Each week you depend on CCNS to provide you with the latest nuclear safety issues through the radio, on the internet and by email.  We’ve been producing the weekly CCNS News Update for over 35 years!  We need your financial support to keep our programs going.

For example, the weekly Did You Know? post reminds you about the many events of this busy summer.  You can read it on our website at nuclearactive.org, on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and in your email.  All you need to do is sign up on our website.  We don’t ever sell your information.

We begin the summer by tabling at the Santa Fe Pride 30 on the Santa Fe Plaza on Saturday, June 24^th from 10 to 4 pm.  CCNS is a member of the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition that envisions a future of fairness and safety where New Mexicans are informed and involved in protecting public health and the environment.  We work to stop the expansion of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) nuclear waste dumpsite in New Mexico.

We’ll be active participants in the public hearing about the proposed renewal of the hazardous waste permit for WIPP by the New Mexico Environment Department in the late summer/early fall timeframe.  The Department of Energy has controversial plans to keep WIPP open until at least 2080, even though WIPP is scheduled to close in 2024 after 25 years of disposal operations.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is planning to vent over 100,000 Curies of radioactive tritium from either four or five containers later this summer.  CCNS is working with technical experts and Tewa Women United to develop ways to prevent these irresponsible releases into the air.  Tritium is radioactive hydrogen.  It binds with oxygen to form tritiated hydrogen that acts like water.

CCNS monitors LANL’s operations and plans for the hexavalent chromium plume that continues to migrate downward into the regional drinking water aquifer.

We continue to participate in the peaceful protest on Fridays from noon to 1 pm between the Guadalupe Church and LANL’s administrative offices in Santa Fe.  Please join us as we hold banners in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

It’s an important time to support CCNS.  Please make your tax-deductible contribution at nuclearactive.org or mail it to us at CCNS, Post Office Box 31147, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87594.  Thank you!  Together we are making a difference!

1. Friday, June 23rd from noon to 1 pm MT – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, June 24^th, Pride on the Plaza from 10 am to 4 pm on the Santa Fe Plaza – Join the Stop Forever WIPP Coalition there to learn more about DOE’s plans to continue expanding WIPP in support of expanded plutonium pit production at LANL. https://hrasantafe.org/pride-2023/

3. Four EM-LA Strategic Vision Meetings about cleanup at LANL – three in-person meetings and one virtual meeting. The same information will be presented in each of the meetings.  Pre-register for one of the meetings at bit.ly/EM-LAStrategicVisionMeetings or https://n3b-la.com/outreach/#strategic-vision

1. 1. Monday, June 26 from 5 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Moving Arts Española, 68 NM-291, Española, NM
   2. Wednesday, June 28 from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Santa Fe Community College, West Wing, Room 213, 6401 Richards Avenue, Santa Fe, NM. (Follow signs for West Wing entrance, once inside, walk up the stairs, take a left and the meeting room is on the left.)  Please note:  roadwork is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time.
   3. Thursday, June 29^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm virtual
   4. Friday, June 30^th from 5:30 to 7:30 pm in-person meeting at Fuller Lodge, 2132 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

4. Saturday, July 8^th through Sunday, July 9^th for a 24-Hour Peace Wave 2023 on Zoom, produced by International Peace Bureau and World BEYOND War. It begins on Sat. July 8^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain; and ends on Sun. July 9^th at 9 am Eastern, 7 am Mountain.  Watch live peace actions in the streets and squares of the world moving around the globe with the sun.  To register:  https://worldbeyondwar.org/wave/

5. Saturday, July 15^th from 7 am to 4 pm – 44^th Annual Church Rock Uranium Tailings Spill Commemoration, hosted by the Red Water Pond Road Community, the Eastern Navajo Diné Against Uranium Mining, and the Pipeline Road Community. For more information, please contact Susan Gordon at sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

6. Sunday, July 16^th – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester’s service about A WORLD WITHOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test on July 16, 1945, at the Santa Maria de la Paz Center at 11 College Avenue, Santa Fe (just before the Santa Fe Community College (road work is taking place in the area – allow extra travel time). https://archdiosf.org/living-in-the-light-of-christs-peace

7. Save the date: Saturday, August 5^th in Albuquerque – Peace Commemoration in collaboration with Hiroshima Day in Japan.  Stay tuned for more information.

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) plans to prepare an environmental assessment to address the hexavalent chromium contamination in the deep regional drinking water aquifer.  In comments submitted this week, the Communities for Clean Water (CCW) recommended that LANL conduct a more detailed environmental impact statement in order to protect the regional drinking water aquifer and the Environmental Protection Agency-designated Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer from the migrating contamination.  CCW Comments Hexavalent Chromium Scoping IM EA

Hexavalent chromium is toxic and highly carcinogenic and the contamination must be addressed with community input.   

CCW recommended that LANL create a publicly available real-time, interactive, three-dimensional computer model of the plume.  It would provide the public with a way to see the plume’s movement from the pump and treat treatment efforts.  It would also show the connections between the treatment wells, the City of Santa Fe and Los Alamos County drinking water wells, the regional drinking water aquifer, the Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer [ https://www.epa.gov/dwssa ], and the Rio Grande.

As an example, in November 2022 the New Mexico Environment Department directed LANL to stop using six of the paired treatment wells due to growing concerns that the injection wells were pushing the contamination deeper into the aquifer.  NMED also directed LANL to cease all injections into the plume by April 1, 2023.

CCW challenged the LANL statement that an environmental assessment would include the final cleanup remedy.  CCW argued LANL is required to determine and understand the vertical and horizontal extent of the plume before suggesting a final remedy.

CCW is a 20-year old coalition of Indigenous, Land-Based, and Conservation Organizations who work together to safeguard clean water in the Rio Grande watershed.  Its mission is to ensure that community waters impacted by pollution from LANL are kept safe for drinking, agriculture, sacred ceremonies, and a sustainable future.  https://www.ccwnewmexico.org/  

The growing coalition includes Amigos Bravos, Breath of My Heart Birthplace, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, New Mexico Acequia Association, Partnership for Earth Spirituality, and Tewa Women United.

