The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will host two more scoping meetings in New Mexico early next week.  Your attendance is needed to tell the NRC that New Mexicans do not consent to the proposed Holtec project to bring all of the commercial high-level radioactive waste from across the country to a site in southeast New Mexico for storage.  Dozens of people stated that they do not consent to the Holtec proposal at the previous meetings in Roswell, Hobbs, and Carlsbad.

The first meeting will be held in Gallup on Monday, May 21^st from 6 to 9 pm at the Gallup Downtown Conference Center, located at 204 West Coal Avenue.  https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1812/ML18129A378.pdf

GALLUP MTG: https://www.facebook.com/events/218573172078135/

The second meeting will be held in Albuquerque on Tuesday, May 22^nd from 6 to 9 pm at the Crowne Plaza, located at 1901 University Boulevard, from 6 to 9 pm.  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18134A284

ALBUQUERQUE MTG: https://www.facebook.com/events/189577775189166/

The 960-acre proposed site, containing playa lakes, is located half way between Hobbs and Carlsbad.  Holtec, a limited liability corporation, is asking NRC for a 40-year license to store the waste in Lea County, with an opportunity to extend the license to 120 years.  Holtec stated in its license application that the waste could be stored there for 300 years.

Further, the federal government may never find a permanent place for the waste, potentially creating a permanent storage site at the proposed Holtec site designed for temporary storage.

Over 10,000 overweight rail cars would carry the dangerous waste from across the country to the proposed site and the waste would likely travel very near to the Carlsbad sinkhole.  Links to maps of the proposed rail routes are available at http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/whatsnew.htm

Many along the national transportation routes are concerned that NRC has not provided the same number of meetings as they did for the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada. 

On Monday evening, May 21^st, the City of Albuquerque will consider a memorial, introduced by Councilor Patrick Davis, “Opposing Transportation of High-Level Radioactive Waste Via Railway through the City of Albuquerque for the Purpose of Temporary Consolidated Storage of Radioactive Waste in New Mexico.”  The memorial will be heard at 5 pm at the Albuquerque City Council Chambers.  https://cabq.legistar.com/Calendar.aspx

The memorial begins, “Whereas, the City owns and operates a number of Community Centers, Health and Social Services Centers, Senior/Fitness Centers, and Multigenerational Centers throughout the City; and Whereas the City of Albuquerque is committed to protecting the health, welfare, safety, and security of its residents.”  It then details the danger of shipping the waste by rail.  Albuquerque Memorial M-1  and  City Council Speak Out

The Alliance for Environmental Strategies invites you to support its passage.  http://nonuclearwasteaqui.org/   For more information, please contact Janet Greenwald at 505-266-2663.

In response to a request from U.S. Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich for more opportunities for New Mexicans to provide input into a Holtec International proposal to bring all of the existing commercial high-level radioactive spent fuel to New Mexico, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) announced two more scoping meetings.  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/ATT00030.pdf  The first meeting will be held in Gallup on Monday, May 21^st from 6 to 9 pm at the Gallup Downtown Conference Center, located at 204 West Coal Avenue.  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18129A378  The second meeting will be held in Albuquerque on Tuesday, May 22^nd from 6 to 9 pm at the Crowne Plaza, located at 1901 University Boulevard, from 6 to 9 pm.  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18129A383  Both meetings will begin with an open house from 5 to 6 pm.

Attendance at these meetings is important so that New Mexicans can tell the NRC that we do not consent to the proposed Holtec project.  Dozens of people stated so at the previous meetings in Roswell, Hobbs, and Carlsbad.

