Sample Comment Letter on draft Plutonium Pit Production Programmatic Environment Impact Statement – Public Hearing Thursday, May 14th in Santa Fe
Our colleague, Hunter Noffsinger, an organizer with the Union of Concerned Scientists, crafted a three-minute public comment about the draft Plutonium Pit Production Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that you can use as a model for your comments at the Thursday, May 14th public hearing in Santa Fe. 
It will take place from 5 to 8 pm at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute at 1607 Paseo de Peralta and on MS Teams. https://www.ucs.org/resources/plutonium-pit-production
Noffsinger wrote, “The draft PEIS misses a lot of things raised in the scoping period last May, as well as a few bare minimum requirements. First, the PEIS as drafted does not include enough consideration for the impacts of plutonium pit production across other sites, such as the Kansas City plant, the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, the Nevada National Security Site, and [the] Lawrence Livermore National Lab, as is the whole purpose of this programmatic environmental impact statement. The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) and [the] Department of Energy (DOE) must include the full impacts of the plutonium pit program in the final PEIS.
“Additionally, among many other concerns, I question the decision to move forward with plutonium pit production at the Savannah River Site considering SRS has been deemed an [Environmental Protection Agency] Superfund site. Plutonium pit production carries danger to human and environmental health no matter where it happens. We know this from our history of pit production at Rocky Flats as well as from the current pit production already happening at Los Alamos National Lab. In the time since Los Alamos produced its first diamond stamped pit in December of 2024, there have been several safety issues involving plutonium. One can only expect these safety incidents to become more frequent as production ramps up.
“As it relates to safety: The draft PEIS as written does not fully consider the impacts for worst-case scenarios such as plutonium fires. The impact radius must be expanded beyond the 50-mile radius in order to accurately account for these worst-case scenarios and the impacts they could have well beyond the region.
Noffinger concluded, “I, among many others, share many more concerns than this that I hope the NNSA truly considers rather than checking a box to say you ‘heard from the community.’ The NNSA and DOE have a responsibility to ensure the safety of our community members. Under the guise of national security, [they] are instead putting more people unnecessarily in harm’s way.”
- Wednesday, May 6th from 6 to 7:30 pm Mountain Time –
Virtual training about submitting public comments for the draft Plutonium Pit Production Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement by PeaceWorks Kansas City.Virtual on Zoom:
https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/2nbGZ0CtQoux1mUEwM2mUw
If you can’t make it in person PeaceWorks Kansas City plans to livestream the teach-in on Facebook and the recording will be archived at https://peaceworkskc.org/plutonium/
Upcoming DOE/NNSA PUBLIC HEARINGS (five in total)
1. North Augusta, South Carolina on Tuesday, May 5th – Completed with informed public opposition to DOE’s plans.
2. Kansas City, Missouri on Thursday, May 7th – no virtual meeting option. See above for Wednesday, May 6th virtual training opportunity.
3. Livermore, California on Tuesday, May 12th – no virtual meeting option.
Meeting Location: Garré Vineyard & Winery
Santa Rosa Room
7986 Tesla Road
Livermore, CA 94550ß
Comment/Hearing Training for Livermore: Thursday, May 7 at 6:30 pm MT; 5:30 pm PT
Virtual on Zoom: https://tinyurl.com/2sp2592m
4. Santa Fe, New Mexico on Thursday, May 14th from 5 pm to 8 pm MT
Meeting Location: Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute
1607 Paseo de Peralta
Santa Fe, NM 87501
Comment/Hearing Training for LANL:
Wednesday, May 13 – In-Person/Hybrid at 6:00 pm MT
1420 Cerrillos Rd, Santa Fe, NM 87505
Link for hybrid meeting TBA – go to https://pitpeis.com/comment-and-hearing-resources/
5. Washington, DC on Wednesday, May 20th – no virtual meeting option.
Meeting Location: Southwest Library
Large Meeting Room
900 Wesley Place SW
Washington, DC 20024
For more information: https://pitpeis.com/comment-and-hearing-resources/
- Friday, May 8th from noon to 1 pm – Join the nuclear disarmament community at the intersection of East Alameda and Sandoval in Santa Fe for the weekly peaceful protest in support of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Join with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.
- Monday, April 27th to Friday, May 22nd –
Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) at the United Nations in New York. At a time of renewed nuclear arms racing, increasing threats of nuclear weapons use, and risks of further nuclear proliferation, Legislators (mayors and parliamentarians) and civil society activists, including Abolition 2000 member groups, will also be at the 2026 NPT Review Conference advocating for concrete measures to reduce nuclear risks and advance nuclear abolition. Abolition 2000 is a global network to eliminate nuclear weapons: No Nukes, No War.
You can participate virtually! A list of events available at: https://www.abolition2000.org/events/
Tags: Department of Energy, DOE, draft Plutonium Pit Production Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement, Hunter Noffsinger, in harm’s way, Kansas City Plant, LANL, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Los Alamos National Laboratory, National Nuclear Security Administration, Nevada National Security Site, NNSA, PEIS, Savannah River Site, Union of Concerned Scientists, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, WIPP
Comments
No comments so far.