CCW brings together the vast expertise and commitment of widely respected and well-tested advocacy groups from culturally diverse backgrounds.  Collectively, CCW represents the only community-based coalition in Northern New Mexico that is monitoring toxic threats from LANL and driving public policy changes informed by scientific evidence.

Please contact your elected officials and urge them to support preparation of an environmental impact statement now so that the waters are protected for future generations.

1. Friday, June 16^th from noon to 1 pm MT – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Saturday, June 17^th at 2 pm – Koohan Paik-Mander speaking about How Space-based Warfare is Accelerating the Sixth Extinction at the Universalist Unitarian, 1107 West Barcelona Road, Santa Fe. Paik-Mander is a Hawai’i-based journalist, author and peace and environmental activist.  She will discuss humanity’s inability to lift itself out of the “race to the bottom.”   $10 suggested donation (no one turned away); proceeds to be shared by UU Santa Fe and the speaker.  Sponsored by Santa Fe Veterans for Peace.   Koohan Paik-Mander June 17 2023 emailable

3. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am MT – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, June 1, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf

4. Wednesday, June 21 from 4 to 7 pm – Let’s Talk Safe & Affordable Energy: Join Regional Community Conversation:  Powering up a new equitable paradigm to advance and secure our aging electric grid with a focus on micro-grids.  El Morro Events Center, Gallup, NM.  Dinner Provided.  For more information:  https://nmenergyequity.org/   Flyer HERE

You are invited to join the Ohio Nuclear Free Network for its important virtual public forum, Radioactive Contamination, Environment and Public Health and the Future of the Portsmouth Nuclear Site, on Saturday, June 10^th beginning at 10:45 am Mountain Time.  The in-person and virtual forum offers an opportunity to learn from world-renowned experts about contamination at the Piketon, Ohio site and at Department of Energy (DOE) sites across the country. The forum will be available at https://bit.ly/portsforum and recorded on the Ohio Nuclear Free Network YouTube Channel.  https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=ohio+nuclear+free+network

Dr. Michael Ketterer, an industrial chemistry professor emeritus and former enforcement scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency, will unveil new field test results from sampling attics and other obscure locations in people’s homes at various distances from the former Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, now known as the Portsmouth Nuclear Plant, or PORTS.  [ Dr. Ketterer’s work on plutonium at Rocky Flats:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1WNFEFg7fhI ]

Joe Mangano, a noted epidemiologist, will provide evidence of dramatic cancer spikes in residents exposed to radioactive air and water in seven counties downwind and downstream of PORTS.  https://thebulletin.org/biography/joseph-mangano/

Terry Lodge, a specialist in environmental law and civil rights, will discuss the new, secretive Ohio Nuclear Development Authority and the perversion of Ohio state government into promoting advanced reactors and nuclear weapons proliferation.  https://celdf.org/about-celdf/board-staff/

Piketon is a village 80 miles south of Columbus, Ohio, and is the home of PORTS.  It is a DOE installation where, beginning in the 1950’s, fuel for nuclear power plants was enriched.  From time to time PORTS contractors have produced nuclear weapons material.

There is a 70-year legacy of enriched uranium, technetium, americium, possibly plutonium and other radioisotopes contaminating natural features and human lives for miles downwind of the site.

Even as communities are dealing with contamination, new dirty industries are locating at PORTS, including a new production line to purify depleted uranium for use in machine gun bullets, tank and artillery shells and components for nuclear weapons.  https://www.energy.gov/pppo/portsmouth-site,

A new limited study conducted under the watchful leadership of local government officials has just been publicized.  The study, funded by DOE, verifies measurable enriched uranium contamination in a six-mile radius from PORTS.   The study will support the communities’ demands for additional scientific verification, medical tracking and free treatment for cancer and radiation victims, and reparations for what has clearly become a very large sacrifice zone in southern Ohio.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-AkriuifxE

The Ohio Nuclear Free Network is working with groups living in the shadow of other federal nuclear sites to get the truth out about both the natural and human victims of more than 80 years of official nuclear war policy.  https://env-comm.org/2021/08/31/hello-world/

Did You Know?

1. Friday, June 9^th from noon to 1 pm MT – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. CCNS submitted public comments on the scope of the Sandia National Laboratory Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement. The comments are available here.  230605 CCNS SNL Scoping Comments

3. Thursday, June 8^th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm MT – in person and virtual Town Hall on Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project at Santa Fe Community College, Jemez Meeting Rooms. The Town Hall is hosted by Santa Fe County Commissioner Chair Anna Hansen (District 2) and the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF).  The purpose is to provide information about the Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project (SFMLRP) and give the public an opportunity to ask SFNF leadership program managers and resource specialists about upcoming plans and actions.

Note:  There is road construction at the intersection of Richards Avenue and Avenida Del Sur.  Allow additional time for travel and utilize detours (I-25 to Rabbit Road and through Oshara Village).  For directions to SFCC during construction, visit https://www.sfcc.edu/upcoming-road-closure/

Participants can also attend the Town Hall virtually by calling 1-408-418-9388 and reference meeting number 2492 156 0294 and password: BHeD3S7aiv7.

Or by WebEx at:  https://sfco.webex.com/sfco/j.php?MTID=m256c2f4a145f9904a79d203cb2ccc6a4

4. Thursday, June 8^th from 6 to 8 pm MT – Atomic Bamboozle: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance.  The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club is hosting an exclusive showing and panel discussion of the new 46-minute documentary that warns that so-called small modular nuclear reactors, or SMNRs, are simply the same dangerous nuclear technoogy in a new shiny wrapper.  “New” nuclear is considered a climate solution – which it is not.  Join filmmaker Jan Haaken to learn why SMNRs are a false solution.  For more information:  https://www.sierraclub.org/oregon

5. Saturday, June 10^th from 9:30 to 11:30 am MT – FLOW: remembering our way to a livable future – The unfolding of human/water relations in downtown Santa Fe.  For more information:  https://wisefoolnewmexico.org/flow2023/

6. Saturday, June 10^th at 2 pm Mountain Time – Santa Fe Archbishop John C. Wester to Speak about the Need for Nuclear Disarmament – in person and virtually. In person at the Mountain Cloud Zen Center, 7241 Old Santa Fe Trail, Santa Fe, NM.  Livestreamed at:  https://www.mountaincloud.org/ , click on “sit.mountain.cloud.org”  –  passcode mountain22

7. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am MT – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, June 1, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf

CCNS has prepared sample public comments you can modify about the scope of a new draft site-wide environmental impact statement for Sandia National Laboratories in New Mexico.  Comments may be submitted electronically to SNL-SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov through Monday, June 5^th, 2023.