The 960-acre proposed site, containing playa lakes, is located half way between Hobbs and Carlsbad.  Holtec, a limited liability corporation, is asking NRC for a 40-year license to store the waste in Lea County, with an opportunity to extend the license to 120 years.  Holtec stated in its license application that the waste could be stored there for 300 years.  https://www.nrc.gov/site-help/search.html?q=holtec&site=allSites#gsc.tab=0&gsc.q=holtec&gsc.page=1  Over 10,000 overweight rail cars would carry the dangerous waste from across the country to the proposed site and the waste would likely travel very near to the Carlsbad sinkhole.  http://nonuclearwasteaqui.org/

Many along the national transportation routes are concerned that NRC has not provided the same number of meetings as they did for the proposed Yucca Mountain site in Nevada.  On Wednesday, an environmental coalition submitted a petition to NRC arguing that additional meetings in major cities hard hit by high-risk road, rail, and/or barge shipments of the irradiated nuclear fuel are needed. Click HERE to view the PDF file.

They also asked for an extension of time of the comment period of 180 days in order for NRC to hold meetings along the national transportation routes in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Cleveland, Dallas/Fort Worth, Detroit, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis and St. Paul, Nashville, New York and Newark, Omaha, Philadelphia, Pittsburg, San Antonio, St. Louis, and Tampa.

They wrote, “The possibility of a spent fuel leak, explosion, criticality or canister breach in any of these urban areas, and the questions of whether and how much Americans and the environment should bear the risks of this massive scheme, should be decided in a process that is truly national, visible and far more extensive.” 

Dr. Fred Dilger, on behalf of the State of Nevada Agency for Nuclear Projects, in the context of the Yucca Mountain permanent burial dump proposal, prepared road and rail route maps.  http://www.state.nv.us/nucwaste/whatsnew.htm  The maps are instructive regarding the Holtec proposal.  The further east, or west for that matter, from New Mexico, the more similar, or identical, would be the routes, by rail or road, between the Nevada and New Mexico schemes.  The Dilger routing analyses show that 44 states, scores of major cities, and 330 of the 435 congressional districts, would “host” road and/or rail routes for highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel truck and/or train transport to Nevada.

Further, the federal government may never find a permanent place for the waste, potentially creating a permanent storage site at the proposed Holtec site designed for temporary storage.

On Tuesday night, locals and New Mexicans from across the state joined together at a public meeting in Hobbs to tell the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to Halt Holtec!  The NRC heard from 47 people, of which seventy percent opposed the proposal to bring all of the high-level radioactive waste from all of the nuclear power plants from across the country to south eastern New Mexico for storage.  https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html

The 13 speakers in support included Holtec; representatives from the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance, who are the property owners; the mayor of Hobbs; and local state legislators.  https://www.leacounty.net/p.aspx?pID=Elected-Officials/Elected-Officials/Lea-County-Commissioners/231&  They spoke about the 55 jobs that would be created, and their support and trust the NRC process.  They cited the other nuclear sites in the area, including the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant for plutonium-contaminated nuclear weapons waste; and the URENCO uranium processing plant.  They claimed the communities are very “nationalistic” about the about the nuclear sites.

The 33 who spoke in opposition included mothers and fathers, grandmothers and great-grandmothers; teachers and professors; business owners; truck drivers; Downwinders; activists; and a geologist specializing in gas and oil exploration.  They raised concerns about the health, safety, and financial impacts of this controversial high-level radioactive waste storage project on surrounding communities and communities along the transportation routes.

Over 10,000 overweight rail cars would carry waste from across the country to the proposed site and the waste would likely travel very near the Carlsbad sinkhole.  Rose Gardner, of the Alliance for Environmental Strategies, spoke about the number of train derailments and accidents in the area.  She cited recent rail events in Texas, including a seven-car train derailment near Odessa, and the collision of two trains in Monahans.  https://www.mrt.com/news/article/Union-Pacific-train-derails-along-Highway-80-12879319.php and http://www.newswest9.com/story/37982562/two-trains-collide-in-monahans

Further, the federal government may never find a permanent place for the waste, potentially creating a permanent storage site at a site designed for temporary storage.  Many asked about why the communities that have benefited from the nuclear power generated are now saying it is no longer safe and that it must be stored in New Mexico – far from their homes.

Scoping comments will be accepted until Tuesday, May 29, 2018.  A sample public comment letter is available for you to use at http://nonuclearwasteaqui.org/ and you can email your comments to Holtec-CISFEIS@nrc.gov

In this regard, we understand that next week a congressional bill that would open the door to the proposals of Holtec and Waste Control Specialists for so-called “centralized” or “consolidated” interim storage facilities will be heard on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives.

