to 5 pm, at St. Pius X School, 5301 St. Josephs Drive NW, Albuquerque, NM. 80 year ago the U.S. government did not warn New Mexicans about the atomic bomb Trinity Test. To this day, downwinders of the first atomic bomb test have never been acknowledged or compensated. Today we are locked in a second nuclear arms race and again New Mexico plays a crucial role. It is long overdue that the nuclear powers honor their promises in international treaties to rid the world of the most dangerous weapons.

 Free event — all are welcome, pre-registration is encouraged. RSVP here.

8. SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19^TH at 7:30 am – 46^TH ANNUAL URANIUM MILL TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION HELD IN RED WATER POND ROAD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

 Each year, the community of Red Water Pond hosts a commemoration of the uranium mill tailings spill that took place 46 years ago and continues to impact local community members. These gatherings include speakers, tabling, a silent auction, and a walk commemorating the spill.  https://swuraniumimpacts.org/red-water-pond-road-community-association/

It has been raining in Northern New Mexico this week, providing many blessings of moisture and delaying the proposed venting of radioactive tritium from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), at least for now.  Importantly, the New Mexico Environment Department continues its review of LANL’s application for “temporary authorization” to vent up to 30,000 curies of tritium into the air from four Flanged Tritium Waste Containers, or FTWCs. 

Thirty thousand curies is about three grams of tritium.  This is the same amount of tritium as Japan is dumping into the Pacific Ocean over the span of 30 years from the 2011 tsunami and nuclear reactor explosions at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.  https://www.npr.org/2023/08/24/1195419846/fukushima-radioactive-water-japan

But the U.S. Department of Energy, which owns and operates LANL, estimates there are 100,000 curies in the four containers.  The proposed venting could occur over a period of years.  https://www.lanl.gov/engage/environment/ftwc, anwer to question No. 11.  It states there are “approximately 114,000 curies.”

This is an example of DOE not updating its website about the latest information about the venting.  It is also an example of the growing need for DOE to host in person and virtual public meetings in the villages, towns and communities downwind and downstream of LANL where there are opportunities to communicate about concerns, alternatives to venting and associated issues.

The draft LANL SWEIS states:  “The actual release of tritium would be dependent on the efficiency of the tritium capture system but not exceed 30,000 curies for any 12-month period. NNSA would limit annual tritium releases from FTWC venting to ensure that the total annual MEI dose (considering all sitewide releases) would remain less than 10 millirem/year.”  Draft LANL SWEIS, Volume 2, PDF p. 281, parentheses in the original. The acronym MEI is for “maximally exposed individual” of the public (not workers).  https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/draft-eis-0552-lanl-site-wide-vol2-2025-01_0.pdf

DOE admitted that there is no urgency to vent.  It stated, “There is no urgency for this project beyond the broader mission goals to reduce onsite waste liabilities.”  https://www.lanl.gov/engage/environment/ftwc

In a 2023 response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in Dallas, Texas, DOE stated, “The currently controlled venting process will be unfeasible at some point in the near future.  Based on modeling, that time is likely less than 4 [to] 5 years, [or 2028].”  https://cdn.lanl.gov/files/ftwc-epa-response-attachment_3e0de.pdf

The draft LANL Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) speaks of “a one-time release of up to 30,000 curies of tritium from venting flanged tritium waste containers.”  Draft LANL SWEIS, Volume 1, page 5-44.  https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2025-01/draft-eis-0552-lanl-site-wide-vol1-2025-01_0.pdf

There are 11 references to 30,000 curies in the draft SWEIS.

It is estimated that the four containers hold 100,000 curies of tritium.  But we don’t know because DOE has yet to sample the gas in the headspace of the containers.  It is unconscionable for DOE to vent the containers without sampling the headspace gas first to determine the contents and the amount of tritium. 

Further, DOE is required by its own regulations to conduct an ALARA review.  ALARA stands for “as low as reasonably achievable,” a guide for reducing exposure to radiation.  Such a review is essential to understand the potential exposures to all living beings.  DOE has refused to conduct an ALARA review.   DOE Order 458.1.   https://static1.squarespace.com/static/6418a35a30fed803c21f2bb1/t/67f56186a8839051f6ccd219/1744134535700/Rainfall+implications+of+Los+Alamos+tritium+venting+proposal+-+interpretation+of+modeling+results+Arjun+Makhijani+final+2024-03-28.pdf, pp. 6-8

Tewa Women United and Communities for Clean Water have commissioned four studies by three technical experts about the proposed venting.  The reports are available at https://tewawomenunited.org/2024/11/action-alert-stop-tritium-venting-and-protect-the-most-vulnerable and https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/general-2

Take action today!  Please sign the Action Network petition opposing the proposed venting at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air

Then write a letter to the editor asking how you will be informed if and when may NMED approves the temporary authorization to vent the tritium.  Please include how much notice you will need – hours, days or weeks – before the venting could occur.

