Caja Peace and Prayer Pilgrimage AND Objections to Proposed LANL Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Project
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.”
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!
- Thursday, October 17th – Sunday, October 27th –
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
- Thursday, October 24th 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
- Thursday, October 24th 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#
- 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.
- Friday, October 18th 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!
- Tuesday, October 29th 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 13th, 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/
Tags: All Pueblo Council of Governors, amend July 2022 Santa Fe National Forest Land Management Plan, APCG, APCG Resolution 2024-01, BLM, Bureau of Land Management, Caja del Rio Plateau, conduct full environmental impact statement, Decision Notice and Finding of No Significant Impact, Department of Energy, DOE, EA, Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade, EPCU, final Environmental Assessment, FONSI, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, MA, meaningful tribal consultations, National Environmental Policy Act, National Nuclear Security Administration, NEPA, NNSA, Pueblo-led ethnographic study, Rio Grande, S/N Transmission Line Utility Corridor Management Area, scoping comments, special use permit, U.S. Forest Service
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