The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provides the following note: 

Before including your address, phone number, email address, or other personally indentifiable information in your comment, please be advised that your entire comment – including your personally identifiable information – might be made publicly available.  If you wish for NNSA to withhold your name and/or other personally identifiable information, please state this prominently at the beginning of your comment.  You may submit comments anonymously.

Federal Register / Vol. 88, No. 77 / Friday, April 21, 2023 / Notices, p. 24607.  https://www.energy.gov/sites/default/files/2023-04/noi-eis-0556-snl-site-wide-2023-04.pdf

f Rev. 1 SNL Scoping Comments(1)

Representatives of the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), which operates Sandia, said they expect the SWEIS process under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) will take approximately 2 ½ years.  The draft SWEIS may be released for public comment in 2024, with the final statement available in 2025, and the Record of Decision released in 2026.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0556-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-continued-operation-sandia-national

Sandia says its analyses will cover the next 15 years of operations.  Normally a SWEIS covers 10 years of operations.  The most recent Sandia SWEIS was completed in 1999, which figures critically in the scope of the one now being drafted. 

While there are Sandia facilities in California, Hawai’i, Nevada and other locations, this SWEIS is limited to operations in New Mexico, mostly located in the Albuquerque metro area.  https://www.sandia.gov/

NEPA requires a wide-range of environmental analyses of impacts, from routine to emergency operations.  These include impacts of climate change; impacts on cultural resources; and environmental justice and socioeconomic impacts on affected communities, among others.

Under NEPA, federal agencies propose alternatives for analyses, beginning with an alternative for no action in the situation as it stands to the preferred alternative.

Sandia’s proposed No-Action Alternative provides a benchmark for comparison with the other alternatives.

Sandia proposes a Modernized Operations Alternative.  It includes construction of new facilities to replace aging facilities; upgrades to existing facilities and infrastructure; and decontamination, decommissioning and demolition projects.

Sandia’s Preferred Alternative includes the Modernized Operations Alternative and expansion of its operations and missions “to respond to further national security challenges and meet increasing requirements.”  These include construction and operation of the Combined Radiation Environments for Survivability Testing (CREST) facility.  The CREST would replace the Annular Core Research Reactor, an aging test reactor.

Sandia also proposes to construct a Next Generation Pulsed Power Facility for testing nuclear weapons in hostile environments.  This facility would produce large X-ray and neutron outputs.

Importantly, Sandia is located within the Kirtland Air Force Base to the southeast of Albuquerque.  Sandia is approximately 16,000 acres and contains about 900 buildings of approximately seven million square feet.  The southern boundary is the Pueblo of Isleta, the eastern boundary is U.S. Forest Service land, and the northern and western boundaries are the City of Albuquerque. 

Please submit your electronic comments to SNL-SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov through Monday, June 5, 2023.  Written comments on the scope of the SNL/NM SWEIS or requests for information related to it may be sent via postal mail to:

SNL/NM SWEIS Comments
National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia Field Office
PO Box 5400
Albuquerque, NM 87185

f Rev. 1 SNL Scoping Comments(1)

1. Friday, June 2^nd from noon to 1 pm MT – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Friday, June 2^nd at 1 pm MT – Too Hot to Handle: Managing Radioactive Waste in the U.S. with Dr. Arjun Makhijani, President of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research (IEER).  To register for the zoom to view live or later:  https://www.hanfordchallenge.org/nuclear-waste-scholar-series

3. Tuesday, June 6, 2023 – comments due on the scope of an Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Interim Measures and Final Remedy at Los Alamos National Laboratory. CCNS will be requesting a 30-day extension of time to submit comments due to the complexity of the chromium plume.

Submit your comments to: EMLA-NEPA@em.doe.gov (preferred)
Please use the subject line: Chromium EA Scoping Comment

U.S. mail:
Jesse Kahler
NEPA Compliance Officer
U.S. DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 400
Los Alamos, NM 87544

4. Thursday, June 8^th from 6:30 – 8:30 pm MT – in person and virtual Town Hall on Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project at Santa Fe Community College, Jemez Meeting Rooms. The Town Hall is hosted by Santa Fe County Commissioner Chair Anna Hansen (District 2) and the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF).  The purpose is to provide information about the Santa Fe Mountains Landscape Resiliency Project (SFMLRP) and give the public an opportunity to ask SFNF leadership program managers and resource specialists about upcoming plans and actions.

Note:  There is road construction at the intersection of Richards Avenue and Avenida Del Sur.  Allow additional time for travel and utilize detours (I-25 to Rabbit Road and through Oshara Village).  For directions to SFCC during construction, visit https://www.sfcc.edu/upcoming-road-closure/

5. Thursday, June 8^th from 6 to 8 pm MT – Atomic Bamboozle: The False Promise of a Nuclear Renaissance.  The Oregon Chapter of the Sierra Club is hosting an exclusive showing and panel discussion of the new 46-minute documentary that warns that so-called small modular nuclear reactors, or SMNRs, are simply the same dangerous nuclear technology in a new shiny wrapper.  “New” nuclear is considered a climate solution – which it is not.  Join filmmaker Jan Haaken to learn why SMNRs are a false solution.