1. Join us on Friday, June 6^th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. Watch the “Television Event” 2:13 minute trailer at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5S5RGRsTwjM It is about the television movie of the week during about nuclear war during the Reagan administration.

3. Thursday, June 12^th from 5 to 7 pm – in person and virtual LANL Environmental Management Cleanup Forum at Cities of Gold, Tribal Room, 10 Cities of Gold Road, Pojoaque.

Virtual Meeting Information

Microsoft Teams

Join the meeting now

Meeting ID: 289 358 365 894

Meeting Password: c7XX7Zx2

Or

Dial in by phone

+1 323-486-1924,,593496135#

Find a local number

United States, Los Angeles

Phone Conference ID: 593 496 135#

If you have any questions, please contact N3Boutreach@em-la.doe.gov.

4. Sunday, July 13^th – Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test: 80 Years and Still Waiting – doors open at 2pm and event starts at 2:30, St. Pius X School, 5301 St. Josephs Drive NW, Albuquerque, NM. 80 year ago the U.S. government did not warn New Mexicans about the atomic bomb Trinity Test. To this day, downwinders of the first atomic bomb test have never been acknowledged or compensated. Today we are locked in a second nuclear arms race and again New Mexico plays a crucial role. It is long overdue that the nuclear powers honor their promises in international treaties to rid the world of the most dangerous weapons.

 Free event — all are welcome, reservations recommended. RSVP here.

5. SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19^TH at 7:30 am – 46^TH ANNUAL URANIUM MILL TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION HELD IN RED WATER POND ROAD COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

Each year, the community of Red Water Pond hosts a commemoration of the uranium mill tailings spill that took place 46 years ago and continues to impact local community members. These gatherings include speakers, tabling, a silent auction, and a walk commemorating the spill.  https://swuraniumimpacts.org/red-water-pond-road-community-association/

Dylan K. Spaulding, author of the new report, is a senior scientist in the Union of Concerned Scientists Global Security Program.  He holds an undergraduate degree in physics from Brown University and a PhD from the University of California, Berkeley. His work focuses on technical issues related to nuclear stockpile stewardship and policies that can reduce the threat posed by nuclear weapons.  https://www.ucs.org/about/people/dylan-spaulding

The report was released this week while the Department of Energy held two virtual public meetings to receive comments about the scope of the court-mandated Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production.  With the current deadline for public scoping comments on Monday, July 14, 2025, now is the time to read Spaulding’s informative and damming report about the increasing risks and costs of DOE’s 60 year plan to build new nuclear weapons.  Many sections are devoted to on-going and cumulative issues at Los Alamos National Laboratory.  Through interviews with downwind and downstream Peoples, the impacts of past, present and future impacts are discussed.

Spaulding provides an overview of the report by stating:

“The United States is planning a $1.7 trillion overhaul of its entire nuclear arsenal, designing new warheads and investing in new bombers, missiles, and submarines to carry them. The new warheads, in turn, are driving demand for new plutonium “pits”—the bomb cores that begin the chain reaction in every US thermonuclear weapon—despite the fact that the United States has thousands of surplus pits in reserve.

“Producing new pits would not only be expensive, time consuming, and logistically challenging, but is also technically unnecessary and politically destabilizing. It would actually decrease national security by encouraging a new arms race. In addition, a rushed program will likely increase health risks to workers and communities.

“Science shows we can count on the reliability of existing plutonium pits. There are other ways to improve security without the risks and costs of producing new pits.”  https://www.ucs.org/resources/plutonium-pit-production in English and Español.

IMPORTANTLY:  DOE’s future plans for expanded plutonium pit production will not maintain the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile.  Expanded pit production will be for new design nuclear weapons and a costly and deadly nuclear arms race.

The Union of Concerned Scientists is requesting DOE to conduct a thorough evaluation of all plutonium pits in the current stockpile, provide an inventory of those pits, and conduct a new study about how plutonium “ages,” among other issues.

For more information about submitting comments:  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/09/2025-08140/notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-plutonium-pit

1. Join us on Friday, May 30^rd from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. APPLY BEFORE JUNE 1, 2025:

#Hiroshima Prefecture and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (#ICAN) will hold the Hiroshima-ICAN Academy on Nuclear Weapons and Global Security 2025.  This year’s overall theme is “Building peace in times of change,” as armed conflict rages in many places around the world today.

Application process is open till June 1, 2025.  https://www.icanw.org/2025_hiroshima_ican_academy

3. SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19^TH – 46^TH ANNUAL URANIUM TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

Just a few days ago, on May 9^th, the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Security Administration announced that virtual public “scoping” meetings would be held next week about their plans to prepare a nationwide Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production (PEIS). DOE and NNSA are working to turn Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) into a manufacturing facility for plutonium triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons.  DOE’s Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, published in the Federal Register.  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/09/2025-08140/notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-plutonium-pit

You have the opportunity to learn more about the DOE’s plans TODAY, May 22^nd, from 4 pm to 5:30 pm Mountain Time.  Our colleagues at Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Savannah River Site Watch, Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment (Tri-Valley CAREs) and the Union of Concerned Scientists will present DOE’s plans and what you can do about it.  The virtual workshop will be held on zoom at https://tinyurl.com/3tta9vey

The virtual workshop will feature:

• Talking points
• Suggested scoping comments
• Explanation of the procedural process
• Questions and answers with subject matter experts.

