This week Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, individuals and NGOs  submitted comments opposing the U.S. Forest Service’s plan to approve a Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) proposal to install a companion electric transmission line through the heart of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape, an area sacred to Pueblos.   wo addresses CCNS et al. Objections to USDA USFS re DOE NNSA f EPCUP (1) 

Progression of events and supportive documentation:

02/07/2024

240207 LAC BPU Agenda

240207 LAC BPU Minutes

240207 Agenda No.4.A. FFS+BESS Presentation Addl Slides

02/21/2024

20240221 LAC BPU Agenda, FFS+BESS Agenda Item No. 7.C

20240221 LAC BPU Minutes FFS+BESS

A – DESRI Foxtail Flats Presentation for LAC_022124

B – Foxtail Flats Solar PPA-ESA Presentation_022124

C – Foxtail Flats – Solar Power Purchase Agreement_022124

D – Foxtail Flats – Energy Storage Agreement_022124

02/27/2024

20240227 LAC Council Agenda FFS+BESS

20240227 LAC Council Minutes FFS+BESS

A – DESRI Foxtail Flats Presentation for LAC_022724

B – Foxtail Flats Solar PPA-ESA Presentation_022724

C – Foxtail Flats Solar – Power Purchase Agreement_022724

D – Foxtail Flats Storage – Energy Storage Agreement_022724

From the Caja, located in southwest Santa Fe, the line would follow the path of two existing electric lines above the Rio Grande and connect to Department of Energy (DOE) electric substations on the Pajarito Plateau to the west.  LANL’s proposed project is called the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project and would carry 173 megawatts per day.  https://environment.lanl.gov/resources/epcu/

The big questions are:  Why is the line needed?  Why is LANL tripling its capacity?  For the last 30 years, LANL energy use has remained steady at 90 megawatts per day. Is the extra energy needed to fabricate 30 plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons?  https://discover.lanl.gov/news/1002-diamond-stamps-plutonium-pit/  LANL is not saying.

The National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA, requires federal agencies to prepare analyses of the alternatives to its preferred project.  In this case, DOE said there were two choices:  build the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project or do nothing.

In February 2024, CCNS discovered that Los Alamos County was pursuing construction and operation of a 170 megawatt solar project located in the area of the now defunct coal-burning San Juan Generating Station.  For decades, the coal-fired energy from the northwest corner of New Mexico flowed across existing electricity lines to LANL.

The new solar project, called the Foxtail Flats Solar + Battery Energy Storage System, would use the existing lines to deliver carbon free energy to LANL.  https://www.losalamosnm.us/Initiatives/Foxtail-Flats-Solar-Power-and-Battery-Storage

Even though DOE has been involved in the Foxtail Flats Project through a 1985  energy pooling agreement with Los Alamos County (the Los Alamos Power Pool), DOE neglected to include the Foxtail Flats Project in its NEPA analyses as a valid alternative to the Caja line.  That omission is one of the topics addressed in the objections CCNS submitted to the Forest Service.

Further, the Honorable Mary Geiger Lewis, a US District Court Judge in South Carolina, recently ruled in the NEPA plutonium pit case that “an ‘agency’s elimination of an alternative from detailed study . . . [is] arbitrary and capricious [when] its explaination for doing so [is] inconsistent with its stated purpose.”

Similarly, DOE eliminated the alternative of the Foxtail Flats Project from detailed study in its Caja line NEPA documents in an arbitrary and capricious manner.

See NEPA plutonium pit case:  Savannah River Watch, Tom Clements, The Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition, Nuclear Watch New Mexico and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment v. United States Department of Energy, Jennifer Granholm, in her Official Capacity as the Secretary; the National Nuclear Security Administration; and Jill Hruby, Administrator.

https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/district-courts/south-carolina/scdce/1:2021cv01942/265178/207/

1. Friday, November 1^st at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. Sunday, November 3^rd – Daylight Savings Time ends.

3. Tuesday, November 5^th – Election Day. If you haven’t voted, CCNS urges you to go to the polls to vote.

4. Monday, November 11^th from 10:30 am to noon on the Santa Fe Plaza – Armistice Day. Join Veterans for Peace to celebrate Armistice Day.  There will be singing and speakers.   

 Over one hundred years ago, in 1918, the world celebrated peace as a universal principle.  The first World War had just ended and nations mourning their dead collectively called for an end to all wars.  Armistice Day was born and was designated as “a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated.”

5. Tuesday, November 12^th – Friday, November 15^th – PFAS Rulemaking Hearing by the NM Oil Conservation Commission (OCC), a division of the Energy Minerals & Natural Resources Department. For more information, https://www.emnrd.nm.gov/ocd/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/Notice-of-Public-Meeting-and-Rulemaking-hearing.pdf.

 Take action at:  https://action.wildearthguardians.org/page/57741/petition/1 ; https://www.defendnmwater.org/

6. Friday, November 15^th, NM Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee meeting at State Capitol in Santa Fe. https://www.nmlegis.gov/Committee/Interim_Committee?CommitteeCode=RHMC   Check back for more information as it is posted. 

Caja Peace and Prayer Pilgrimage on Friday, October 25th at Noon

You are invited to participate in a transformative walk in downtown Santa Fe beginning at noon on Friday, October 25th.  Organized by the Caja del Rio Coalition, the walk will begin at the Santa Fe County Administration Building, located at 240 Grant Avenue, and go to the Department of Energy (DOE) National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) Office, located at 104 North Guadalupe Street.  https://cajadelrio.org/

The walk will show opposition to the U.S. Forest Service’s recent proposed approval of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project (EPCU).  https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63199  A 115-kilovolt electric transmission line would be constructed through the heart of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape, an area sacred to Pueblos.  From the Caja, the line would follow the path of two existing electric lines above the Rio Grande and connect to DOE electric substations on the Pajarito Plateau.

DOE claims the energy is needed to run its new Venado AI supercomputer.  https://discover.lanl.gov/publications/connections/2024-may/supercomputers-electricity/  But for the last three decades, LANL energy use has remained steady at 90 MW.

Submit Your Objections to Proposed LANL Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project by Monday, October 28th

At the DOE office, the Coalition will hand-deliver its formal objections to the Forest Service’s proposed approval and hold a press conference urging the permanent protection of the sacred Caja del Rio.

You can also submit your objections to the Forest Service’s proposed approval.  A sample objection letter is available below.

PLEASE USE AND SHARE THESE INSTRUCTIONS AND SAMPLE LETTER WITH FRIENDS AND FAMILY, WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Instructions for LANL EPCU Opposition Ltr

f Sample LANL Electrical Line Comment Letter

Submit your comments by Monday, October 28th, 2024 at 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

You can submit your objection and any attachments online at the following link:

US Forest Service NEPA Projects Home

Or, you can email them:  objections-southwestern-regional-office@usda.gov

Or, mail them in to the Forest Service Regional Office:

Reviewing Official, Michiko Martin, Regional Forester

333 Broadway Blvd SE

Albuquerque, NM 87102

The Forest Service rules state that unless you were one of the 22,000 people who submitted comments previously, you are not eligible to submit objections – UNLESS there is new information that was not available during an earlier comment period.