To attend via Zoom:

6. Saturday, June 10^th from 9:30 to 11:30 am MT – FLOW: remembering our way to a livable future – The unfolding of human/water relations in downtown Santa Fe.  For more information:  https://wisefoolnewmexico.org/flow2023/

7. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am MT – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, June 1, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf

In response to the lack of concrete progress on nuclear disarmament by the G7 leaders in Hiroshima last week, Ivana Nikolić Hughes, Ph.D., and President of the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, wrote the following opinion editorial in Common Dreams.  https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/g7-leaders-fail-on-nuclear-disarmament-in-hiroshima  Below is her piece:

“Last summer, after it was announced that Japan would host the G7 Summit of leaders from Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, and United States in Hiroshima, the nuclear disarmament movement was abuzz. The hope was that, after all these years of mostly avoiding the subject, the leaders were going to have a chance to listen to hibakusha, reflect deeply on the lessons learned from Hiroshima and Nagasaki, confront escalating dangers of nuclear war and the threat to all of humanity that this would pose, and finally make concrete commitments on nuclear disarmament.

“Part of the reason for optimism, I think, was that many of those same activists had their lives changed by visits to Hiroshima. As if the whole city were a shrine to the horror, the devastation, the pain, the shame, the misery, but also the resilience and the beauty of humanity, people regularly depart Hiroshima with a changed worldview and a newfound or renewed passion for nuclear abolition. And so, the thinking went, surely the leaders would be similarly transformed and recognize that such collective civilian suffering must never happen again and that the only way to ensure that it wouldn’t is to get rid of nuclear weapons once and for all.

“We were wrong.

“This past weekend, the G7 leaders went to Hiroshima, laid wreaths in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, staying there for just 30 minutes, and then published a statement that could have been produced as a result of meeting anywhere in the world. In fact, it was probably written long before they even arrived in Hiroshima. They didn’t need to go to Japan to offer empty words and zero concrete solutions or steps. According to them, a nuclear weapons-free world is just a dream, and they are determined to keep it that way.

[G7 leaders] didn’t need to go to Japan to offer empty words and zero concrete solutions or steps. According to them, a nuclear weapons-free world is just a dream, and they are determined to keep it that way.

“Many people think that when it comes to nuclear weapons, those of us arguing for their abolition and elimination are trying to prevent another Hiroshima or Nagasaki from happening. And while a repeat of what took place during that tragic week in August of 1945 would be devastating, chances are that use of a nuclear weapon today would have far worse consequences. In 1945, the US used the only two weapons that were on hand, having tested the third in July in New Mexico. Today, there are nearly 13,000 nuclear warheads in the world, most of which are more powerful than the bomb used in Hiroshima on August 6. But even the use of a single, Hiroshima-sized [weapon] – sometimes referred to as tactical nuclear weapon – is expected to lead to full-out nuclear war, according to simulations from Princeton’s Program on Science and Global Security. And nuclear war would in turn cause nuclear winter – due to soot in the atmosphere as a result of widespread fires – a state of prolonged climate cooling that would result in drastic reductions in agricultural output and starvation around the world. The stakes simply couldn’t be higher.

“How has the G7 statement on nuclear disarmament failed? The answer is pretty much across the board. There are no concrete steps outlined for disarmament, no commitments to stop modernizing or to reduce stockpiles, and not even a mention of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), the one internationally binding instrument that actually provides a framework for getting to nuclear zero, while also acknowledging the tremendous humanitarian consequences of nuclear weapons use and testing.

The G7 leaders refused to understand that bringing about the end of the world as we know it is not why we elected them.

“In fact, the G7 statement reaffirms the importance of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which a science and policy expert recently referred to as “being in a coma.” The NPT, having been in force for over 52 years, has failed miserably in its obligations to deliver nuclear and total and complete disarmament. The TPNW, rather than competing with the NPT, could help the NPT achieve their common objective.

“Were we not loud enough? Not clear enough? Or do they just not want to hear what we have to say? In my own letters to each of the leaders, I wrote, ‘If there is a nuclear war and hundreds of millions of people die in the explosions and from ensuing radiation and billions die from starvation due to the onset of nuclear winter, there will be no history books to judge you. Human civilization, which we have patiently built for thousands of years, will have met its end. If you survive the initial stage, you will regret that you didn’t do more when you could. Don’t let that happen. You have the power to change the status quo.’ This is about as clear as I could be.

“At this summit, the G7 leaders refused to understand that bringing about the end of the world as we know it is not why we elected them. No national or alliance goals could possibly justify the risk to all of humanity. It’s time for regular people from all walks of life and a wide range of political opinions to demand real action on nuclear disarmament. The G7 leaders must sign the TPNW. There is a world to save.”

1. Friday, May 26^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Monday, June 5, 2023 – comments due on scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Sandia National Laboratories. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/21/2023-08459/national-nuclear-security-administration-notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-site-wide-environmental  and https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0556-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-continued-operation-sandia-national 

Written comments on the scope of the SNL/NM SWEIS or requests for information related to the SNL/NM SWEIS may be sent via postal mail to:

SNL/NM SWEIS Comments
National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia Field Office
PO Box 5400
Albuquerque, NM 87185

or by email to: SNL-SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov or adria.bodour@nnsa.doe.gov

3. Tuesday, June 6, 2023 – comments due on the scope of an Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Interim Measures and Final Remedy at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Submit your comments to: EMLA-NEPA@em.doe.gov (preferred)
Please use the subject line: Chromium EA Scoping Comment

U.S. mail:
Jesse Kahler
NEPA Compliance Officer
U.S. DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 400
Los Alamos, NM 87544

4. Saturday, June 10^th from 9:30 to 11:30 am – FLOW: remembering our way to a livable future – The unfolding of human/water relations in downtown Santa Fe.  For more information:  https://wisefoolnewmexico.org/flow2023/

5. Wednesday, June 21, 2023 at 9 am – virtual and in-person public hearing about draft groundwater discharge renewal permit and modification application (DP-1481) for the URENCO USA uranium enrichment facility and depleted uranium byproduct storage in Eunice (five miles west of the Texas border) in southeast New Mexico. https://urencousa.com/

To view public hearing notice (GWQB 23-3), go to https://www.env.nm.gov/public-notices/ , scroll down to Lea County, click on URENCO USA.

As of Thursday, May 25, 2023, the 8,000 page Administrative Record for the public hearing has yet to be posted on the NMED website, despite assurances that it would be.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to Environment Department Cabinet Secretary, to “Ground Water Quality Bureau 23-03 URENCO USA (UUSA) Discharge Permit Renewal and Modification Application DP-1481, Uranium Enrichment Facility and Depleted Uranium Byproduct Storage.”