With this information, you can speak your mind at one or both of the upcoming meetings on the government’s plan to produce up to 120 new plutonium pits per year for nuclear weapons for the next 50 years.

The May 27^th and May 28^th public meetings are important because this is the first time since the 2006 to 2008 timeframe when the public will have the opportunity to comment on DOE’s nationwide plans for pit production. Over 100,000 public comments were submitted then.

Generally, the public has the opportunity to provide comments on DOE’s plan at the site level.  A recent example is the LANL Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement.

Here’s some background on this process.  Pursuant to the National Environmental Policy Act – https://www.energy.gov/nepa/nepa-documents, Nuclear Watch New Mexico – https://nukewatch.org/home/ , Savannah River Site Watch –  https://srswatch.org/ and Tri-Valley CAREs – https://trivalleycares.org/ successfully sued the NNSA over its failure to complete a required nationwide PEIS for its most costly program ever, the expanded production of plutonium “pit” bomb cores.  https://nukewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Lawsuit-Compels-Nationwide-Public-Review-of-Plutonium-Bomb-Core-Production.pdf

PLEASE NOTE:  No future production is to maintain the safety and reliability of the existing nuclear weapons stockpile. Instead, all pit production will be for new design nuclear weapons.

To meet its enforced legal obligation, the DOE is holding two virtual “scoping” meetings on Tuesday, May 27^th from 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm Mountain Time and Wednesday, May 28^th from 5 pm – 7:30 pm Mountain Time.

The current deadline for comments is Monday, July 14, 2025.  According to the Federal Register notice, these dates and times may change.

1. Join us on Friday, May 23^rd from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. STREAMING FREE ON PBS – THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA with Setsuko Thurlow who survived the 1945 atomic destruction of her hometown, Hiroshima, and vowed to help rid the world of those weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vow-from-hiroshima-awxbyw/

3. Saturday, May 31^st from 7 to 10 am – Defend the U.S. Constitution Rally at 5006 Gibson Blvd. SE, Albuquerque. Rally in solidarity alongside Veterans for Peace, AFGE Local 2063, 50501 Veterans, American Opposition, and Indivisible ABQ.  Bring signs showing your support for the U.S. Constitution, our VA, and LGBTQIA2S+ involvement in our military. Stand along both sides of Gibson between San Mateo & Truman, waving signs at traffic as the annual Air Fiesta commences on Kirtland Air Force Base.

 ARRIVE EARLY. Gates open at 8am.  Link to VFP Memorial Day weekend events—- https://mobilize.us/s/7HVkUT

4. Sunday, June 1^st – Save Our VA Rally with VA Unions on Gibson in Albuquerque. See this post next Friday, May 30^th for more information. 

5. APPLY BEFORE JUNE 1, 2025:

#Hiroshima Prefecture and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (#ICAN) will hold the Hiroshima-ICAN Academy on Nuclear Weapons and Global Security 2025.  This year’s overall theme is “Building peace in times of change,” as armed conflict rages in many places around the world today.

Application process is open till June 1, 2025.
https://www.icanw.org/2025_hiroshima_ican_academy

6. SAVE THE DATE – SATURDAY, JULY 19^TH – 46^TH ANNUAL URANIUM TAILINGS SPILL COMMEMORATION. https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

If you haven’t already signed the electronic petition to STOP Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities of radioactive tritium into the air beginning on or after June 2^nd, 2025, there’s still time.

Access the petition at https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air  The text of the petition is also available at https://nuclearactive.org/sign-electronic-petition-to-halt-lanl-plans-to-vent-radioactive-tritium-in-early-june/

Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and the Communities for Clean Water created the petition directed to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney.  Currently, the only roadblock to venting is that LANL needs a “Temporary Authorization” from the Environment Department, which could happen soon.

Tritium is a form of hydrogen that forms radioactive water in the environment.  It can cross the placenta, and fetuses, babies and children may receive a radiation dose about three times greater than adults.  To read the three reports commissioned by Tewa Women United and the Communities for Clean Water about the proposed venting, go to:  https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/general-2

Further, on May 14^th, the Communities for Clean Water sent a five-page letter to Secretary Kenney requesting a 60-day public comment period about LANL’s request for a temporary authorization.  They argue that five years have passed since LANL initially made the request, the publicly available information needs to be updated and the data is insufficient to determine the need for and risks associated with the venting.