And there is new information so everyone may object.  https://usfs-public.app.box.com/v/PinyonPublic/file/1647092161317, see p. 11, first paragraph under Administrative Review and Objection Rights:

Objections to the draft decision on the Special Use Permit or to the Forest Plan amendments will only be accepted from those who have previously submitted timely and specific written comments regarding the project during any designated opportunity for public comment period, unless based on information not available during an earlier comment period.

The EPCU Project would bring 173 megawatts into LANL.  Under the 1985 Los Alamos Power Pool (LAPP) Agreement, all available energy is shared by DOE at 80 percent and Los Alamos County at 20 percent.

On February 21, 2024, the day AFTER the EPCU comment period ended, Los Alamos County Board of Public Utilities (BPU) considered a proposal for a 170 megawatt solar project, called  Foxtail Flats Solar + Battery Energy Storage System (BESS), in San Juan County. Later, the BPU and Los Alamos County Council approved the Foxtail Flats proposal.  Agenda Item 7.C. https://losalamos.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6518240&GUID=00184A75-3E8D-4C09-B2EB-2C2D5AA1154C

During the first EPCU Project comment period, on December 11, 2023, the LAPP Operating Committee approved the Foxtail Flats Solar + BESS as LAPP Approved Resources, pending additional approvals by the new Electric Coordination Agreement (ECA), the Board of Public Utilities, Los Alamos County Council and DOE/NNSA. See p. 3 of A – DESRI Foxtail Flats Presentation for LAC  For more information, A – DESRI Foxtail Flats Presentation for LAC

The Board declared:

“Alternatives

There are currently no identified carbon-free generation alternatives at similar power and energy levels, or planned operational date. DPU has been and will continue to pursue generation resources to achieve the 2040 carbon neutral electricity provided goal[,]. If these agreements are rejected, then DPU will pursue a larger power capacity of alternative generation resources, at unknown terms.”

https://losalamos.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=6518240&GUID=00184A75-3E8D-4C09-B2EB-2C2D5AA1154C&FullText=1

The Board voted 4 to 1 to approve it.  Planned delivery of energy would begin in Fall 2026.

Six days later, on February 21, 2024, the seven member Los Alamos County Council, under Agenda Item 10.C, p. 5 of 7, considered

Approval of the Power Purchase Agreement between Foxtail Flats Solar, LLC, and the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico, and approval of the Energy Storage Agreement between Foxtail Flats Storage, LLC, and the Incorporated County of Los Alamos, New Mexico

The Los Alamos County Council unanimously approved the Power Purchase Agreement and the Energy Storage Agreement.  Minutes, pp. 5 and 6.

In conclusion, DOE, through the Los Alamos Power Pool Agreement, did not disclose in the EPCU draft Environmental Assessment that it was negotiating for similar amounts of  power (approximately 170 megawatts) from the Foxtail Flats project.

Under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), DOE was required to include the Foxtail Flats project as an alternative to the proposed EPCU Project Caja Line.

Once again, DOE has violated NEPA, as a United States District Court Judge in South Carolina recently found in her ruling in the plutonium pit case.  https://nukewatch.org/press-release-item/court-rules-u-s-nuclear-weapons-production-plan-violates-federal-law/

Get your objections in!

1. Thursday, October 17^th – Sunday, October 27^th – stream the documentary Dark Circle on its 40th Anniversary! MORE INFO HERE.  WATCH the trailer.

Dark Circle covers what Oppenheimer left out—both the beginnings and its aftermath of nuclear weapons R&D and production, providing a scientific primer on the catastrophic power of nuclear energy and weapons while also relating tragic human stories detailing the devastating toll radioactive toxicity has taken on people and livestock—focusing in large part on Rocky Flats, Colorado, whose plutonium processing facility infamously contaminated the surrounding area.

“Dark Circle is one of the most horrifying films I’ve seen, and also sometimes one of the funniest (if you can laugh at the same things in real life that you found amusing in Dr. Strangelove). Using powers granted by the Freedom of Information Act, and sleuthing that turned up government film the government didn’t even know it had, the producers of this film have created a mosaic of the Atomic Age. It is a tribute to the power of the material, and to the relentless digging of the filmmakers, that the movie is completely riveting. Four Stars!” – Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

2. Thursday, October 24^th from 4 to 6 pm at Highlands University, Student Union Building, Room 320, 800 National Avenue, Las Vegas, NM – WIPP Community Forum and Open House. The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Carlsbad Field Office and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors will host an in-person and virtual meeting to provide a short update on the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant. Following the updates, an extended question and answer period will be held. An open house is scheduled following the meeting to allow stakeholders to spend one-on-one time with the WIPP Leadership Team.  https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2024/Oct24CommunityForum.pdf

3. Thursday, October 24^th from 6 pm to 8 pm – DOE Office of Environmental Management, Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and its contractor, N3B Community Meeting about the fiscal year 2024 Year in Review and a community conversation on the legacy waste cleanup, including Q&A. https://losalamosreporter.com/2024/10/14/doe-em-la-and-n3b-to-discuss-cleanup-progress-at-environmental-management-cleanup-forum-oct-24/

For meeting information, including login details, visit: https://n3b-la.com/emcf_oct_24_2024/

When: Thursday, October 24, 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. MDT

Where: In-person and virtual

In-person—SALA Event Center, 2551 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

Virtual—ViaMicrosoft Teams  –  Click here to join the meeting.

Join By Meeting Number 

Meeting ID: 284 616 926 592

Meeting Password: UgBMtX

Or Call In (audio only)  – (323) 486-1924

Phone Conference ID: 842 206 352#

4. You may ask: Why did DOE schedule two meetings one after the other in two different locations – one about WIPP in Las Vegas, NM, and the other about LANL in Los Alamos, NM – on the same day?
   

CCNS commentary.  CCNS has asked DOE on more than one occasion to establish a public electronic event calendar for its three sites in NM (LANL, Sandia and WIPP) so that DOE staff and contractors can check it to before booking an event to ensure that another DOE site has not scheduled a public event. It is embarrassing that DOE is not more together and coordinated in its efforts to host and invite the public to its events.