To submit public comments:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=jMQtf

On May 15^th, four Archbishops, including Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, sent a letter to the Group of Seven leaders gathering for a three-day summit in Hiroshima, Japan to urge the leaders to take concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament.

The Roman Catholic Church spiritual leaders besides Archbishop Wester, are Paul Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle; Peter Michiaki Nakamura, Archbishop of Nagasaki, and Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama, Bishop of Hiroshima.

The recipients of the letter are the President of the USA, Joseph R. Biden; Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida; President of France, Emmanuel Macron; Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni; Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz; Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak; and Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau.

It reads:

John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe

Paul Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle

Peter Michiaki Nakamura, Archbishop of Nagasaki

Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama, Bishop of Hiroshima

May 15, 2023

President of the United States of America, Joseph R. Biden
Prime Minister of Japan, Fumio Kishida
President of France, Emmanuel Macron
Prime Minister of Italy, Giorgia Meloni
Chancellor of Germany, Olaf Scholz
Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Rishi Sunak
Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau

Dear G7 Leaders,

We, the undersigned spiritual leaders of the Roman Catholic Church, urge you to use the upcoming summit of the International Group of Seven to undertake concrete steps toward global, verifiable nuclear disarmament.

We commend Prime Minister Fumio Kishida for choosing the City of Hiroshima, the first victim of nuclear war, as the summit venue. That alone is a powerful message. We enthusiastically welcome the meeting between G7 leaders and the hibakusha – the survivors of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki – as a step toward recognizing the long-lasting horrors of nuclear warfare.

As the Roman Catholic spiritual leaders of the diocese with the most spending on nuclear weapons in the United States (Santa Fe, NM), the diocese with the most deployed strategic nuclear weapons in the United States (Seattle, WA), and the only two dioceses in the world to have suffered atomic attacks (Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan), we are compelled by providence to speak out.

As Prime Minister Kishida observed, the summit presents a unique opportunity “to deepen discussions so that we can release a strong message toward realizing a world free of nuclear weapons” and to “demonstrate a firm commitment to absolutely reject the threat or use of nuclear weapons.”

We strongly agree. We, therefore, urge you to use the summit to center international attention on the importance of nuclear arms control and disarmament and demonstrate a global commitment to nonproliferation efforts. Rather than viewing the war in Ukraine as an overwhelming impediment toward making substantial progress, we view it instead as a clear demonstration of the absolute need to do so.

Specifically, we encourage G7 leaders to:

• acknowledge the tremendous, long-lasting human suffering the Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombings inflicted upon the hibakusha; acknowledge the tremendous, long-lasting human suffering that production and nuclear weapons testing caused to downwinders around the world;
• reiterate a nuclear war cannot be won and must never be fought, as well as emphasize that, as the G-20 agreed to in November 2022, the use and the threat of use of nuclear weapons are “inadmissible”;
• reaffirm the goal of a future world free of nuclear weapons;
• announce and commit to concrete steps to prevent a new arms race, guard against nuclear weapons use, and advance nuclear disarmament;
• reiterate that serious talks should be restored between the United States and Russia to renew full implementation of the New Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty and to negotiate a follow-on treaty; and finally,
• honor the international mandate to enter into serious multilateral negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament, pledged more than a half-century ago in the 1970 NonProliferation Treaty.

Throughout the years, world leaders have spoken about the need to eliminate the threat of nuclear weapons, prevent a new nuclear arms race, and avoid the ultimate catastrophe, that is potentially civilization-ending nuclear war. These calls have long been echoed by many notable world leaders, such as Mikhail Gorbachev, Ronald Reagan, and Pope Francis. But it is now time to translate rhetoric into action.

We believe today’s new nuclear arms race is more dangerous than the first arms race, given multiple nuclear actors and the advent of new cyber and hypersonic weapons and artificial intelligence. Former U.S. Defense Secretary Robert McNamara asserted that humanity survived the Cuban Missile Crisis only by luck. Luck is not sufficient to ensure the continuing survival of the human race.

We strongly urge world leaders at the G7 Summit to show by example how international leadership is ready, willing, and able to work with nuclear weapons and non-nuclear weapons states to ensure no country or city ever suffers the horrors of nuclear war again.

Yours in the hopes of humanity for lasting peace on earth,

Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, NM

Most Reverend Paul Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle, WA

Most Reverend Peter Michiaki Nakamura, Archbishop of Nagasaki, Japan

Most Reverend Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama,  Bishop of Hiroshima, Japan

1. Friday, May 19^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Tuesday, May 23^rd at noon – Vigil to end gun violence on the Santa Fe Plaza. https://nonviolentsantafe.org/            Vigil to end gun violence

3. Tuesday, May 23^rd – White Sands Missile Range – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft Hazardous Waste Permit. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wsmr/  , scroll down to Draft Permit and March 24, 2023 entry.

4. June 5, 2023 – comments due on scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Sandia National Laboratories. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/21/2023-08459/national-nuclear-security-administration-notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-site-wide-environmental  and https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0556-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-continued-operation-sandia-national 

Written comments on the scope of the SNL/NM SWEIS or requests for information related to the SNL/NM SWEIS may be sent via postal mail to:

SNL/NM SWEIS Comments
National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia Field Office
PO Box 5400
Albuquerque, NM 87185

or by email to: SNL-SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov or adria.bodour@nnsa.doe.gov

5. June 6, 2023 – comments due on the scope of an Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Interim Measures and Final Remedy.

Submit your comments to: EMLA-NEPA@em.doe.gov (preferred)
Please use the subject line: Chromium EA Scoping Comment

U.S. mail:
Jesse Kahler
NEPA Compliance Officer
U.S. DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 400
Los Alamos, NM 87544

The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission not only denied Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS standing to challenge the groundwater discharge permit DP-1132, but also denied the public any opportunity to provide comment during Tuesday’s hearing.