Virtual Scoping Meetings for Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production on May 27^th and May 28^th

In the meantime, on May 9^th the Department of Energy (DOE) and the semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration issued its Notice of Intent to Prepare a Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, or PEIS, for Plutonium Pit Production.  The proposed PEIS would cover plutonium pit production operations at LANL; the Savannah River Site near Aiken, South Carolina; the Pantex Site near Amarillo, Texas; the Y-12 National Security Complex in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; and the Nevada Test Site, north of Las Vegas, Nevada.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0573-plutonium-pit-production-multiple-locations and https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2025/05/09/2025-08140/notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-plutonium-pit

The first step is for DOE to solicit public comments on the scope of the review, the environmental issues associated with pit production, and alternatives to it.

The virtual public scoping meeting dates and times, with hyper links and dial in by phone, are:

• Tuesday, May 27, 2025, 3 – 5:30 p.m. Mountain Time – https://bit.ly/​PuPEISMtg1.  Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592. Phone conference ID: 808 821 801#.
• Wednesday, May 28, 2025, 5 – 7:30 p.m. Mountain time – https://bit.ly/​PuPEISMtg2. Dial in by Phone: (571) 429-4592. Phone conference ID: 989 289 432#.

The current deadline for comments is Monday, July 14, 2025.  According to the Federal Register notice, these dates and times may change.

1. Join us on Friday, May 16^th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. STREAMING FREE ON PBS – THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA with Setsuko Thurlow who survived the 1945 atomic destruction of her hometown, Hiroshima, and vowed to help rid the world of those weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vow-from-hiroshima-awxbyw/

3. APPLY BEFORE JUNE 1, 2025:

#Hiroshima Prefecture and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (#ICAN) will hold the Hiroshima-ICAN Academy on Nuclear Weapons and Global Security 2025.  This year’s overall theme is “Building peace in times of change,” as armed conflict rages in many places around the world today.

Application process is open till June 1, 2025.
https://www.icanw.org/2025_hiroshima_ican_academy

4. Launching the 2025 Global Anti-Militarism Agenda Campaign: Join the #Stillhere-Coalition virtually on May 16 and May 18!!

   Wars of aggression, military occupations, severe sanctions, and a staggering rise in military posturing and base construction around the world are a defining aspect of the world today. But the world is also full of rising militancy and mass actions for peace against the aggressive US-led war machine.

   In light of the ever-growing militarization of US-led war and the ever-growing resistance to militarism around the world, the Resist US-Led War Movement will re-launch its Anti-Militarism Agenda, a broad-ranged and multi-issue campaign platform constructed over years of experience and collaboration with its members and partners as a road map for strengthening the global peace movement through shared campaigns.

   The launch will feature speakers from the organizations whose struggles have given life to the agenda and to global anti-militarism struggles.

 Learn about how we can work on the campaign together and how the Anti Militarism Agenda will be carried out through collaborative and coordinated campaigns on the ground against global targets that, together, we can defeat!

   There will be two launch events to accommodate different time zones:

   Launch 1 on Friday May 16 at 7pm Mountain
   tinyurl.com/amalaunchmay16

   Launch 2 on Sunday May 18 at 9am Mountain
   tinyurl.com/amalaunchmay18

Share with your networks:
IG: https://www.instagram.com/p/DJPX3eYPipu/?img_index=1
FB: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1At8fcBCEs/
X: https://x.com/ResistUSLedWar/status/1919084991796953116

Printable flyer: https://www.canva.com/design/DAGmgCrkqh0/6i2bIKBZ0NrxdrjcpdQV0Q/edit?utm_content=DAGmgCrkqh0&utm_campaign=designshare&utm_medium=link2&utm_source=sharebutton

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to vent large quantities of radioactive tritium into the air beginning on or after June 2^nd, 2025.  Tritium is a form of hydrogen that forms radioactive water in the environment.  It can cross the placenta and fetuses, babies and children may receive a radiation dose about three times greater than adults.   

The New Mexico Environment Department is currently reviewing LANL’s request to vent.

Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, and the Communities for Clean Water have created an electronic Action Network petition you can sign to halt the proposed plan. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air

The petition is directed to New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and New Mexico Environment Department Secretary James Kenney.  It reads as follows:

“Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to begin large releases of radioactive tritium gas any time after June 2, 2025. The only roadblock is that LANL needs a ‘Temporary Authorization’ from the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED), which could happen soon. Below are the facts:

“Why the rush? LANL has explicitly stated, ‘There is no urgency for this project beyond the broader mission goals to reduce onsite waste liabilities.’
“LANL claims need the need to vent based on modeling, not physical sampling of container headspace.
“LANL proposes to vent up to 3 grams of tritium, [or approximately 30,000 curies] over the span of a few days and possibly over a single day. This is THE SAME AMOUNT of tritium as Japan is dumping into the Pacific Ocean over the span of 30 years from the tsunami and nuclear reactor explosions at Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. In total, as much as 90,000 curies, three times the Fukushima amount – may be emitted, though not more than 30,000 curies in any single year.
“One teaspoon of tritiated water, [or HTO] can contaminate around 100 billion gallons of water.
   “When calculating the risk, LANL only does so for adults – they are not required to do so for children, infants or pregnant women/fetuses – ignoring the real impact on our communities. The author of one report, Bernd Franke, stated, ‘In the case of tritium, infants and small children get a radiation dose about three times greater than adults, with the same concentrations of tritium in air, water, and food.’”