5. Friday, October 18^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

6. Tuesday, October 29^th at 6 pm – DOE/NNSA, Sandia National Laboratories, Kirtland Air Force Base virtual Semiannual Public Meeting on Microsoft Teams. For more information and connection information, https://www.sandia.gov/app/uploads/sites/194/2024/10/AGENDA-Public-Meeting-October-2024.pdf

7. From Sunday, October 13^th, 2024:  Statement from President Biden Congratulating Nobel Peace Prize Winners, Members of Nihon Hidankyo for their historic work to ensure nuclear weapons are never used again. https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2024/10/13/statement-from-president-biden-congratulating-nobel-peace-prize-winners/

The U.S. Forest Service is accepting public objections to the draft Decision Notice, Finding of No Significant Impact (FONSI) and Final Environmental Assessment (EA) for the proposed Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) Project and Associated Land Management Plan (Forest Plan) Amendment.  Only those who submitted comments during the scoping period that occurred between April 19, 2021 and May 21, 2021 and during the two comment periods for the draft EA beginning December 19, 2023 and ending January 17, 2024 and beginning January 22, 2024 and ending February 20, 2024 are eligible to submit objections.  As evidence of public concern, over 22,000 public comments were submitted during these comment periods.  https://www.fs.usda.gov/project/?project=63199

The deadline to submit objections to the Forest Service is Monday, October 28th, 2024, by 11:59 pm Mountain Time.

On September 11th, 2024, the Forest Service released its draft Decision Notice and FONSI for the proposed project that would amend the Forest Plan with the establishment of  a new management area, known as the S/N Transmission Line Utility Corridor Management Area, along with other associated amendments relating to construction of new utility infrastructure and changes to scenery and recreation classification systems.  The Forest Service decision would also include a special use permit for the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), a semi-autonomous part of the Department of Energy (DOE), to construct and operate a 115-kilovolt (kV) electric line across National Forest System lands.  The proposed route cuts through the heart of the Caja del Rio traditional cultural landscape, an area sacred to Pueblos.  https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//ReadingRoom?Project=63199

On June 27th, 2024, the All Pueblo Council of Governors (APCG) passed APCG Resolution 2024-01, which called on DOE and NNSA to pause the planning process so that a Pueblo-led ethnographic study could be conducted across the entire Caja del Rio.  Tribes and the public have also urged the agencies to conduct a full environmental impact study.  https://apcg.org/

In early 2025, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and NNSA will issue their own decisions. BLM and NNSA will each provide comment periods.

The public is challenged to navigate the convoluted administrative processes that  involve six federal agencies with at least four different sets of administrative rules and procedures, all under the rubic of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA).  The primary question is:  Did these agencies fully comply with NEPA and NHPA?  Tribes and the public continue to say,  “No, they haven’t;” clearly demonstrating that the Caja del Rio deserves permanent protection.

1. Friday, October 18^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. Saturday, October 19^th after 10:30 am Get Out the Vote March and Rally. March from East Alameda and Paseo de Peralta to the east side of the NM Roundhouse (Capitol).  At 11:30 am there will be speeches by Senator Heinrich, Representatives Stansbury and Leger Fernandez, VP Harris surrogate Tina Smith (Senator from Minnesota), former Zuni Pueblo Governor, state senators, and others.  Bring signs and flags.  In the alternative, join the Raging Grannies at 11 am for a sing-along on the east side of the Roundhouse.  Free parking at the PERA Building, 413 Old Santa Fe Trail.

3. Saturday, October 19^th – Trinity Site Open House. https://home.army.mil/wsmr/contact/public-affairs-office/trinity-site-open-house

4. Monday, October 21^st from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Virtual Public Training for LANL’s Electronic Public Reading Rooms (EPRRs) and IntellusNM on WebEx. The LANL EPRR and the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup EPRR are LANL information repositories for environmental and administrative information and correspondence. http://eprr.lanl.gov  The IntellusNM is the data portal providing continuous public access to environmental data collected on and around LANL.  https://IntellusNM.com    

 Unfortunately, the link provided by DOE, Triad National Security and N3B, the LANL Cleanup Contractor, doesn’t work.  To get the links, go to page 3 of the LANL document at:  file:///Users/ccns/Downloads/LA-UR-24-29716-7.pdf

5. Thursday, October 24^th from 4 to 6 pm at Highlands University, Student Union Building, Room 320, 800 National Avenue, Las Vegas, NM – WIPP Community Forum and Open House. https://wipp.energy.gov/Library/documents/2024/Oct24CommunityForum.pdf

6. Thursday, October 24^th from 6 pm to 8 pm – DOE Office of Environmental Management, Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and its contractor, N3B Community Meeting about the fiscal year 2024 Year in Review and a community conversation on the legacy waste cleanup, including Q&A. https://losalamosreporter.com/2024/10/14/doe-em-la-and-n3b-to-discuss-cleanup-progress-at-environmental-management-cleanup-forum-oct-24/

For meeting information, including login details, visit: https://n3b-la.com/emcf_oct_24_2024/

When: Thursday, October 24, 6:00 – 8:00 P.M. MDT

Where: In-person and virtual

In-person—SALA Event Center, 2551 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM

Virtual—ViaMicrosoft Teams  –  Click here to join the meeting.

Join By Meeting Number 

Meeting ID: 284 616 926 592

Meeting Password: UgBMtX

Or Call In (audio only)  – (323) 486-1924

Phone Conference ID: 842 206 352#

7. You may ask: Why are there three DOE meetings in the same week?  Poor planning by the DOE nuclear weapons and waste programs. 

On Monday, September 30th, United States District Court Judge Mary Geiger Lewis ruled that the Department of Energy (DOE) and its National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) violated the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because the federal agencies failed to take a “hard look” at the alternatives to fabricate plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at two of its sites.  Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) was created to design and fabricate the atomic bombs used during World War II.  The Savannah River Site in South Carolina has never fabricated pits for nuclear weapons.

In the late 2000s, DOE released for public review and comment its Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement stating that pit production would take place exclusively at LANL.  https://www.energy.gov/nepa/doeeis-0236-s4-complex-transformation-supplemental-programmatic-environmental-impact-statement  Yet in 2019 DOE expanded its proposal to improve the resiliency, flexibility and redundance of the nuclear security enterprise to also fabricate plutonium pits at the Savannah River Site in South Carolina. DOE failed to prepare a new NEPA document for public review and comment detailing how the two sites would interact to fabricate up to 80 plutonium pits per year.

A coalition of non-governmental organizations challenged DOE’s action in the United States District Court of South Carolina.  The plaintiffs are the Gullah/Geechee Sea Island Coalition https://gullahgeecheenation.com/gullahgeechee-sea-island-coalition/ , Nuclear Watch New Mexico https://nukewatch.org/home/ , Savannah River Site Watch https://srswatch.org/ , and Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, or Tri-Valley CARES https://trivalleycares.org/ ,  and individual Tom Clements.  They are represented by Ben Cunningham of the South Carolina Environmental Law Project https://www.scelp.org/ .

The Court found the DOE’s plan had fundamentally changed from the one site plan to its two site plan.  DOE did not consider alternatives while moving forward and spending tens of billions of taxpayers’ dollars.  The Court found that the plaintiffs had standing to challenge DOE’s two-site plan.

Cunningham said, “This is a significant victory that will ensure NEPA’s goal of public participation is satisfied.  Public scrutiny is especially important because the activities at issue here, by their very nature, result in the production of dangerous weapons and extensive amounts of toxic and radioactive waste.  I hope the public will seize the upcoming opportunity to review and comment on the federal agencies’ assessment.”