Two agenda items were about DP-1132.  The first to determine whether CCNS and HOPE had standing to challenge the permit for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  If the Commission determined the NGOs had standing, then the second agenda item for a review of the permit would take place.  230509 WQCC-Meeting-Agenda_Final-Version

The standing discussion by Commission members and counsel was disorderly and was also muddled with a review of the DP-1132 permit.

It has required over a decade of effort to ensure the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act regulates the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  The outcome of Tuesday’s Commission hearing was not the outcome the NGOs expected.

For the virtual public and those in attendance, the outcome was not what they had expected either.  The public hearing notice stated there would be an opportunity to make comments during the hearing.   English Public Notice for WQCC 22-21 (A)    Spanish Public Notice for WQCC 22-21 (A)

When Janet Greenwald, of Citizens for Alternative to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), raised her hand to find out when public comments would be heard, confusion reigned.  In the end, the answer was a resounding “no.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIEQtwaH4LQ , at 2:35.

The public hearing notice also provided links to the New Mexico Environment Department’s public comment portal.  On Friday, May 5^th, Joni Arends, of CCNS, checked the portal.  The last comment was submitted on Friday at 9:50 am.  When Arends checked the portal again on Sunday, May 7^th around 2 pm, she found the portal was down.  It was down for at least 20 hours.

Arends emailed a letter to the Commission’s counsel and to the Environment Department’s general counsel, citing the Water Quality Act that allows a party, such as CCNS, to make a showing that there was no reasonable opportunity to submit comments.  As a remedy, the Commission could have ordered additional time for comments.  The Commission did not provide a remedy to those who may have tried to submit comment during the at least 20 hours when the portal was down – just two days before the public hearing.  Arends did not receive a response from the counsels.  230508 unsigned CCNS to WQCC & NMED Counsel WQCC 22-21 (A)

It seems, also, that comments submitted by the public before April 6^th, 2023 are lodged in a file somewhere, inaccessible by the Commission until after it finishes work on the case – exactly after it could have been useful.

And the public comment portal, when it was working, stated that the comment period ended on July 30, 2023.  The portal is now closed.  https://nmed.commentinput.com/?id=ZCP4E

While the NGOs are considering their options, please make a financial contribution to support our work.  Many thanks!

1. Friday, May 12^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Monday, May 15^th – Los Alamos National Laboratory – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft permit about a New Container Storage Area to TA-60. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/lanl-permit/ , scroll down to Permit News – March 13, 2023   Or:  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D166014057

Mail your comments to:

Neelam Dhawan

NMED-Hazardous Waste Bureau

2905 Rodeo Park Drive East

Santa Fe, NM  87505-6313

Or email them to:  dhawan@env.nm.gov

3. Tuesday, May 16^th from 8 am to 9:30 am MT – Beyond Nuclear webinar: Tritium and the U.S. Nuclear Power Sector – Don’t dump it! is the first in a two-part webinar series on the threats to dump huge amounts of tritium (radioactive hydrogen) from the nuclear power and nuclear weapons sectors into the environment.  To register:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_ldsSiP8hRUm3vm_QYFr58g#/registration

4. Tuesday, May 23^rd – White Sands Missile Range – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft Hazardous Waste Permit. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wsmr/  , scroll down to Draft Permit and March 24, 2023 entry.

5. June 5, 2023 – comments due on scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Sandia National Laboratories. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/21/2023-08459/national-nuclear-security-administration-notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-site-wide-environmental  and https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0556-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-continued-operation-sandia-national 

Written comments on the scope of the SNL/NM SWEIS or requests for information related to the SNL/NM SWEIS may be sent via postal mail to:

SNL/NM SWEIS Comments
National Nuclear Security Administration, Sandia Field Office
PO Box 5400
Albuquerque, NM 87185

or by email to: SNL-SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov or adria.bodour@nnsa.doe.gov

6. June 6, 2023 – comments due on the scope of an Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Interim Measures and Final Remedy.

Submit your comments to: EMLA-NEPA@em.doe.gov (preferred)
Please use the subject line: Chromium EA Scoping Comment

U.S. mail:
Jesse Kahler
NEPA Compliance Officer
U.S. DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 400
Los Alamos, NM 87544

7. To learn more about depleted uranium weapons, check out the zoom session with Damacio Lopez and the Veterans for Peace, Chapter 63, Donald and Sally Alice Thompson Chapter in Albuquerque. Damacio founded the International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST). He and the Citizens’ Network Opposing the Use of DU Weapons in Ukraine are spreading the word that depleted uranium weapons have poisoned and will poison the soil for billions of years.

To view the presentation:  https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/wWIi21cDMN5jtluk3zyXdMowL7PM7zqRw11SQd1qkHCqViTGPoOhDcg1gjEaDHJ0.dmJDj1q41s92Le0O
Passcode: UjL=8*=z

The health of the Rio Grande watershed in the area of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is at stake.  The protection of the 3,000 square mile sole source drinking water aquifer is at stake.  LANL has contaminated it with hexavalent chromium and the plume is migrating towards the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, the Rio Grande, and the Buckman wells and diversion facility.  Every drop of water is precious and must be free from contamination.  Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS work to ensure that every drop is protected.  https://shuffle.do/projects/honor-our-pueblo-existance-h-o-p-e , http://nuclearactive.org/

The NGOs have challenged the groundwater discharge permit for LANL’s Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility that handles, treats and stores hazardous waste.  The permit, called DP-1132, was issued under the New Mexico Water Quality Act.  NM Stat § 74-6-1 (2021).  However, the New Mexico Legislature excluded hazardous waste facilities from the Act’s jurisdiction.  NM Stat § 74-6-12 (2021)

The Legislature understood that the very nature of hazardous waste requires additional regulation, beyond what is covered by the Water Quality Act.  They understood that the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA), as implemented in New Mexico by the Hazardous Waste Act, was the correct law to address the operations of facilities such as the RLWTF.  NM Stat § 74-4-1 (2021).  Examples of those operations include special regulation of the tanks that treat hazardous liquid wastes and the pipelines that transport the liquids, among many other precautionary regulations.

Moreover, RCRA and the Hazardous Waste Act have the force of federal law, and they preempt the operation of the New Mexico Water Quality Act, which is a state law.  So the effect of the Hazardous Waste Act must be recognized.