It is time for action!  Please sign the Action Network petition opposing the proposed venting TODAY!

Please share this Update with your contacts and encourage them to sign the Action Network on-line petition.  https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air

1. Join us on Friday, May 9^th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. STREAMING FREE ON PBS – THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA with Setsuko Thurlow who survived the 1945 atomic destruction of her hometown, Hiroshima, and vowed to help rid the world of those weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vow-from-hiroshima-awxbyw/

During the early days of the pandemic, on March 10, 2020, LANL mailed a notice to people on the facility mailing list about the proposed venting of radioactive tritium into the air from four metal containers stored at Area G. LANL’s request provided information about its plan to seek temporary authorization to vent from the New Mexico Environment Department, specifically from the Hazardous Waste Bureau. UTF-820200310 Resubmit Temp Authorization FTWC Venting LA-UR-20-22103

Use of the facility mailing list is a notification process for people who want to know about the LANL plans.  The public may sign up on the Hazardous Bureau’s website in order to receive a mailed written notice. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/lanl-permit/ , scroll down to LANL Hazardous Waste Facility Permit Mailing List and follow the instructions.

OR

Please notify Siona Briley by email at siona.briley@env.nm.gov , or by postal mail at Siona Briley, New Mexico Environment Department-Hazardous Waste Bureau, 2905 Rodeo Park East, Bldg. 1, Santa Fe, NM 87505. Please include your name, email (preferred communication method to save resources) or postal mailing address, and organization, if any.

Five years later, on April 9^th, 2025, the public received email notification from LANL’s Electronic Public Reading Room that the proposed venting would be done on or after June 2, 2025.

• Notification of Planned Start of a Radiological Air Emissions Point Source: Remediation of Flanged Tritium Waste Containers (FTWC) at TA-54

Importantly, the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA) and the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act provide regulatory distinctions between a mailing to those on facility mailing list and those who receive an email through the Electronic Public Reading Room.

CCNS is on both notice lists.  We received both the March 10^th, 2020 Facility Mailing List notice and the April 9^th, 2025 Electronic Public Reading Room notice.

The Environment Department is reviewing the request to determine whether to grant or deny it.  Once the decision is made, people on the Facility Mailing List will receive notice through the mail.  Parties will then have thirty days to appeal the decision to the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/environmental-improvement-board/

CCNS and the Communities for Clean Water < https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/general-2 > urge the Environment Department to require LANL to host hybrid public meetings now in frontline communities before making a decision for the following reasons:

• it has been five years since the first notice;
• many aspects of the proposal have changed, including the significant reduction in the amount of tritium from 100,000 curies five years ago to 30,000 curies today;
• LANL has not publicly provided the technical reasons for the change;
• LANL provided a list of 53 alternatives to the Environmental Protection Agency. Despite multiple requests from Tewa Women United, neither federal agency has provided the alternatives list; and
• five years is typically a regulatory time period for review of proposed or on-going activities.

It is time for action!

Please communicate with your family and friends and encourage them to sign the Action Network on-line petition directed to Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Environment Department Secretary James Kenney requesting denial of LANL’s request.

Online Petition: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/petition-to-deny-lanls-request-to-release-radioactive-tritium-into-the-air
Nuclear Watch New Mexico Fact Sheet: https://nukewatch.org/why-nmed-should-deny-lanls-request-for-tritium-releases

1. Join us on Friday, May 2^nd from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. STREAMING FREE ON PBS – THE VOW FROM HIROSHIMA with Setsuko Thurlow who survived the 1945 atomic destruction of her hometown, Hiroshima, and vowed to help rid the world of those weapons and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW). https://www.pbs.org/video/the-vow-from-hiroshima-awxbyw/

3. Saturday, May 3^rd from 10 am to 4 pm – Dust off your hiking boots and pull out your work gloves to help clean up the Caja del Rio. Join Conservation Voters New Mexico, the Caja del Rio Coalition and partners to restore the landscape.  If you want to join, RSVP here. Then meet at USFS Headquarters Well Trailhead, Forest Rd 24, Santa Fe, NM 87507.

All materials for the clean-up event will be supplied by the Caja del Rio Coalition and/or its partners, except for gloves and outdoor gear. Lunch will be provided, but it’s important to bring any additional snacks and water to keep you energized throughout the day.