The Court ordered the parties to confer and present the Court with a joint proposal about appropriate remedies to resolve the case, including “Plaintiffs’ request for injunctive relief.”  The proposal is due to the Court on Friday, October 25th.

To access the Court documents, go to:  https://nukewatch.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Court-Rules-U.S.-Nuclear-Weapons-Production-Plan-Violates-Federal-Law.pdf

Also see the October 10, 2024 article in the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists:  The Energy Department just made one plutonium pit. Making more is uncertain

By Dylan Spaulding , a Senior Scientist at the Union of Concerned Scientists

https://thebulletin.org/2024/10/the-energy-department-just-made-one-plutonium-pit-making-more-is-uncertain/

1. Thursday, October 10th from 5 to 7 pm and Friday, October 11th from 9 to 1 pm – Join the Community Painting of the “I am Life (Creator of Worlds)” Mural Painting at the Lena Wall, 1805 Second Street at the corner of Second and Lena Streets. This project is brought to you by the Three Sisters Collective, the Lena Wall, Dunn Edwards Paints and Artisan Santa Fe. Come with water, weather-appropriate gear and painting clothes. https://threesisterscollective.org/murals/

2. Friday, October 11^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

3. Saturday, October 12^th at 11 am MDT – White Mesa Ute Community Spiritual Walk & Protest: Protecting Our Communities, Health, Environment & Indigenous Sacred Lands, beginning at the White Mesa Community Center between Bluff and Blanding, Utah, followed by the walk to the White Mesa uranium mill. For more information, call White Mesa Concerned Community (435) 459-2461.  https://protectwhitemesa.org/  

4. Saturday, October 12 through Monday, October 14^th from 9 am to 4:30 pm on the Santa Fe Plaza – Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Santa Fe Plaza. https://www.santafe.org/indigenouspeoplesday/

5. Monday, October 14^th from 9 am to 4:30 pm – Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2^nd Annual Honoring Native Nations Powwow on the Santa Fe Plaza. The Santa Fe Indigenous Center invites you to join them on the Santa Fe Plaza for the 2^nd Annual Honoring Native Nations Powwow.  They welcome all Native nations to participate in a day of intertribal dancing and celebration the rich diverse culture.  Bring your tribal flag for the Parade of Nations at noon.  Guest drums are welcome.  https://santafeindigenouscenter.org/events/

On the website there is a New! two-minute Powwow Etiquette Video for viewing. 

6. Saturday, October 19^th – Trinity Site Open House. https://home.army.mil/wsmr/contact/public-affairs-office/trinity-site-open-house

7. Monday, October 21^st from 4:30 pm to 6:30 pm – Virtual Public Training for LANL’s Electronic Public Reading Rooms (EPRRs) and IntellusNM on WebEx. The LANL EPRR and the Los Alamos Legacy Cleanup EPRR are LANL information repositories for environmental and administrative information. and correspondence.  http://eprr.lanl.gov   The IntellusNM is the data portal providing continuous public access to environmental data collected on and around LANL.  https://IntellusNM.com
   

Unfortunately, DOE, Triad National Security, and N3B, the LANL Cleanup Contractor, have not posted the meeting information with links in an easily accessed place on the website.  Nevertheless, here is the latest:

Updates

October 1, 2024:

Public virtual training on general use of the LANL Electronic Public Reading Room and IntellusNM.com will be offered on October 21st from 4:30-6:30 pm MT via Webex.  Information on how to participate in the training can be found at the following link:

2024 Notice of Public Training for the Electronic Public Reading Room and IntellusNM Los Alamos National Laboratory Hazardous Waste Facility Permit EPA ID No. NM0890010515

The Three Sisters Collective is painting a new and colorful “I am Life (Creator of Worlds)” mural on the Lena Wall in O’Ga P’ogeh Owingeh, the White Shell Water Place, or Santa Fe.  https://threesisterscollective.org/  You are invited to make your mark on the wall on Thursday, October 3rd through Saturday, October 5th during the community paint hours.  The new mural is adjacent to the mural by artist Chip Thomas about stopping expanded production of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/an-artists-nuclear-reaction/article_b3d64a7a-506a-11ef-8baf-bbe1a5aa1efb.html

Autumn Dawn Gomez, the Art Director of the Three Sisters Collective, sees the mural as “an opportunity to give a place and platform to the voices of nuclear abolitionists and to build solidarity across Northern New Mexico.”

Further, Gomez explained, “I am Life” is made to be in conversation with Chip Thomas’ artwork, referencing and inverting Oppenheimer’s famous quote [taken] from the Bhagavad Gita ‘I am become death, destroyer of worlds.’  The mural inverts this as: ‘I am life, Creator of worlds.’”

The Three Sisters Collective is shifting the conversation away from destruction to life.  In contrast, this week LANL announced its certification of a new design “diamond-stamped” plutonium pit for use in the W87-1 nuclear bomb warhead.  https://www.energy.gov/nnsa/articles/nnsa-completes-and-diamond-stamps-first-plutonium-pit-w87-1-warhead

The mural holds the intentions for a nuclear-free future so many around the world are working for.  Gomez explained, “The artwork questions the promise [versus] the reality of nuclear energy and weaponry, and serves as a critique of the bomb factory being built in Los Alamos and as a call-to-action for the Santa Fe community to rally together in opposition to this imminent reality.”

Further, “The new mural honors and prioritizes local Pueblo/Indigenous culture and values. It elucidates the differences between these values and the settler colonial nuclear bomb production currently happening in Los Alamos, which is increasing soon. Additionally, it highlights the ever-expanding nuclear industry, such as the nuclear corridor in southeastern New Mexico, a source of job creation and economic stability for New Mexicans.”

This project is brought to you by the Three Sisters Collective, the Lena Wall, Dunn Edwards Paints and Artisan Santa Fe.  Join their efforts on Thursday, October 3rd from 9 am to 1 pm; on Friday, October 4th from 10 am to 1 pm; and on Saturday, October 5th from 5 to 7 pm.  Come with water, weather-appropriate gear and painting clothes. The Lena Wall is located at the former Cloud Cliff Bakery on Lena and Second Streets.