Please contact your U.S. representative about H.R. 3053, called the Nuclear Waste Policy Act of 2018.  https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/house-bill/3053/committees  It is also known as the “Shimkus Mobile Chernobyl, Screw Nevada, Nuke Waste Parking Lot Dump Bill.”  For more information, please go to the websites of Nuclear Information and Resource Service, at http://org2.salsalabs.com/o/5502/t/0/blastContent.jsp?email_blast_KEY=1414685 and Beyond Nuclear, at http://www.beyondnuclear.org/centralized-storage/ and get involved.

Action is needed now to Halt Holtec!  This privately held international corporation wants to transport all of the commercial high-level radioactive waste from nuclear reactors located around the country to a proposed storage site between Hobbs and Carlsbad for up to 120 years.  Beginning on Monday, April 30^th, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will host a series of public meetings in Roswell, Hobbs, and Carlsbad to gather comments about what the “scope” of the environmental impact statement it is preparing for the Holtec proposal.  Comments are due to the NRC on Tuesday, May 29^th.

This is the most dangerous of all radioactive waste because it contains fuel rods that have been irradiated inside nuclear reactors.  Exposure to unshielded waste is deadly.

On Monday, April 30^th, from 4 to 7 pm, the NRC will host an open house at the Eastern New Mexico University, Roswell Campus Union Building, Room 110, at 48 University Boulevard.  From 7 to 10 pm, NRC will host a public meeting where public comments will be accepted.  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18116A109

On Tuesday, May 1^st, from 7 to 10 pm, in Hobbs, a public meeting for comments will be held at the Lea County Event Center, at 5101 North Lovington Highway.   https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18114A053

On Thursday, May 3^rd, from 7 to 10 pm, in Carlsbad, a public meeting for comments will be held at the Eddy County Fire Service, at 1400 Commerce Street.  https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18114A054

The NRC’s power point presentation for the Environmental Scoping Meetings is available at:
https://adamswebsearch2.nrc.gov/webSearch2/view?AccessionNumber=ML18115A078

This week United States Senators Tom Udall and Martin Heinrich wrote to the NRC requesting at least two additional public meetings in New Mexico.  They wrote, “Constituents in our state, the fifth largest in size in the nation, range from Native American tribes concentrated in the north to dairy farmers in the southeast, to tourism-related businesses across New Mexico, all desiring equal access to NRC public scoping sessions.”  They suggested possible meetings in Gallup and Albuquerque “to ensure that residents of northern New Mexico have easier access to NRC officials in order to provide comment that could shape the environmental impact statement.”  ATT00030

Holtec proposes in the first phase of the project to store 8,680 metric tons, or 500 canisters, of high-level radioactive waste.  At the end of an estimated three-year process, Holtec anticipates the NRC will issue it a 40-year license, with extensions for up to 120 years.

But there is more.  Holtec proposes 19 expansion phases over a 20-year period for a total of approximately 10,000 canisters, or about 100,000 metric tons.  About 80,000 metric tons of waste currently exists at nuclear reactor sites.  Holtec also proposes to bring all future waste to be generated.  https://holtecinternational.com/productsandservices/hi-store-cis/

Rose Gardner, of the Alliance for Environmental Strategies, based in Southeast New Mexico, said, ” Holtec wants a license to bring high-level radioactive waste to Southeast New Mexico. This waste is so dangerous that the reactor communities that produced and benefited from the electricity they used no longer want to store it. We must let the NRC and Holtec know that we don’t want it and we refuse to accept this de facto permanent storage. It is an environmental injustice to promote Southeast New Mexico as a willing participant in their schemes to dump on a predominantly Hispanic and minority area, such as where we live.”  https://www.facebook.com/Alliance-for-Environmental-Strategies-1959311804080514/

Scoping comments will be accepted until Tuesday, May 29, 2018.  A sample public comment letter and talking points are available for you to use at http://nonuclearwasteaqui.org/