4. Saturday, May 3^rd in the afternoon at Site Santa Fe – Artists Against the Bomb Billboard Project, a collaborative project supported by Estudio Pedro Reyes and the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN). Also showing is DIRECT ACTION: Pedro Reyes.  https://www.sitesantafe.org/en/exhibitions/billboard-project-pedro-reyes/ and https://www.sitesantafe.org/en/exhibitions/pedro-reyes-direct-action/

5. Thursday, May 8^th from 12 – 1:30 pm in The Small Auditorium, CFA – New Mexico’s Nuclear Weapons Boom Community Reading & Conversation 

Join Tewa Women United for an open conversation about recent developments in nuclear activity across New Mexico, inspired by the New Yorker article by Abe Streep, “New Mexico’s Nuclear Weapons Boom.” This powerful piece highlights the growing role of the nuclear industry in our region — and features stories about Northern New Mexico College students and academic programs. We’ll be joined by special guest Alicia Inez Guzmán of Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative journalist who covers nuclear issues and the industry’s local impact. Come learn, share, and be part of the dialogue about our future.

The Northern NM College host contact information:

Tobe Bott-Lyons tobe.bottlyons@nnmc.edu

Johanna Case-Hofmeister johanna.case@nnmc.edu

the bomb is a groundbreaking multimedia installation that immerses audiences in the strange, compelling and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons.  Since General Groves and Robert Oppenheimer arrived in New Mexico in late 1942 to establish the Manhattan Project, the danger has only increased.  The world is confronted by the nine nations that possess about 12,000 nuclear weapons.  And those nations are modernizing their arsenals, including the United States at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), the only facility with the capabilities to fabricate the triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons.

During this time artists have played an increasing vital role in confronting the nuclear threat.  They capture its dangers, its absurdities and the ever-present sense of impending nuclear catastrophe.

the bomb is presented in three parts:  a one-hour long film, a two-day symposium and a month-long installation exhibit, all taking place at or near the Zimmerman Library on the University of New Mexico (UNM) campus. There is no admission fee.  The events will not be livestreamed. UTF-8UNM_THE BOMB UNIVERSITY TOUR Press Release

the bomb was created by Smriti Keshari and Eric Schlosser and is on an international tour.  The stop at UNM is unique in that the lectures, class visits and the exhibition focus on university students.

On Wednesday, April 30^th, the bomb, a one-hour long film, places the viewer in the middle of the nuclear weapons story – from the July 16, 1945 Trinity Test in New Mexico to the threats to destroy all life on Planet Earth.  It has been described as “stunning…unique and dazzling” by Entertainment Weekly, and “not so much a film as it is an experience…haunting…unsettling…as immersive as it gets” by Newsweek.  The 5:30 PM screening of the bomb will be in George Pearl Hall 101.  https://www.thebombnow.com/

A two-day symposium on the bomb will be held on Wednesday, April 30^th and Thursday, May 1^st.  Alicia Inez Guzmán will give the keynote lecture about “Epifania’s Story: A Local Reporter’s Quest to Reveal a 50-year-old Secret,” about a woman living in Truchas who did not work at LANL, but was contaminated with LANL plutonium. https://searchlightnm.org/buried-secrets-poisoned-bodies/  It will be followed by a gallery walk; panel discussions by artists, faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students; a post-screening discussion; and a writing workshop led by the filmmakers, which is reserved for UNM journalism students.  https://honors.unm.edu/news/events/the-bomb.html, scroll down for the schedule.

The third piece is the bomb Exhibit from April 30^th through May 30^th at the Zimmerman Library, Room 102.   The full schedule is Wednesday, April 30; Fridays in May:  the 9^th, 16^th, 23^rd and 30^th.  https://www.krqe.com/news/albuquerque-metro/university-of-new-mexico-to-host-exhibit-on-nuclear-history-technology-weapons/

The exhibit at UNM has been coordinated by Myrriah Gómez, Associate Professor in the Honors College; Sachi Barnaby, an Honors College undergraduate student; and Mel Ribas, the senior operations manager of the University Libraries.  https://honors.unm.edu/news/events/the-bomb.html

Stay informed about the tour and upcoming locations by visiting https://www.thebombnow.com/

1. Join us on Friday, April 25^th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament and against expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. Friday, April 25^th from 5 pm to 7:30 pm – Voces del Pueblo: Artists of the Levantamiento Chicano in New Mexico at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum (April 25, 2025 to February 8, 2026). Listen to the Raíces interview on Monday, April 21^st at 7:30 pm about the exhibit on KUNM-FM’s Online two-week audio archive.  https://www.kunm.org/two-week-archive

3. Saturday, April 26^th from 9 am to 5 pm – Second Annual WIPP Plutonium Trail Caravan from Santa Fe to Las Vegas, NM and back to protest the continued dumping of toxic chemical and radioactive waste in NM by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractors.

 Join us at the southwest corner of De Vargas Mall on Paseo de Peralta to load and go to I-25 to the Plaza in Las Vegas, NM and with a stop at the Lamy Train Station on the return trip.   