1. Friday, October 4^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. Saturday, October 12^th at 11 am MDT – White Mesa Ute Community Spiritual Walk & Protest: Protecting Our Communities, Health, Environment & Indigenous Sacred Lands, beginning at the White Mesa Community Center between Bluff and Blanding, Utah, followed by the walk to the White Mesa uranium mill. For more information, call White Mesa Concerned Community (435) 459-2461.  https://protectwhitemesa.org/  

3. Saturday, October 12 through Monday, October 14^th from 9 am to 4:30 pm on the Santa Fe Plaza – Indigenous Peoples’ Day on Santa Fe Plaza. https://www.santafe.org/indigenouspeoplesday/

More information about the October 14^th Indigenous Peoples’ Day 2^nd Annual Honoring Native Nations Powwow on the Santa Fe Plaza.  https://santafeindigenouscenter.org/events/

4. Saturday, October 19^th – Trinity Site Open House. https://home.army.mil/wsmr/contact/public-affairs-office/trinity-site-open-house

The Mixed Waste Landfill at Sandia National Laboratories is a 2.6-acre dump that is leaking radioactive, hazardous and toxic wastes from unlined pits and trenches that threaten Albuquerque’s drinking water aquifer.  The public has been asking the New Mexico Environment Department for nearly 25 years to order Sandia to excavate the dump.  Evidence of migrating contamination, such as the detection of volatile organic compounds 400 feet below the dump in 2015, verifies the public’s concern.   https://www.radfreenm.org/index.php/sandia-national-laboratories-mixed-waste-lanfill

Last December, Sandia stepped forward and declared in the required five-year review of the dump that, “Complete excavation with offsite and onsite disposal are remedial alternatives that could be implemented, if necessary.” https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/snl-mwl-2/ , scroll down to Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL), under Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) Second Five-Year Report, click on green Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL) Second Five-Year Report (December 1, 2023) link.

Sandia explained that there had been significant changes over time that made excavation a reasonable option.  For example, the decay of radioactive Cobalt-60 in the dump had decreased to levels where it no longer poses a threat to workers and the public.  Use of conventional excavation practices and robotics could assist in the removing the threat.

The Environment Department opened up a public comment period to review Sandia’s plan, which ended on September 12^th.  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/snl-mwl-2/

CCNS submitted its comments urging the Environment Department to support Sandia’s recommendation to excavate the dump.  240912 CCNS Comments re SNL MWL Second Five-Year Report (Dec. 2023)  

CCNS recommended that it’s time for excavation, processing and removal of the waste to appropriate onsite and offsite regulated facilities in full and transparent consultation with Tribes and communities located at or near the facilities and along the transportation routes.

In that regard, CCNS cited President Biden’s April 2023 Executive Order No. 14096 on Revitalizing Our Nation’s Commitment to Environmental Justice for All, which is part of the Justice 40 Initiative.  The Department of Energy (DOE), which owns Sandia, is one of the Justice 40 agencies.  In fact, DOE has 167 Justice 40 programs.  Within those programs, there are conditions that exist at Sandia, such as the proximity of the International District to the dump, for DOE’s active community engagement in cooperative agreements and grants related to soil and groundwater remediation.

But Sandia did not explore Justice 40 in its five-year review report submitted to the Environment Department in December 2023, seven months after the Executive Order was signed.  The omission requires the Environment Department to take a deep dive into the current status of the dump and the use of robotic technologies to reduce worker exposures during excavation.

This is the time to support the use of Justice 40 as a powerful tool to get the dump excavated.

1. And the award for the Fossil Fuel Profiteer du Jour goes to…

Thursday, Sept. 26th … Chevron

Friday, Sept. 27^th … ExxonMobil

Saturday, Sept. 28^th …Koch Industries     

Sunday, Sept. 29^th … Energy Transfer [Partners] in Albuquerque

      Congratulations to All!

TAKE ACTION: Pressure the Profiteers Campaign continues! Divest from Fossil Fuels!

Please do take at-home actions as you are able.

You can go to https://warheadstowindmills.org/fossil-fuel-map/  Scroll down to:

Contact the Companies

Then select the “Chevron” tab for the email address(es), plus links to the RTX social media pages, plus templates for messaging. The social media actions are the easiest; just tell ’em it’s time to switch to peaceful work!

Consider submitting your email to the CEO as an open letter to an editor too.

Let’s get ’em! Shame on war profiteering!

2. Thursday, Sept. 26^th from 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm – virtual and in-person New Mexico’s Environment Department (NMED) will host a community engagement meeting on September 26, 2024 from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. to share the modifications made to the Los Alamos National Laboratory 2016 Compliance Order on Consent (CO). The meeting will be held at the New Mexico Environment Department Harold Runnels Building Auditorium, 1190 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe, NM 87505 and will also be available via Microsoft Teams. Teams Information  Public notice at: https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D177660984

3. Thursday, Sept. 26 through Saturday, Sept. 28 – Join Three Sisters Collective to create the new monumental mural “I am Life, Creator of Worlds,” a community project at the Lena Wall, at 1805 Second Street, at the corner of Second Street and Lena Street, O’Ga P’ogeh Owingeh/Santa Fe. https://threesisterscollective.org/murals/

Thursday, Sept. 26        12 – 4 pm

Friday, Sept. 27              10 – 4 pm

Saturday, Sept. 28         10 – 1 pm

The “I am Life, Creator of Worlds” mural name is made to be in conversation with Chip Thomas’ artwork, referencing and inverting Oppenheimer’s quote from the Bhagavad Gita “I am become death, destroyer of worlds.”

“The new mural honors and prioritizes local Pueblo/Indigenous culture and values.  It elucidates the differences between these values and the settler colonial nuclear bomb production currently happening in Los Alamos, which is increasing soon. Additionally, it highlights the ever-expanding nuclear industry, such as the nuclear corridor in southeastern New Mexico, a source of job creation and economic stability for New Mexicans.”

4. Friday, September 27^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

NEW! Enjoy lunch at the Manko Food Truck with award-winning chef, Ray Naranjo. Manko is a verb for “come and eat.” The truck will be parked in the Santa Fe Dispensary: Cannabis Dispensaries Owned and Operated by the Picuris Pueblo at the corner of Alameda and Sandoval.  https://www.ediblenm.com/ray-naranjo/

5. Saturday, September 28^th from 2 pm to 5 pm – Convivio Third Annual Southside Community Day at Zona del Sol Campus, 6600 Valentine Way, Santa Fe, NM. https://www.instagram.com/sfnmpl/p/C_8SmG3Bj3j/?img_index=1

6. Monday, September 30^th at 6 to 7:30 pm – The New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) Petroleum Storage Tank Bureau is holding a public informational meeting about the proposed installation of groundwater monitoring wells associated with the former PNM Santa Fe Generating Station plume of diesel fuel located in the Baca Street area. The meeting will be held at the Harold Runnels Building (NMED and NM Dept. of Health Building) at 1190 St. Francis Drive, Santa Fe.  https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/?trumbaEmbed=view%3Devent%26eventid%3D177639815 and https://www.env.nm.gov/petroleum_storage_tank/

7. September 1^st through September 30^th – the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Nuclear Free Team concludes its first Nuclear FREE Film Series with the powerful independent film – ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: THE FALSE PROMISES OF A NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE. Watch the film – FREE OF CHARGE – followed by a live webinar on September 30^th with the filmmaker and stellar panel moderated by Mike Carberry, Co-Chair, Sierra Club Nuclear Free Team. The 46-minute film available on Eventive – free with registration.  https://scnuclearfree.eventive.org/welcome#!