HOPE and CCNS argue the correct regulatory structure for the RLWTF is the Hazardous Waste Act.  The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission (WQCC) is the state’s water pollution control agency.  Its next monthly meeting is Tuesday, May 9^th at which the standing of HOPE and CCNS to challenge DP-1132 will be heard.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D165936752

Please raise your voice either in person or virtually on or before Tuesday, May 9^th, beginning at 9 am in Room 322 of the New Mexico State Capitol.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D165936752

CCNS has prepared sample public comments you can personalize and submit electronically.  230427 f Public comments to WQCC Members     230427 f Dear friends

How did we get here?  In May 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued a groundwater discharge permit for the RLWTF under the Water Quality Act.  In June, CCNS and HOPE requested a review of the permit by the WQCC.

In March 2023, LANL challenged whether HOPE and CCNS have standing to request the permit review.  In April, the WQCC’s Hearing Officer recommended the Commission deny standing to HOPE and CCNS.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/, scroll down to WQCC 22-21:  CCNS and HOPE Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132.

Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr. represents HOPE and CCNS.  We need your support.

Did You Know about these Opportunities to Get Involved?

1. Friday, May 5^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, and others.

2. Monday, May 8^th – Last Day for DIRECT ACTION, a solo exhibition by Mexican artist PEDRO REYES at Site Santa Fe. Reyes explores New Mexico’s unique and local nuclear history with the nuclear industry.   https://sitesantafe.org/exhibition/pedro-reyes/

3. Monday, May 8^th and Tuesday, May 9^th – EM-LA to Hold Two Public Meetings in Preparation for Environmental Assessment for the Chromium Interim Measures and Final Remedy

Public scoping meetings are scheduled for the following dates and times:

May 8, 2023: In-person meeting at Cities of Gold Hotel and Casino Ballroom, 10 Cities of Gold Road,
Pojoaque, New Mexico at 6:00 P.M. MDT

May 9, 2023: Virtual meeting at 1:30 P.M. MDT

To join via Video through your computer or smart device, go to
bit.ly/EM-LA-ChromiumEAMeeting2

To join via Audio (participants will hear the presentation but not see it), call +1 669-444-9171 US
and enter the Meeting ID: 812 5413 6625 and Passcode: 954246

Public comments must be received by June 6, 2023.

                     Other options for submitting comments:

Email: EMLA-NEPA@em.doe.gov (preferred)
Please use the subject line: Chromium EA Scoping Comment

U.S. mail:
Jesse Kahler
NEPA Compliance Officer
U.S. DOE Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office
1200 Trinity Drive, Suite 400
Los Alamos, NM 87544

4. Tuesday, May 9^th at 9 am – WQCC Monthly Meeting at NM State Capitol, Room 322, Santa Fe. See today’s Update.  WebEx and call in info at:  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D165936752

5. Tuesday, May 9^th from and Thursday, May 11^th from 6:30 to 8:50 pm – two scoping meetings for a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Sandia National Laboratories. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/04/21/2023-08459/national-nuclear-security-administration-notice-of-intent-to-prepare-a-site-wide-environmental   

• In-person Meeting: Tuesday, May 9, 2023; 6:30–8:50 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time, preceded by a poster session starting at 5:30 p.m., at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial, Museum & Conference Center, 1100 Louisiana Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, NM 87108. Listen-in for May 9: https://www.zoomgov.com/​j/​1618755753, toll-free 833–568–8864, Meeting ID: 161 875 5753.
• Virtual Meeting: Thursday, May 11, 2023, 6:30–8:50 p.m., Mountain Daylight Time, Listen-in and Participation for May 11: https://www.zoomgov.com/​j/​1608652437, toll-free 833–568–8864, Meeting ID: 160 865 2437.

• Further information about the public scoping meetings, including any changes in dates, places, or times, will be posted on the NNSA NEPA Reading Room website at: https://www.energy.gov/​nnsa/​nnsa-nepa-reading-room.

6. Monday, May 15^th – Los Alamos National Laboratory – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft permit about a New Container Storage Area to TA-60. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/lanl-permit/ , scroll down to Permit News – March 13, 2023   Or:  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D166014057

7. Tuesday, May 23^rd – White Sands Missile Range – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft Hazardous Waste Permit. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wsmr/  , scroll down to Draft Permit and March 24, 2023 entry.

Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS will be before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission on Tuesday, May 9^th at the New Mexico State Capitol to argue that they have standing to challenge the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D165936752

The Hearing Officer, who reports to the Commission, recommended to the Commission that the non-governmental organizations do not have standing.  https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/ , scroll down to WQCC 22-21:  CCNS and HOPE’s Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132.  See April 6, 2023 entry for the Hearing Officer’s Report.

On April 7th, 2023, CCNS and HOPE submitted comments on the Hearing Officer’s Report on Standing, which were not listed on the Docketed Matters page.    2023-04-10 WQCC 22-21 Petitioners’ Comments on Hearing Officer’s Report on Standing pj

HOPE and CCNS are challenging DP-1132, issued to LANL under the New Mexico Water Quality Act.  https://shuffle.do/projects/honor-our-pueblo-existance-h-o-p-e They are arguing that the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility handles, treats and stores hazardous waste, and therefore must be regulated by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.

Further, the New Mexico Water Quality Act contains a limitation that no Water Quality Act permit may be issued if the Hazardous Waste Act covers a facility. The limitation reads at § 74-6-12 NMSA 1978:

B. The Water Quality Act does not apply to any activity or condition subject to the authority of the environmental improvement board pursuant to the Hazardous Waste Act [Chapter 74, Article 4 NMSA 1978], the Ground Water Protection Act [Chapter 74, Article 6B NMSA 1978] or the Solid Waste Act except to abate water pollution or to control the disposal or use of septage and sludge.  [Emphasis added.] 

The Environment Department and LANL have ignored that limitation, sacrificing proper regulation of the old and two new Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facilities.

LANL submitted its plans and specifications to the Environment Department for two secret new facilities located next door to the old treatment facility, for permitting under the Water Quality Act without any public process.  Those plans were approved by the Environment Department, with conditions, and construction of the first of the two facilities is almost complete.