If you are unable to attend, please be sure to sign the Stop Forever WIPP petition to NM’s Governor – available in English and Spanish – to ensure the Governor protects the People of New Mexico from DOE’s WIPP expansion plans.  https://stopforeverwipp.org/ and   https://form.jotform.com/251037013320135

For more information, see https://nuclearactive.org/second-annual-wipp-plutonium-trail-caravan-on-saturday-april-26th/ ; https://nuclearactive.org/saturday-april-26th-second-annual-wipp-plutonium-trail-caravan-from-santa-fe-to-las-vegas-new-mexico/

4. SHUT DOWN DRONE WARFARE – 16 Years of Drone Resistance – Join the Spring Action Week, Sunday, April 20^th to Saturday, April 26^th – Holloman Drone Training Base, Alamogordo, NM. For more information, https://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

5. Tuesday, April 29^th from 6 pm to 7:30 pm at New Mexico Veterans Memorial, 1100 Louisiana Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM – The Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD) Semiannual Public Meeting about their environmental programs and activities at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Kirtland Air Force Base (KAFB). sandia.gov/about/environment  For more information about SNL:  envinfo@sandia.gov; about KAFB:  377ABW.PA@kirtland.af.mil

6. Wednesday, April 30^th from 4 pm to 6 pm – Virtual and in-person WIPP Community Forum & Open House to provide an update on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Q&A to follow.  In-person meeting at the Skeen-Whitlock Building Auditorium, 4021 National Parks Hwy., Carlsbad, NM    Registration at  https://wipp.energy.gov/events-calendar.asp
   

ENGLISH FLYER HERE: https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2025/Indian_Country_043025.pdf

 SPANISH FLYER HERE: https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2025/Indian_Country-Spanish_043025.pdf

7. Thursday, May 1^st from 6 to 8 pm at the Nick Salazar Center for the Arts, Española, NM – First We Bombed New Mexico Film Screening and Panel Discussion. Join Tewa Women United for the acclaimed film, First We Bombed New Mexico, the hidden history of Trinity—the world’s first nuclear bomb detonation—carried out in New Mexico just one month prior to the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

The panel features: Lois Lipman, Director of First We Bombed New Mexico; Tina Cordova, Co-founder of the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, whose activism is featured in the film; and Nathana Bird, Interim Executive Director of Tewa Women United. We hope you will join us and bring a friend as we are trying to fill the theater and build momentum for the film. Also feel free to share with your networks, on social media posts and EJ connections. Check out flyer (attached) and the trailer for the film:  https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/878337794/a575bb471a

8. Saturday, May 3^rd from 10 am to 4 pm – Dust off your hiking boots and pull out your work gloves to help clean up the Caja del Rio. Join Conservation Voters New Mexico, the Caja del Rio Coalition and partners to restore the landscape. 

 If you want to join, RSVP here. Then meet at USFS Headquarters Well Trailhead, Forest Rd 24, Santa Fe, NM 87507.

All materials for the clean-up event will be supplied by the Caja del Rio Coalition and/or its partners, except for gloves and outdoor gear. Lunch will be provided, but it’s important to bring any additional snacks and water to keep you energized throughout the day.

9. Thursday, May 8^th from 12 – 1:30 pm in The Small Auditorium, CFA – New Mexico’s Nuclear Weapons Boom Community Reading & Conversation 

Join Tewa Women United for an open conversation about recent developments in nuclear activity across New Mexico, inspired by the New Yorker article by Abe Streep, “New Mexico’s Nuclear Weapons Boom.” This powerful piece highlights the growing role of the nuclear industry in our region — and features stories about Northern New Mexico College students and academic programs. We’ll be joined by special guest Alicia Inez Guzmán of Searchlight New Mexico, an investigative journalist who covers nuclear issues and the industry’s local impact. Come learn, share, and be part of the dialogue about our future.

Here is the Northern NM College host contact information as well:

Tobe Bott-Lyons tobe.bottlyons@nnmc.edu

Johanna Case-Hofmeister johanna.case@nnmc.edu

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promised the People of New Mexico that it would cleanup and dispose of its plutonium-contaminated nuclear bomb waste by depositing it into the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) over 25 years and close.  DOE broke its promise when that deadline passed on March 26^th, 2024. But DOE has a new plan to keep the deep geologic nuclear waste disposal facility at WIPP open for 60 more years for legacy bomb waste and for newly-generated bomb waste from fabricating new weapons.  https://wipp.energy.gov/

To alert the public about DOE’s plans, the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition will host the Second Annual WIPP Plutonium Caravan on Saturday, April 26^th beginning at 9 am at the DeVargas Mall in Santa Fe.  The Caravan will travel south on St. Francis Drive to Interstate 25 and towards Las Vegas, New Mexico with stops along the way.  You are invited to be part of the Caravan.  For more information, please visit https://stopforeverwipp.org/

Once in Las Vegas, the Caravan will stop at key locations to talk with people about the four-fold purpose of the Caravan to:

• alert those along the route of the ever increasing presence of the waste-hauling trucks;
• educate the public that DOE intends to continue hauling waste for at least 60 additional years;
• inform the public about the woefully inadequate emergency preparedness and response plans of the various jurisdictions to respond to a traffic accident involving plutonium-contaminated waste; and
• motivate the public to resist DOE’s plans by participating in the activities of the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition and by signing the petition to the New Mexico Governor.