8. Friday, August 30 through September – 58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe.  Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm.  The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards. 80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.  https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24

Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the fossil fuel corporations doing business in New Mexico. Under the banner of Warheads to Windmills.org, the week begins on Monday, September 23rd and extends through Sunday, September 29^th. This is a second week of action.  The first week focused on nuclear weapons. Both present existential threats to life on Planet Earth – one that kills in an instant; the other painfully over time.  https://warheadstowindmills.org/

In March 2023, the United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres stated, ”In short, our world needs climate action on all fronts – everything, everywhere, all at once.” https://www.un.org/sg/en/content/sg/statement/2023-03-20/secretary-generals-video-message-for-press-conference-launch-the-synthesis-report-of-the-intergovernmental-panel-climate-change

The Fossil Fuel Finance Report 2024 “Banking on Climate Chaos,” provides detailed information about how – contrary to the Secretary-General’s plea for climate action –  the biggest global banks have instead committed billions to fossil fuel corporations, bringing the total since the 2016 Paris Agreement to $6.9 Trillion Dollars.  https://www.ran.org/publications/

New Mexicans are coming together to challenge four fossil fuel profiteers that operate here, mostly in the Permian Basin in the southeast corner of the state. They are: Chevron, Energy Transfer, ExxonMobil and Phillips 66.

Tuesday, September 24^th is the day of action for Phillips 66, with corporate headquarters in Houston, Texas. https://www.phillips66.com/ Thursday, September 26^th is the day of action for Chevron, headquartered in San Ramon, California. https://www.chevron.com/  Friday, September 27^th is the day of action for ExxonMobil, with headquarters in Spring, Texas. https://corporate.exxonmobil.com/ Sunday, September 29^th is the last day of the action, which focuses on Energy Transfer, headquartered in Dallas, Texas. https://www.energytransfer.com/ These corporations explore, drill, extract, process and distribute gas and oil products that cause climate change and destruction of frontline communities.

The Warheads to Windmills website contains all the tools you need to take action to tell the profiteering corporations:  NO MONEY FOR FOSSIL FUELS!  You will find banners, signs and leaflets, ideas for organizing vigils, die-ins, boycotts, demonstrations, phone banks, and ideas for taking electronic action. These include letter writing; stigmatizing the corporate profiteers on social media and writing letters to the editor. Tag the corporations in your own posts. Be sure to use the #PressuretheProfiteers hashtag to amplify your message.  https://warheadstowindmills.org/2-weeks-of-action-on-climate-and-nuclear-weapons/

During the week of action on fossil fuels, the peaceful protest on Fridays from noon to 1 pm at the corners of Alameda and Sandoval in downtown Santa Fe will continue.

It’s time to raise our voices and challenge fossil fuels together.

1. And the award for the Nuclear Profiteer du Jour goes to…

Thursday, Sept. 19^th … RTX (Raytheon Technologies!)

Friday, Sept. 20^th … Boeing

Saturday, Sept. 21^st … Honeywell    

Sunday, Sept. 22^nd … Lockheed Martin

Congratulations to All!

TAKE ACTION: Pressure the Profiteers Campaign continues! Divest from Nuclear Weapons!

Please do take at-home actions as you are able.

You can go to https://warheadstowindmills.org/nuclear-weapons-map/#nw-corp Scroll down to:

Contact the Companies

Then select the “RTX-Raytheon” tab for the email address(es), plus links to the RTX social media pages, plus templates for messaging. The social media actions are the easiest; just tell ’em it’s time to switch to peaceful work!

Consider submitting your email to the CEO as an open letter to an editor too.

Let’s get ’em! Shame on war profiteering!

TAKE ACTION: Pressure the Profiteers Campaign continues! Divest from Fossil Fuels!

https://warheadstowindmills.org/fossil-fuel-map/#ff-corp

2. Friday, September 20th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

NEW! Enjoy lunch at the Manko Food Truck with award-winning chef, Ray Naranjo. Manko is a verb for “come and eat.” The truck will be parked in the Santa Fe Dispensary: Cannabis Dispensaries Owned and Operated by the Picuris Pueblo at the corner of Alameda and Sandoval.  https://www.ediblenm.com/ray-naranjo/

3. Friday, September 20 from 5 pm to sunset at Tiguex Park, Albuquerque – 2024 New Mexico Climate Strike: Reimagine and Rise: Uniting for the People’s Climate Plan.  Celebrate YUCCA’s Fifth Birthday!   March * Rally * Speakers * Art Build * DJ * Performers.

4. On Monday, September 23rd from 11:30 to 12:30 pm CHALLENGE HONEYWELL FOR FABRICATING MISSILE GUIDANCE SYSTEMS.

Please join us in front of the University of New Mexico, on the public campus sidewalk area at Cornell and Central, for a peaceful protest challenging Honeywell’s corporate profiteering from fabricating guidance equipment for the Minuteman III and the proposed Sentinel intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) and its relationship with Sandia National Laboratories. 

Join us to raise your voice against the colonization of New Mexico by the nuclear weapons and fossil fuel industries.

5. September 1^st through September 30^th – the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Nuclear Free Team concludes its first Nuclear FREE Film Series with the powerful independent film – ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: THE FALSE PROMISES OF A NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE. Watch the film – FREE OF CHARGE – followed by a live webinar on September 30^th with the filmmaker and stellar panel moderated by Mike Carberry, Co-Chair, Sierra Club Nuclear Free Team. The 46-minute film available on Eventive – free with registration.  https://scnuclearfree.eventive.org/welcome#!

6. Friday, August 30 through September – 58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe.  Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm.  The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards. 80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.  https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24

Local, regional, national and international non-governmental organizations are coming together for a week of raising public awareness about the nuclear weapons corporations doing business in New Mexico.  The week of action begins on Monday, September 16^th and extends through Sunday, September 22^nd. https://www.icanw.org/global_week_of_action_on_nuclear_spending

New Mexicans will challenge two of the nuclear weapons profiteers who operate here.  They are Honeywell https://warheadstowindmills.org/nuclear-weapons-map/ and HII, or Huntington Ingalls Industries https://warheadstowindmills.org/nuclear-weapons-map/ .

HII is a subcontractor to Triad National Security, LLC, the primary nuclear weapons contractor at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). https://www.triadns.org/

On Tuesday, September 17^th from 4 to 6 pm, please join us in Santa Fe as we gather on the sidewalk in front of the LANL complex of offices near the corner of St. Michael’s Drive and Pacheco Street.  The office buildings formerly housed Public Service Company of New Mexico, or PNM, and are on the east side of Pacheco opposite the Smith’s Grocery Store.  https://discover.lanl.gov/news/0308-pacheco-office/

Honeywell operates Sandia National Laboratories, located in Albuquerque, for the DOE’s National Nuclear Security Administration.  It produces guidance instruments for the Minuteman III and the proposed Sentinel nuclear intercontinental ballistic missiles.  https://www.dontbankonthebomb.com/honeywell-international/

On Monday, September 23^rd from 11:30 to 12:30 pm in front of the University of New Mexico, on the public campus sidewalk area at Cornell and Central, a peaceful protest will take place challenging Honeywell’s corporate profiteering relationship with Sandia National Laboratories.