After the release of the Trump Administration’s Nuclear Posture Review in February, the Department of Energy (DOE) and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration released its own document to support a nearly 50-fold increase in plutonium use at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  DOE wants to increase the amount of plutonium handled in its Radiological Laboratory Utility Office Building (RLUOB) from 38.6 grams of plutonium-239 equivalent to 400 grams.  Public comments on a draft environmental assessment are due on Wednesday, April 25, 2018.  Sample public comments, prepared by Nuclear Watch New Mexico, are available for your use at https://nukewatch.org/

The RLUOB is the only facility built under the Chemistry and Metallurgy Research Replacement (CMRR) Project, which included a Super-Walmart sized Nuclear Facility.  Public opposition was fierce in New Mexico and across the country when the multi-billion-dollar Project was first proposed in the early 2000s.

Because the RLUOB was designed and constructed to handle only 8.4 grams, the 2003 CMRR environmental impact statement restricted the amount of plutonium-equivalent allowed to that amount.  Nevertheless, DOE gave itself permission to quadruple that amount to 38.6 grams without any justification and without any opportunity for public review and comment as required by the National Environmental Policy Act.  As a result, CCNS argues that any proposal to increase the amount of plutonium in the RLUOB logically must begin with 8.4 grams as analyzed for in 2003.

Nevertheless, this environmental assessment may be moot.  On Friday, May 11^th, DOE plans to announce its decision whether expanded plutonium pit production will take place at LANL, the Savannah River Site in South Carolina, or both.  DOE has attempted several times since 1996 when the Record of Decision for the final Stockpile Stewardship and Management Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement moved pit production back to LANL after the FBI raided Rocky Flats in 1989.  It also restricted pit production to 20 pits per year and that number has not changed.  https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/1996/12/26/96-32759/record-of-decision-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement-for-stockpile-stewardship-and

But the new Nuclear Posture Review proposes to expand pit production to 80 pits per year, along with maintaining the three legs of the nuclear triad.  The three legs include air – land, and sea launched ballistic missiles and bombers for the nuclear force structure, and includes an interoperable warhead for both land and submarine-launched missiles that the Navy does not want.  http://www.trivalleycares.org/new/Trumps_New_Warheads.html

There are on-going serious concerns about plutonium operations at the LANL Plutonium Facility.  These include recent events, such as an overflowing sink on the first floor leaking into the basement where plutonium is stored.  https://www.dnfsb.gov/sites/default/files/document/14611/Los%20Alamos%20Week%20Ending%20March%2016%2C%202018%20rev.pdf

CCNS encourages you to submit your comments to DOE either electronically or by mail before Wednesday’s deadline.

That’s right:  a discharge permit where there is no discharge.  This sounds complicated, and in many ways, it is.  But if one boils it down as the Communities for Clean Water and their lawyers have, it means that instead of the New Mexico Environment Department holding a hearing on a draft groundwater discharge permit next week, a hearing about a draft permit modification to Los Alamos National Laboratory’s Hazardous Waste Permit should be held.

In 1963, the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility began operations next to the Plutonium Facility.  Radioactive and hazardous liquid waste flows into the Facility for treatment.  In the early days, it annually discharged nearly 16 million gallons of treated liquids through an outfall that led to Mortandad Canyon.  Please see p. 15 of the 1998 LANL report, “Elimination of Liquid Discharge to the Environment from the TA-50 Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, LA-13452-MS.  ATT00111

The 1998 LANL report acknowledged that eliminating liquid discharges from the Facility would result in the loss of an exemption and require regulation under the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act.  Please see pps. 32, 34 – 35 of the 1998 Report.  In November 2010, LANL accomplished zero liquid discharge.  Since then, LANL has not discharged anything through the discharge pipe into Mortandad Canyon.

In June 1994, CCNS, after reviewing LANL budget documents, sent a letter to Environment Department Secretary Judith Espinosa sharing information that “seepage is occurring through the tank walls” at the Facility.  941013 CCNS request to NMED  The Department then asked LANL to submit a permit application to discharge to groundwater.  980917 NMED Ltr of Noncompliance The New Mexico Water Quality Act requires facilities, from mobile home parks to nuclear weapons facilities, to obtain a permit if they are discharging a pollutant to groundwater.