Stops include the Tri-County Farmers’ Market and several retail stores and eateries.  On the return trip, the Caravan will travel south along Interstate 25, ending with a 5 pm presentation and press event at the Lamy Train Station.

On Saturday, April 19^th from 10 to 11 am on KFUN AM 1230 and KFUN FM 103.7, radio host Pat Leahan will interview John E. Wilks, Jr., the Caravan Project Manager, and Cynthia Weehler, founder of Fire on the Mountain, about the Caravan.  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KFUN_(AM)

They also will discuss New Mexico Environment Department permit requirements for DOE to site and build a second repository outside of New Mexico, to prioritize disposal of transuranic waste generated in New Mexico, and to reserve a disposal panel for only legacy transuranic waste.  240924 NMED WIPP HazWaste Renewal Permit Conditions

Please join us.  Together we are making a difference!

1. Join us on Friday, April 18^th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners in support of nuclear weapons disarmament.

2. Thursday, April 17^th from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial, 1100 Louisiana Blvd. SE – virtual and in-person – Kirtland Air Force Base Bulk Fuels Facility Project Public Meeting. The poster session will begin at 5:30 pm and the meeting will start at 6 pm.

Learn about the work to remove groundwater contamination caused by a historic leak at the old Base Bulk Fuels Facility.  Connect to the meeting by:

Option 1: Copy this url into your web browser: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1608583654

Option 2: From ZoomGov App or meeting search on web-browser at zoomgov.com, enter Meeting ID: 160 858 3654.

Option 3: Telephone (audio only) – also use if computer speakers are not available.  Dial: (551) 285-1373 or (669) 254-5252. Spanish Assist line: (415) 449-4000.  Meeting ID: 160 858 3654.

Option 4: One tap mobile: 6692545252, 1608583654#

For more information, please contact 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs at (505) 846-5991 or 377ABW.PA@us.af.mil. Community members may review Air Force Environmental Restoration Program documents by visiting the Kirtland AFB website at https://www.kirtland.af.mil/Home/Environment/ or the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center Administrative Record website at AF Administrative Record (https://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil).

3. Saturday, April 19^th from 2 to 4 pm – Nonviolent Santa Fe WORKSHOP: “Exploring Nonviolence: Tools for Managing Conflict in Everyday Life” at the Buddhist Center Thubten Norbu Ling, 130 Rabbit Road, Santa Fe. Led by Buddhist teacher Don Handrick, Chaplain Wendy Rhema, and retired SF Firefighter Ramos Tsosie.  Please register by April 17 at NonviolentSantaFe@yahoo.com  For more information: https://nonviolentsantafe.org/     FLYER:UTF-82025-04-19 Exploring Nonviolence Workshop flier single

4. SHUT DOWN DRONE WARFARE – 16 Years of Drone Resistance – Join the Spring Action Week, Sunday, April 20^th to Saturday, April 26^th – Holloman Drone Training Base, Alamogordo, NM. For more information, https://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

5. Friday, April 25^th from 5 pm to 7:30 pm – Voces del Pueblo: Artists of the Levantamiento Chicano in New Mexico at the National Hispanic Cultural Center Art Museum (April 25, 2025 to February 8, 2026). 

6. Wednesday, April 30^th and Thursday, May 1^st – the bomb, a two-day symposium around a multimedia installation that immerses audiences in the strange, compelling and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons, will be on exhibit at the University of New Mexico.The full schedule for the symposium can be found HERE.

With funding from the MacArthur Foundation, the museum-version of the bomb will be installed at a half a dozen American universities in the fall of 2024 and the spring of 2025. the bomb is a groundbreaking multimedia installation that immerses audiences in the strange, compelling, and unsettling reality of nuclear weapons.

the bomb will be on exhibit at UNM from April 30 – May 30, 2025.     FLYER: UTF-8the bomb symposium_final 250430-250501

7. Wednesday, April 30^th from 4 pm to 6 pm – Virtual and in-person WIPP Community Forum & Open House to provide an update on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Q&A to follow.  In-person meeting at the Skeen-Whitlock Building Auditorium, 4021 National Parks Hwy., Carlsbad, NM    Registration at  https://wipp.energy.gov/events-calendar.asp   

 ENGLISH FLYER HERE: https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2025/Indian_Country_043025.pdf

 SPANISH FLYER HERE: https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2025/Indian_Country-Spanish_043025.pdf