Alongside the in-person actions, it is important to make sure the corporations feel pressure in other ways on these days of action.  Please concentrate your efforts to write letters, spam their social media, and call them on each company’s specific day of action.  Monday, September 16^th is HII’s day and Saturday, September 21^st is Honeywell’s day of action.

The Warheads to Windmills website contains all the tools you need to take action to tell the profiteering corporations: NO MONEY FOR NUCLEAR WEAPONS!  Go to the website to edit a prewritten email to the CEO and submit it. Tag them in your own posts. Be sure to use the #PressuretheProfiteers hashtag to amplify your message. Learn what products and brands to boycott with the “Boycotting” drop down menu.  https://warheadstowindmills.org/

During the two weeks of action – the first week about nuclear weapons and the second week about fossil fuels – the peaceful Friday protest from noon to 1 pm on the corners of Alameda and Sandoval in downtown Santa Fe will continue.

It’s time to raise our voices and challenge nuclear weapons together.

1. Friday, September 13th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. Friday, September 13^th at 9 am to 3 pm virtual and in person – Radioactive & Hazardous Materials Committee of the NM Legislature meeting in Hobbs, NM.  To watch the webcast: go to: https://www.nmlegis.gov/ and click on webcast for this meeting. If you would like to make a virtual public comment, please click here.   Instructions for providing virtual public comments are here.  The agenda is posted here: https://www.nmlegis.gov/agendas/RHMCageSep13.24.pdf       Discussion topics include: uranium enrichment; WIPP Operations, Expansion, Storage and Shipments of Transuranic Waste and the Proposed Clean Energy Project at WIPP (Don Hancock of SRIC, DOE and NMED will each present); Setbacks from Oil & Gas Operations; Produced Water and Water Reuse; and public comments.

3. The video of the Saturday, September 7^th Forum on Nuclear Strategy: Disarmament and Deterrence in a Dangerous World at UNM is now available at:  https://www.youtube.com/@iacsusc

4. September 1^st through September 30^th – the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Nuclear Free Team concludes its first Nuclear FREE Film Series with the powerful independent film – ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: THE FALSE PROMISES OF A NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE. Watch the film – FREE OF CHARGE – followed by a live webinar on September 30^th with the filmmaker and stellar panel moderated by Mike Carberry, Co-Chair, Sierra Club Nuclear Free Team. The 46-minute film available on Eventive – free with registration.  https://scnuclearfree.eventive.org/welcome#!

5. Friday, August 30 through September – 58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe.  Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm.  The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards.  80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.   https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24

Many local, regional and international non-governmental organizations are organizing live and virtual actions in recognition of the International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21^st and you can join in these efforts.  From the “No Money for Nuclear Weapons” Week of Action headed by the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons https://www.icanw.org/week_of_action to the Warhead to Windmills Coalition (the Coalition) https://warheadstowindmills.org/ , small and large actions will be taking place around the world.

A small number of corporations profit from fossil fuels and nuclear weapons and spend millions on lobbying, elections and propaganda to maintain their control over Congress and the White House. We’ve called attention to their tactics before, through boycotts, divestment and shaming, and we can do it again!

The Coalition’s contribution to the international movement is to target seven of the top nuclear weapons companies and seven of the top fossil fuel companies during the two weeks:  tackling one a day.  You can join coordinated live actions at corporate headquarters and facilities, or contact the corporate entities and local media with urgent demands, such as divest and boycott, and have your city, bank, school, faith community, or organization do the same.

The Coalition reminds us what we all already know: the “continued burning of fossil fuels will make this world uninhabitable within a few decades.  A nuclear war would make this world uninhabitable in a few minutes.  We must end our addiction to fossil fuels and nuclear weapons before it is too late.” To learn more, go to https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/

The Coalition’s action on nuclear weapons begins on Monday, September 16^th with the corporate target focused on Huntington Ingalls Industries.  On Tuesday, September 17^th the target is L3Harris Fast Forward.  On Wednesday, September 18^th the target is General Dynamics.  The Thursday, September 19^th target is RTX Raytheon Technologies.  The Friday, September 20^th target is Boeing.  Honeywell is the target for the International Day of Peace on Saturday, September 21^st.  Lockheed Martin is the target for Sunday, September 22^nd and is one of the major contractors to modernize the intercontinental ballistic missiles, or ICBMs.

Action on fossil fuels begins on Monday, September 23^rd with the target focused on Shell; Tuesday, September 24^th is Phillips 66; Wednesday, September 25 is BP; Thursday, September 26 is Chevron; Friday, September 27^th is ExxonMobil; and on Saturday, September 28^th is Koch (which is the second largest privately held corporation in the U.S. with more than 13,000 employees worldwide).  The week of action ends on Sunday, September 29^th with Energy Transfer [formerly, Energy Transfer Partners].

Events are being organized in Santa Fe and Albuquerque, New Mexico.  Stay tuned for more information.  Better yet, organize your own event at a facility or office near you.

1. Friday, September 6^th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners!

2. September 1^st through September 30^th – the Sierra Club Grassroots Network Nuclear Free Team concludes its first Nuclear FREE Film Series with the powerful independent film – ATOMIC BAMBOOZLE: THE FALSE PROMISES OF A NUCLEAR RENAISSANCE. Watch the film – FREE OF CHARGE – followed by a live webinar on September 30^th with the filmmaker and stellar panel moderated by Mike Carberry, Co-Chair, Sierra Club Nuclear Free Team. 46-minute film available on Eventive – free with registration.  https://scnuclearfree.eventive.org/welcome#!

3. Saturday, September 7^th from 1:45 to 5 pm at the University of New Mexico – Forum on Nuclear Strategy: Disarmament and Deterrence in a Dangerous World.  Registration at:  https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearevent/

A project from the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC, the Endowed Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at the University of New Mexico, and UNM’s Religious Studies Program.  For more information and a list of participants, go to:  https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearproject/

4. Tuesday, September 10, 2024 – Comment Period Extended about the Second Five-Year Report about the DOE/Sandia Mixed Waste Landfill. For information about the hazards, leaks and threats of not removing the waste from the unlined Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL), visit the Citizen Action New Mexico website at:   https://www.radfreenm.org/index.php 

 To review the public notice and administrative information about the MWL, go to the New Mexico Environment Department:  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/snl-mwl-2/

 In your comments, provide your name and address and reference:  SNL – MWL Second Five-Year Report, December 2023.  A sample public comment letter developed by Demand Nuclear Abolition is available here:  MWL letter Rev. 1 August 2024

Submit them through:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/comment/search under 60-Day Comment Period:  Sandia National Labs Mixed Waste Landfill Second Five-Year Report, or email them to:

Neelam Dhawan, Acting Program Manager

NMED – Hazardous Waste Bureau

2905 Rodeo Park Drive East, Bldg. 1

Santa Fe, NM  87505-6303

Email:  neelam.dhawan@env.nm.gov

Phone:  505-476-6000

5. September 16^th to 22^nd Week of Action: Nuclear Weapons – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers – Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming.  For more information:  https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/.  Local NM events are being planned now.   