Over the years, there have been fits and starts to release a draft permit for public review and comment.  In 1996, both Tewa Women United and CCNS asked the Environment Department for a public hearing.  Tewa Women United and CCNS are members of the Communities for Clean Water.

Twenty-two years later, a public hearing will be held next Thursday, April 19^th, beginning at 9 am at Fuller Lodge in Los Alamos.  https://www.env.nm.gov/gwb/NMED-GWQB-PublicNotice.htm  CCW filed a Motion to Dismiss because the Facility is now a zero-liquid discharge facility.  180316 Motion to Dismiss DP-1132  Without a discharge, the Department has no authority under the Water Quality Act to issue a permit.  The Motion has been briefed, but no hearing date has been scheduled.

Further, even if a permit is granted, it would never go into effect because there would never be a discharge.  Since November 2010, LANL has used a mechanical evaporator to evaporate the liquids into the air and then haul away the resulting sludge.

Communities for Clean Water has prepared a sample public comment letter for you to use.  Please submit your comment before April 19^th as the comment period generally ends when the hearing ends.  f CCW Sample DP-1132 Letter Comment 20180412 

CCW is an alliance of five community organizations located in five Northern New Mexico communities located downstream and downwind of LANL and the location of the 1960s-era Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  CCNS is a founding member of CCW, which includes Tewa Women United, based in Santa Cruz; Honor Our Pueblo Existence, based at Santa Clara Pueblo; Amigos Bravos, based in Taos; and the Partnership for Earth Spirituality, based in Albuquerque.  http://ccwnewmexico.org/

CCW is represented by attorney, Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., and Jon Block, of the New Mexico Environmental Law Center.  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/ and http://nmelc.org/

Last Friday, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) opened a 60-day public comment period for a proposal to store 8,680 metric tons, or 500 canisters, of spent plutonium fuel generated by commercial nuclear reactors from across the country to a site halfway between Carlsbad and Hobbs in southeastern New Mexico.  The federal agency is asking for public comments about the “scope” of an environmental impact statement they will be preparing, based upon an application submitted last year by Holtec International.  https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/FR-2018-03-30/html/2018-06398.htm.  At the end of an estimated three-year process, Holtec, a privately held corporation, is anticipating the NRC to issue it a 40-year license, and it anticipates extensions for up to 120 years.

The first phase would consist of storing 500 canisters.  But there is more.  Over 20 years, Holtec is proposing 19 expansion phases, for a total of approximately 10,000 canisters, or about 100,000 metric tons.  About 80,000 metric tons of waste currently exists at nuclear reactors.  The proposal is to bring all of the existing high-level waste to New Mexico, as well as waste still being generated at nuclear power plants.

Scoping comments will be accepted for 60 days, or until Tuesday, May 29, 2018.  A sample public comment letter, prepared by colleagues at Nuclear Watch New Mexico, is available for you to use at   Holtec Sample Public Comment 4-4-18

The NRC will be hosting four evening events so that you can learn more about the Holtec proposal.  They will be holding a webinar and hosting three open houses in Southeast New Mexico.  Please mark your calendars.

On Wednesday, April 25^th, the NRC will host a webinar for public comments from 5 to 7 pm Mountain Time. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/782486400478718643

On Monday, April 30^th, NRC will host an open house in Roswell from 4 to 7 pm at Eastern New Mexico University, 48 University Blvd., Campus Union Building, Room 110.  A court reporter will be available so that public comments can be made on the record.

On Tuesday, May 1^st, an open house will be held in Hobbs from 6 to 7 pm at the Lea County Event Center, 5101 North Lovington Highway.  From 7 to 10 pm, public comments about the scope of the environmental impact statement will be heard by the NRC and the court reporter.

