Project Ranger: New Mexico State Emergency Response Committee Meeting Canceled with One Day’s Notice
On Wednesday, October 21st, the public learned, with just one day’s notice, that the New Mexico State Emergency Response Committee (SERC) meeting was canceled. No reason was given. As a result, no public comments about Project Ranger, a 1,000-acre hypersonic missile motor manufacturing and static firing testing complex – the largest in the United States – under construction on the West Mesa near Rio Rancho, New Mexico, will be heard.
The meeting must be rescheduled as soon as possible. https://www.dhsem.nm.gov/preparedness/hazardous-materials-program/serc/ and https://www.dhsem.nm.gov/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/August-2026-SERC-Meeting-Minutes.pdf
Common Ground Rising and allied working groups planned to raise emergency preparedness and response issues as documented in their October 18th letter and report to the Committee and the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). https://commongroundrising.org/
The letter and report addressed the following issues at Project Ranger:
Industrial air permits: What laws and regulations authorize Project Ranger’s operations and static-fire testing? Has NMED determined whether a Title V Clean Air Act permit is required?
Reported testing: What activities have occurred at Project Ranger? Where are the records explaining what residents have observed and reported to the agencies?
Emissions and dispersion: What pollutants could reach nearby neighborhoods and schools? Where are the current site-specific air dispersion studies that would support such hazardous activities?
Independent, publicly available monitoring: What is measured during the firings? Where are the instruments located? When will results be released to the public?
Public warnings: What agencies will issue shelter-in-place or evacuation instructions? How will warnings reach everyone, including Spanish- and Vietnamese- speaking residents?
Emergency and medical readiness: Are responders and hospitals equipped for chemical detection, decontamination, and treatment?
Preparedness gaps: What issues remain unresolved? What corrections must be made by dates certain?
Public accountability: When will the agencies provide written answers and supporting records to the public? When will meaningful opportunities for in-person and virtual public participation occur? When will the questions be answered to the satisfaction of the public?
The SERC meeting must be rescheduled. The records must be released promptly to the public. Answers must be provided to the surrounding communities.
Common Ground Rising’s outstanding public records requests span water, air quality, and hazardous waste issues. It is still waiting for the documents needed to scrutinize Project Ranger.
CCNS recently shared a separate federal response from the National Nuclear Security Administration stating that 956 public information requests were ahead of theirs, resulting in a possible delay of at least 2 ½ years.
Public records delivered after permits are issued and operations are underway cannot provide the timely scrutiny our communities need.
- Friday, October 23rd 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. Bring your flags, signs and banners.
- Friday, October 23th – Sunday, October 25th on zoom –
World Beyond War Annual Global Conference. The #2026NoWar2026 Beyond Borders Conference focuses on the militarization of borders and how wars and violent conflict drive mass displacement, and importantly, envisioning what open borders could look like. 35 speakers from 20 countries. https://worldbeyondwar.org/
- Sunday, October 25th from 5:30 pm to 8 pm –
New Mexico Interfaith Power & Light Annual Fall Gathering at Covenant Presbyterian Church – ceremony, song and dance in honor of sister Water. RSVP at https://www.nm-ipl.org/news-events/events
- Thursday, November 5th and Friday, November 6th –
New Mexico Interim Legislative Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee meeting at State Capitol. Mark your calendar. Agenda will be posted closer to the meeting. https://www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/Work_Plans/RHMCworkplan26.pdf
5. Free online and for public screenings, conferences, classrooms and viewing parties – 
An Ordinary Insanity – a 29-minute documentary about renowned whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg provides a powerful wakeup call about the global threat posted by nuclear weapons and how we can dramatically reduce the real and present danger of nuclear annihilation. https://www.anordinaryinsanity.com/
Tags: 000+ acre campus, built to be the largest hypersonic manufacturing facility in the U.S., Castelion Corporation, Common Ground Rising, discharge of water contaminants, final assembly of hypersonic weapons, fire-safety implementation, hazardous air emissions, hazardous waste generation, Inspection of Public Records Act, IPRA, National Nuclear Security Administration, new mexico, New Mexico State Emergency Response Commission, Project Ranger, Project Ranger: A 1, Rio Rancho, SERC, solid rocket motors, static firing testing complex, testing explosives
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