Submit Your PEIS Comments and Commemorate the Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill and the Trinity Test

Mark your calendar for some important upcoming events:  the PEIS comments are due on Thursday, July 16^th, then on Saturday, July 18^th, the Commemoration of the Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill, and on Sunday, July 19^th, the Commemoration of the Trinity Test.  Details for each of these follows.

First, your public comments about the draft Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production (PEIS) are due on Thursday, July 16^th.  As Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is the only U.S. location where plutonium pits, or the triggers for nuclear weapons, are fabricated, your comments are essential in the collective efforts for a world free of nuclear weapons. To learn more about the PEIS, visit http://tinyurl.com/PEISToolkit.

To prepare for writing them, the Union of Concerned Scientists will host an online PEIS training on Wednesday, July 8^th at 4 pm Mountain Time. For more information, visit https://secure.ucs.org/a/2026-7-8-peis-training

Then, on Saturday, July 18^th, the 47^th Annual Uranium Mill Tailings Spill Commemoration will begin at 6 am with opening prayers, breakfast and a walk to the site of the spill 12 miles north of the Red Rock State Park on Highway 566 near Church Rock, New Mexico. There will be speakers and discussions, as well as a silent auction, youth tent and educational booths. A free t-shirt will be available to the first 100 people. Food and drink donations are welcomed.  For more information, visit https://swuraniumimpacts.org/

Finally, a commemoration of the Trinity Test will be held on Sunday, July 19^th, beginning at 2 pm at St. Michael’s High School, 100 Siringo Road, in Santa Fe.

You are invited to An Interfaith Remembrance of the July 16^th, 1945 Trinity Test with Archbishop John Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe for an inspiring afternoon of remembrance, hope and commitment to honor the legacy of the Trinity Test. James Kenney, Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department, will provide the keynote speech.  Interfaith leaders, advocates and community voices will join in reflections on the past and on efforts in the present to build a world free of nuclear weapons.

This is a free event.  Reservations are recommended at bit.ly/2026-Trinity.

1. Take a few minutes to watch the trailer of the new film, called An Ordinary Insanity, about the renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg and the Nuclear Threat at https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/. View the 29-minute film in its entirety for ** FREE ** on the Screenings Page at https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/screenings    The film is a powerful wakeup call about the global threat posed by nuclear weapons and advocates how we can dramatically reduce the real and present danger of nuclear annihilation.

PLEASE SHARE ONLINE and SCREEN AT PUBLIC EVENTS.

2. Read Testing the waters: Fed stop paying to sample LANL runoff – Buckman Direct Diversion Board picks up the cost for testing the Rio Grande, by Alicia Inez Guzmán in the Santa Fe Reporter at https://sfreporter.com/news/testing-the-waters-feds-stop-paying-to-sample-lanl-runoff   This story was first published online by Source New Mexico and is reprinted with permission by the Santa Fe Reporter. June 24, 2026. CCNS questions why LANL stopped financially supporting the sampling system that has existed for years. Why has the burden of LANL not cleaning up its mess fallen on those downwind and downstream?

3. Friday, July 3^rd 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.

4. Wednesday, July 8^th at 4 pm Mountain Time – Union of Concerned Scientists is hosting a FREE online training about the draft PEIS and how to make comments before the July 16^th https://secure.ucs.org/a/2026-7-8-peis-training

Tags: 1945 Trinity Test, 47th Annual Uranium Mill Tailings Spill Commemoration, 81st Annual Trinity Test Commemoration, An Interfaith Remembrance of the July 16th, Archbishop John Wester, Church Rock Uranium Mill Tailings Spill, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, PEIS, programmatic environmental impact statement, Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement for Plutonium Pit Production, Secretary of the New Mexico Environment Department James Kenney, Trinity Test, Union of Concerned Scientists