On Thursday, May 3^rd, another open house will be held in Carlsbad from 6 to 7 pm at the Eddy County Fire Service, 1400 Commerce Street.  From 7 to 10 pm, the NRC and a court reporter will hear public comments about the scope of the environmental impact statement.

Rose Gardner, of the Alliance for Environmental Strategies, based in Southeast New Mexico, said, ” Holtec wants a license to bring High-level radioactive waste to Southeast New Mexico. This waste is so dangerous that the reactor communities that produced and benefited from the electricity they used no longer want to store it. We must let the NRC and Holtec know that we don’t want it and we refuse to accept this de facto permanent storage. It is an environmental injustice to promote Southeast New Mexico as a willing participant in their schemes to dump on a predominantly Hispanic and minority area, such as where we live.”

Please join the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium at two White Sands Missile Range entrances during the Trinity Site open house on Saturday, April 7^th to support those who have been negatively affected by radiation exposure from the first plutonium atomic weapon test there on July 16, 1945.  The Army opens the Trinity Site twice a year for people from around the world to visit the radioactively contaminated site.  http://www.wsmr.army.mil/Trinity/Pages/Home.aspx

Beginning at 7:30 am, the Downwinders will gather at the Tularosa Gate, located on the Tulie Gate Road, west of the Tularosa High School, for a one-hour peaceful demonstration.  Beginning at 9 am, the Downwinders will gather at the Stallion Range Station, east of San Antonio on Highway 380, for a three-hour peaceful demonstration.  Please bring your own water, snacks, chair, hat, and a poster or sign.

Tina Cordova, a co-founder of the Downwinders, explained the goal of the peaceful demonstrations is “to educate people about what it has meant to be a downwinder [and] basically tell the other part of the story since all people have ever heard is about the science and industry.”

The Downwinders will provide information about the harm done to the People living downwind of the Trinity Site and their efforts to ensure that the Trinity Downwinders are included in the proposed amendments to the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA).  In 1990, Congress passed RECA to provide medical care and compensation to those living downwind of the Nevada Test Site, another location used for testing nuclear weapons in the atmosphere.  RECA was amended in 2000.  The Trinity Downwinders have never been included even though over $2.2 billion has been paid in claims.

Cordova said, “Seventy-three years have passed.  Now is the time for the U.S. Government to recognize those who were unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated, innocent participants in the world’s largest science experiment, who have been suffering in silence ever since the bomb was detonated.  Our organization is revealing the rest of the story and the People are being made aware of the complete legacy of Trinity.”  https://www.trinitydownwinders.com/home

In recognition of this work, the New Mexico Public Health Association will award the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium with the Phil Lynch Legislative Award on Thursday, April 5^th at their 101^st Annual Meeting in Albuquerque.  http://www.nmpha.org/2018AnnualConference  The Phil Lynch Legislative Award recognizes policy makers who actively work with communities to improve the health of the public.  Associate New Mexico State University Professor Cynthia Kratzke, who volunteers with the Downwinders, nominated them “for their outstanding advocacy efforts.”

For more information, please contact Tina Cordova at 505-897-6787.  For information about the Tulie Gate gathering, please contact Kathy Tyler at 575-585-2896.  For information about the Stallion Range Gate gathering, please contact Louisa Lopez at 575-835-8146.

The New Mexico Environment Department has scheduled an April public hearing about a proposed ground water discharge permit for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) even though the New Mexico Water Quality Act does not authorize the issuance of the permit.  Because the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility no longer discharges to the environment, the Water Quality Act does not apply.

For decades, LANL worked to make the liquid treatment facility into a “zero-discharge” facility.  Such a facility would no longer discharge thousands of gallons a day of treated radioactive and hazardous liquid wastes through a discharge pipe into a tributary of Mortandad Canyon.  That goal was accomplished in November, 2010 when the facility discharged its last drop through the pipe.

Last week, the Communities for Clean Water (CCW) filed a Motion to Dismiss the proceedings with the Hearing Officer arguing that the New Mexico Water Quality Act does not apply.  Further, even if the permit were issued, it would only become effective “on the date the discharge begins.”  No discharge has occurred in more than seven years, and there are no plans for a discharge.  A permit would be a nullity and would remain a nullity.  Over the years, CCW raised this issue by providing extensive public comments to the Environment Department and through active involvement in negotiations with the Department and LANL.