Under the Hazardous Waste Act, LANL would have had to submit a permit modification request to the Environment Department.  There would have been public notice of the request and opportunity to submit public comments.  The public would have had the opportunity to request a public hearing, at which the public could present evidence, cross-examine witnesses and make final arguments in support or in opposition to the new facilities.  The Hazardous Waste Act provides more public access to the regulatory process because of the greater danger of hazardous waste, which are capable of harm to human health or the environment.

Please support the challenge by sharing this Update with your communities.  This is an essential issue because of the expansion of nuclear weapons work at LANL.  All three of the Treatment Facilities would process liquid radioactive and hazardous wastes from the fabrication of plutonium pits, which are the spherical triggers for nuclear weapons, at the Plutonium Facility.

Please submit written or oral comments before or at the in-person or virtual Tuesday, May 9^th public hearing.  Please support this essential and expensive work with a financial contribution!  Thank you!   230427 f Dear friends

Here is a sample comment letter for your use:  230427 f Public comments to WQCC Members

Did You Know about these Opportunities to Get Involved?

1. Friday, April 28^th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Monday, May 1^st – Last Day for DIRECT ACTION, a solo exhibition by Mexican artist PEDRO REYES at Site Santa Fe. Over the course of his career, Reyes’ work follows a double path:  art as aesthetic research, and art as social practice.  Reyes explores New Mexico’s unique and local nuclear history with the nuclear industry.   https://sitesantafe.org/exhibition/pedro-reyes/

3. Tuesday, May 9^th – WQCC Public Hearing. See today’s Update.

4. Monday, May 15^th – Los Alamos National Laboratory – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft permit about a New Container Storage Area to TA-60. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/lanl-permit/ , scroll down to Permit News – March 13, 2023

5. Tuesday, May 23^rd – White Sands Missile Range – Comments due to the NM Environment Department about the draft Hazardous Waste Permit. https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wsmr/  , scroll down to Draft Permit.

There has not been an adequate examination of the seismic vulnerabilities and increasing risk of seismic activity in the area of Valles Caldera, with Los Alamos National Laboratory on the eastern slope.   https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Location-of-Valles-Caldera-New-Mexico-Inset-map-shows-location-of-Valles-Caldera-in_fig1_261597049

Under the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, seismic analyses are required for hazardous waste facilities located in Los Alamos County, which includes two new Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facilities at LANL.  It is unknown whether the 1963 version of the Treatment Facility has been operating without such analyses.

Seismic analyses are also required for any hazardous waste facility located between Taos and Bernalillo counties that lie along the Pajarito Fault System and the connected Embudo Fault System.  For more information about the seismic danger along the Pajarito Fault System, please check out the papers and maps of the late Robert H. Gilkeson, an independent registered geologist and LANL whistleblower at http://nuclearactive.org/gilkeson/   If you have limited time, check out:  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/fLANLSeismicFactSheet8-8-11pdf.pdf and  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/LANL-PAJARITO-FAULT-SYSTEM-FIGURES.pdf

The Hazardous Waste Act implements the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act in New Mexico.  Hazardous waste can be a solid, a liquid, a semi-solid, or a contained gaseous material.  It can be corrosive, ignitable, reactive or toxic.  Hazardous waste has properties that make it dangerous or capable of having a harmful effect on human health or the environment.

The New Mexico Water Quality Act contains a limitation that no Water Quality permit may be issued if the Hazardous Waste Act covers a facility. The Environment Department and LANL have ignored that limitation, sacrificing proper regulation of the old and new Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facilities.

CCNS’s concerns about seismic activity are well founded.  Recall the proposed super Wal-Mart-sized Nuclear Facility, as part of the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement Project at LANL, was canceled in 2014 because of the additional cost to address the threats of seismic activity within the Pajarito Fault System.  The price tag grew from $600 million in 2004 to over $6 billion in 2011.  https://nuclearactive.org/news/030411.html and http://nuclearactive.org/what-is-the-los-alamos-seismic-network-and-why-is-it-not-working-properly/

Since 1963 and continuing until today, the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL has handled, treated and stored radioactive and hazardous liquid waste generated at the Plutonium Facility and other LANL facilities.  In the Plutonium Facility, spherical triggers, or plutonium pits, for nuclear weapons are fabricated using toxic and hazardous materials.  There are underground pipes from the Plutonium Facility to the Treatment Facility, where the radioactive and hazardous liquids are treated.

The Environment Department insists on regulating the Facility under the New Mexico Water Quality Act, which has no provisions for hazardous waste and does not require seismic analyses as the Hazardous Waste Act does.

Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) https://shuffle.do/projects/honor-our-pueblo-existance-h-o-p-e and CCNS http://nuclearactive.org/ argue that the radioactive liquid waste treatment facilities must be managed under the Hazardous Waste Act.

Did You Know about these Opportunities to Get Involved?

1. Friday, April 21^st from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Friday, April 21^st at 3 pm Mountain Time – A Special Webinar to Address the Question of the Hour: The Rising Danger of Nuclear War – Daniel Ellsberg Speaks.  REGISTER HERE 

3. April 15^th to 22^nd – Shut Down Drone Warfare – Holloman Air Force Base in southern New Mexico – “From Tax Day to Earth Day, Rise Up!” Co-sponsored by CODEPINK, Veterans for Peace and Ban Killer Drones.  Join in a week of peaceful resistance against drone warfare and out-of-control U.S. empire.  Why Holloman?  It is the largest-drone training base in the U.S. – training 600 or more drone pilots and operators annually.  For more information:  http://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

4. Saturday, April 22^nd – EARTH DAY! Check for events in your area!

5. Monday, May 1^st – Last Day for DIRECT ACTION, a solo exhibition by Mexican artists PEDRO REYES at Site Santa Fe. Over the course of his career, Reyes’ work follows a double path:  art as aesthetic research, and art as social practice.  Reyes explores New Mexico’s unique and local nuclear history with the nuclear industry.   https://sitesantafe.org/exhibition/pedro-reyes/

6. WQCC hearing on Tuesday, May 9^th – See this week’s and last week’s Update.