 September 16^th to 22^nd Week of Action:  No Money for Nuclear Weapons.  For more information:  https://www.icanw.org/week_of_action   Read the 2-page briefing paper on Nuclear Weapons Spending.  https://assets.nationbuilder.com/ican/pages/4013/attachments/original/1718960414/2pager_on_nuclear_spending_%281%29.pdf?1718960414

6. September 23^rd to 29^th Week of Action: Fossil Fuels – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers – Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming.  For more information:   https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/.  Local NM events are being planned now.    

7. Friday, August 30 through September – 58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe.  Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm.  The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards. 80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.  https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24

“When the Cold War ended in 1991 and the Doomsday Clock was at its furthest from midnight, the world sighed in relief… . It was a moment of hope where many believed this low tension between the military and economic powers of the world would lead to peace talks and nuclear disarmament.. . . So, why didn’t nuclear disarmament happen when the iron curtain fell?. . .”  This question is at the center of “Making Nuclear Weapons Taboo,” an August 2024 address by Dr. Carlos Umaña, Co-President of International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW).

Dr. Umaña answers the question by saying, “Simply put, nuclear weapons had become a status symbol. . . . Nukes had become the currency of power, and this did not change when the so-called superpowers lost their main reason to threaten each other.” Dr. Umaña proposes that possession of nuclear weapons has a social value that society can alter. He uses the example of a bag of gold coins found in a forest to show that society bestows arbitrary value or “currency” on things.  He says,

“. . .we hold on to them [the coins] because we have learned that they have value, and once we find our way to civilization, they will allow us to do a great deal of things. . .Their inherent value, what they can do for us by themselves, isn’t great, but their given value, what we have decided they can do for us, is very high.”

Dr. Umaña goes on to say that the belief that nuclear weapons are advantageous is international. The way to abolish weapons is to stigmatize them, make them taboo. This method has changed other human behavior, like slavery, and also some weapons of mass destruction such as chemical and biological weapons. He says, “[W]e will be able to get rid of nuclear weapons when they are universally condemned, when the nuclear status is not a subject of praise, but of scorn.”

To discuss how values can be changed in practice, Dr. Umaña adopts the image of concentric circles that he attributes to Professor Treasa Duckworth, Associate Professor in the Faculty of Law of the University of Auckland, in conversation with Tim Wright of the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN): progress against nuclear weapons being held in esteem can occur first in the outer ring of weapon-free countries, then in countries under the “nuclear umbrella,” and finally in the center ring, the U.S. and Russia.

Dr. Umaña concludes, “The international community will be able to get rid of nuclear weapons when the world finally agrees to see nuclear weapon states not as nuclear powers, but as nuclear liabilities.”

IPPNW Co-President Carlos Umaña is a general practitioner, former local health director, and epidemiological surveillance officer with the Costa Rican Ministry of Health. Dr. Umaña is on the ICAN International Steering Group and is president of IPPNW Costa Rica.

To read Dr. Umaña’s full speech, go to: https://peaceandhealthblog.com/2024/08/26/making-nuclear-weapons-taboo/

Did You Know about this job opening?

 The Multicultural Alliance for a Safe Environment is seeking a new Coordinator.

Position is located in New Mexico.

Send Resume, writing sample and three references to sgordon@swuraniumimpacts.org

Position posted on 7/29

Deadline for application 9/1

Did You Know about these events?   

1. Friday, August 30th at noon at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly one-hour peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament. Join the weekly peaceful protest with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others. Bring your flags, signs and banners.!

2. Saturday, August 10^th through Saturday, August 31^st – 2024 Oppenheimer Festival at SALA, 2551 Central Avenue, Los Alamos, NM. Schedules and tickets:  https://sala.losalamos.com/

3. Friday, August 30 through September – 58 years: a retrospective of works by Cathie Sullivan at El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe, 555 Camino de La Familia, Santa Fe.  Opening on August 30 from 5 to 7 pm.  The exhibit includes 57 oil paintings, drawings and limited edition silkscreen prints, three bronzes, 20 animal carvings and hand and digitally printed note cards. 80% of sale proceeds will be donated to Amigos Del Parque, Nuclear Watch NM and El Museo Cultural de Santa Fe.  https://www.elmuseocultural.org/exhibit/csretro-24

4. Wednesday, September 4^th from 6 to 7 pm MT – Planet in Peril! A National Actioner – Warheads to Windmills – by Massachusetts Peace Action with speakers Kathy Kelly and Dr. Ira Helfand. Register at: https://secure.everyaction.com/iGJAyy3mtkOuHnrWcH0b9g2

Join the actioner to learn about the two weeks in September 2024 to Pressure the Corporations putting Profit ahead of People and Planet.  Participate in the September 2024 Days of Action for a nuclear weapons and fossil fuel free world.

September 16 -22 – Nuclear Weapons

September 23 – 29 – Fossil Fuels

https://masspeaceaction.org/event/planet-in-peril-a-national-actionar/

5. Saturday, September 7^th from 1:45 to 5 pm at the University of New Mexico – Forum on Nuclear Strategy: Disarmament and Deterrence in a Dangerous World.  Registration at:  https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearevent/     A project from the Institute for Advanced Catholic Studies at USC, the Endowed Chair of Roman Catholic Studies at the University of New Mexico, and UNM’s Religious Studies Program.  For more information and a list of participants, go to:  https://dornsife.usc.edu/iacs/nuclearproject/

6. Tuesday, September 10, 2024 – Comment Period Extended about the Second Five-Year Report about the DOE/Sandia Mixed Waste Landfill. For information about the hazards, leaks and threats of not removing the waste from the unlined Mixed Waste Landfill (MWL), visit the Citizen Action New Mexico website at:   https://www.radfreenm.org/index.php 

 To review the public notice and administrative information about the MWL, go to the New Mexico Environment Department:  https://www.env.nm.gov/hazardous-waste/snl-mwl-2/

 In your comments, provide your name and address and reference:  SNL – MWL Second Five-Year Report, December 2023.  A sample public comment letter developed by Demand Nuclear Abolition is available here:  MWL letter Rev. 1 August 2024

Submit them through:  https://nmed.commentinput.com/comment/search under 60-Day Comment Period:  Sandia National Labs Mixed Waste Landfill Second Five-Year Report, or email them to:

Neelam Dhawan, Acting Program Manager

NMED – Hazardous Waste Bureau

2905 Rodeo Park Drive East, Bldg. 1

Santa Fe, NM  87505-6303

Email:  neelam.dhawan@env.nm.gov

Phone:  505-476-6000

7. September 16^th to 22^nd Week of Action: Nuclear Weapons – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers – Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming.  For more information:  https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/.  Local NM events are being planned now.    

8. September 23^rd to 29^th Week of Action: Fossil Fuels – Pressure the Corporate Profiteers – Boycotts, Divestment and Shaming.  For more information:   https://warheadstowindmills.org/events/.  Local NM events are being planned now.