Further, CCW argues that the facility should be regulated by the New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act because it treats, stores, and disposes of hazardous waste.  The hazardous waste law is more protective of human health and the environment because it would regulate the entire facility, not just the discharge.  Nevertheless, LANL has operated the facility on the basis that it is exempt from hazardous waste laws and regulation.

In New Mexico, however, conflicts between the Water Quality Act and the Hazardous Waste Act are mediated by a provision in the Water Quality Act that states that a facility subject to the Hazardous Waste Act cannot be regulated by the Water Quality Act.  180316 Motion to Dismiss DP-1132

The public hearing is scheduled for Thursday, April 19^th beginning at 9 am, and will continue as needed, at the Fuller Lodge Art Center, Pajarito Room, at 2132 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM.  https://www.env.nm.gov/gwb/NMED-GWQB-PublicNotice.htm

CCW is an alliance of five community organizations located in five Northern New Mexico communities located downstream and downwind of LANL and the location of the 1960s-era Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility.  CCNS is a founding member of CCW, which includes Tewa Women United, based in Santa Cruz; Honor Our Pueblo Existence, based at Santa Clara Pueblo; Amigos Bravos, based in Taos; and the Partnership for Earth Spirituality, based in Albuquerque.  http://ccwnewmexico.org/

CCW is represented by attorney, Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr.  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/

On January 31, 2018, the Department of Energy (DOE) and its contractor, Nuclear Waste Partnership (NWP), submitted a Class 2 Permit Modification Request to change the way that waste is measured at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), the repository for defense plutonium-contaminated or TRU waste, located in southeastern New Mexico. Public comments can be submitted to the New Mexico Environment Department until Tuesday, April 3.  http://www.wipp.energy.gov/rcra-com-menu.asp

Because the federal WIPP Land Withdrawal Act limits the amount of waste to 6.2 million cubic feet, how to measure the amount of waste is important. Waste emplaced at WIPP has always been measured based on the volume of the container. By container volume is the way DOE has always reported to Congress how much waste is at WIPP. By container volume is how DOE contractors have been paid and received performance bonuses. By container volume is the way that the WIPP Permit and permits in other states calculate the amount of waste.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/wipp/

The modification request would create an additional measurement, called the “Land Withdrawal Act TRU Waste Volume of Record [which] means the volume of TRU waste inside a disposal container.” The request explains that the effect of the change would reduce the amount of waste emplaced in WIPP as of December 6, 2017, from 3,238,673 cubic feet to 2,307,708 cubic feet.

Thus, if approved, the new measurement would expand the amount of waste allowed by more than 930,000 cubic feet, or a more than 28 percent increase.

An unstated reason for the proposed measurement is that space for more than 1,000,000 cubic feet of waste has been forfeited or lost because of bad DOE management, poor contractor performance, and inefficiencies during the past 19 years of WIPP’s operations.

The public can submit comments so that the Environment Department either denies the request or considers it as a class 3 modification request. Class 3 modifications require more public participation and public hearings where witnesses would testify under oath and be cross-examined.

Permit regulations require such a Class 3 process when there is significant public concern, or if the change is complex, or when there is a 25 percent or greater increase in the facility storage capacity.

Don Hancock, of Southwest Research and Information Center, explained that through their comments the public can demonstrate significant public concern. He added, “Such a large expansion in the amount of waste at WIPP should require Congress to pass a law. Any such expansion certainly is not allowed as a Class 2 permit modification.”  http://www.sric.org/

Public comments can be submitted by Tuesday, April 3, 2018 by emailed to ricardo.maestas@state.nm.us or mailed to

Mr. Ricardo Maestas
New Mexico Environment Department
Hazardous Waste Bureau
2905 Rodeo Park Drive E, Building 1
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505

Here is a sample public comment letter for you to use: WIPP Amt of Waste PMR public comment 3-15-18