NMED Hybrid Public Meeting on Friday, September 22nd about Changes to WIPP Operating Permit

Friday, September 22^nd will be the last opportunity to make your public comments about the changes to the operating permit for the nuclear waste dump, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP. WIPP is a deep geologic repository for plutonium-contaminated radioactive waste from the production of nuclear weapons, located 26 miles east of Carlsbad, New Mexico. See below for specific information about how to make public comment.

The New Mexico Environment Department is hosting a virtual public meeting from 5 to 7 pm to give a presentation and receive your comments about the changes that have been made to the permit after a week of negotiations between the Environment Department https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/ ; the Department of Energy (DOE), the federal agency that owns WIPP https://wipp.energy.gov/ ; and members of non-governmental organizations and an individual.

CCNS was a party to the negotiations, along with Southwest Research and Information Center http://sric.org/ , Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping https://www.cardnm.org/ , Nuclear Watch New Mexico https://nukewatch.org/ , Southwest Alliance for a Safe Environment https://www.swalliance.org/ , and Conservation Voters New Mexico https://cvnm.org/ . Although the non-governmental organizations and the individual did not get everything they desired, they obtained a good number of positive changes in the renewal permit. These include:

DOE must annually document its progress to site another waste repository outside of New Mexico.
Legacy waste at Los Alamos National Laboratory is now prioritized for disposal.
DOE must finally provide an inventory of all of its legacy waste. The inventory will be developed with significant public involvement within a year. That waste will be prioritized for disposal.
Expansion of WIPP is limited to two waste disposal panels, numbered 11 and 12. Any proposed future expansion by DOE can only occur through a vigorous public process in an administrative permit renewal.
The Environment Department reiterated its authority to revoke the current permit and stop shipments if Congress increases the disposal capacity or expands the types of waste allowed at WIPP.
The Environment Department explicitly restated its authority to stop waste shipments to WIPP if there is evidence of a threat to human health or the environment or noncompliance with permit provisions.
And finally, the public will be kept up-to-date through quarterly public forums.

Please join your voice with hundreds of New Mexicans to insist that both New Mexico Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham and the Environment Department enforce the provisions in the renewal permit that keep New Mexico from becoming the nation’s nuclear dumping ground. Check out the latest videos to the Governor about New Mexicans’ concerns at Messages for the Governor at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0AcFJZ4VaSo (short version) and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vM50BSjYO4 (longer version).

Sign the Open Letter to the Governor and Environment Department at https://stopforeverwipp.org/ on the homepage. The Open Letter will be presented at the September 22^nd meeting.

How to Make Public Comments on or before September 22, 2023

For more information, see the August 15, 2023 public notice. https://hwbdocuments.env.nm.gov/Waste%20Isolation%20Pilot%20Plant/230818.pdf

Three ways to attend the public meeting and make comments:

Carlsbad in-person location: Skeen-Whitlock Bldg., 4021 National Parks Hwy.

Santa Fe in person location: Larrazolo Auditorium, NMED Harold Runnels Bldg., 1190 St. Francis Drive (between Cordova and Alta Vista).

Remote Access on WebEx: https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D167732347

NMED Public Comment Portal: https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=G5E7C

Email to Megan.McLean@env.nm.gov

Postal Mail: Megan McLean, Acting WIPP Group Program Manager

Hazardous Waste Bureau – NM Environment Department

2905 Rodeo Park Drive East, Bldg. 1

Santa Fe, NM 87505-6303

Friday, September 15th from noon to 1 pm MT – *** NEW LOCATION DUE TO RECONSTRUCTION OF GUADALUPE BRIDGE. *** Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Sandoval in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

Come and visit with us about planning Defuse Nuclear War events (Sept. 24 – 30 Week of Action) and the Back from the Brink campaign. Pick up Back from the Brink materials to prevent nuclear war. https://preventnuclearwar.org/

Saturday, September 16^th from 2 to 5 pm at Taos Public Library – screening of The Forgotten Bomb and Q&A with filmmaker Bud Ryan following the screening. The screening is hosted by Jean E Stevens, Taos Environmental Film Festival. This event is to raise awareness for the United Nations International Day of Peace on September 21^st and the United Nations Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on September 26^th. Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L08vj69ZL7M Poster: 1190 x 1600 The Forgotten Bomb

“I Believe in Peace” was created in tribute and in remembrance of Lawrence Ferlinghetti whom passed away on February 22, 2021. The Beat Poets and the poetic traditions of Taos, New Mexico, inspire it. The video is a song written, composed, edited, and directed by Jean E Stevens. She is also a screenwriter.

Thursday, September 21^st – United Nations International Day of Peace. The 2023 Theme is Actions for Peace: Our Ambition for the #GlobalGoals. It is a call to action that recognizes our individual and collective responsibility to foster peace. Fostering peace contributes to the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals will create a culture of peace for all. https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace

Friday, September 22, 2023 from 5 to 7 pm MT – NM Environment Department hybrid public meeting to present the changes made to the draft hazardous waste permit as represented in the proposed 10-year final permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). The public is invited to ask questions to NMED and WIPP representatives and make public comments. For more information, see the August 15, 2023 public notice. https://hwbdocuments.env.nm.gov/Waste%20Isolation%20Pilot%20Plant/230818.pdf

Three ways to attend the public meeting: