Local Communities Say NO to LANL Expansion and Host Community Comment Writing Workshops

Community members and Tribal advocates are standing together to say NO to the proposed expansion of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). As part of a growing movement for environmental justice and accountability, local community organizations including Tewa Women United, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Communities for Clean Water, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Three Sisters Collective are launching the 2025 SovereignTea Community Conversations series—beginning with two powerful sessions that will center public education, dialogue, and action around LANL’s ongoing and proposed nuclear weapons activities.

These workshops will focus on the Draft Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) being developed by the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (DOE NNSA), which seeks to justify significantly expanded LANL operations through 2040—despite mounting concerns about the compounding environmental, human, and cultural costs. Each session will provide background on the SWEIS process, proposed impacts to local communities, and time for participants to write and submit their own public comments. These comments will be sent directly to DOE NNSA, ensuring local and Tribal voices are heard before the April 10^th public comment deadline.

Honor Our Pueblo Existence and Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety have created the LANL SWEIS Action Page to make submitting public comments simple and accessible. Members of the public can customize a template comment with their stories and commitment to protecting our communities, health, lands, and future.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT! Join us in urging for meaningful Tribal consultation, environmental safeguards, and long-overdue protections and accountability.  https://actionnetwork.org/letters/public-comment-for-the-draft-los-alamos-national-laboratory-site-wide-environmental-impact-statement-draft-lanl-sweis?source=direct_link&

The SovereignTea Community Conversations Schedule:

The first session will be offered in-person on Sunday, March 30, 2025 from 1 to 5 pm at the Three Sisters Collective Studio at 1240 Calle de Comercio in Santa Fe, New Mexico and will focus on the National Environmental Policy Act requirements and provide an overview of the SWEIS process, nuclear waste storage and disposal, transportation, cleanup, and impacts to local communities and the environment. This session will be recorded and it will be posted soon.

The second session will be offered in-person and virtually on Monday, April 7^th from 6 to 8 pm at the Tewa Women United offices at 1003 East Fairview Lane, Española, New Mexico. It will focus on LANL’s proposed venting of radioactive tritium into the air, the Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Transmission Project, and the gendered health impacts of radiation.  Anyone can register for either or both sessions at: bit.ly/4iM42I0

To learn more about LANL’s expansion plans for fabricating the plutonium triggers, or pits, for nuclear weapons as detailed in the draft LANL SWEIS, check out:

• The informative February 6th Nuclear Watch New Mexico draft LANL SWEIS workshop with a focus on plutoninum pit production at https://nukewatch.org/2025/02/07/nukewatch-los-alamos-lab-site-wide-eis-workshop/ and
• TODAY, MARCH 27 at 2 pm MT – The Union of Concerned Scientists Public Comment Traiing:  Hold Los Alamos National Laboratory Accountable for Expansion Risks.  Register at https://secure.ucs.org/a/2025-3-27-lanl-public-comment-training

1. Join us on Friday, March 28th from noon to 1 pm at the intersection of East 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 and join in the conversation for nuclear disarmament. 

2. Sunday, March 30^th from noon to 3 pm – Save Our VA/Hands Off VA protest against firing 83,000 VA Employees and privatizing VA.  Join the protest at the ABQ VA Medical Center, 1501 San Pedro Dr SE, Albuquerque, NM   87108.

3. Thursday, April 3^rd at 5 pm MT Breaking the Silence: A Project of the National Council of Elders webinar – “Courage to Act in the Face of Fear – What can the spirit of the radical Martin Luther King teach us in this moment? Strategies and Resources for Resistance.”

Participants include activist/elder Mandy Carter, Joe Worthy Director of Education at the Albert Einstein Institution, longtime Southern organizer and author Suzanne Pharr and Ash-Lee Woodward Henderson, former co-executive director of the Highlander Center.

Register:  https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_M1L1jUNVSsKYwF6huHmibw#/registration

4. Friday, April 4^th at noon to 4:30 at two venues – Celebration of the Life of Our Friend Ken Mayers (1937 to 2025). Roberto Roibal provided this information on behalf of Pam Gilchrist and Family:

Friends,
The family of Ken Mayers invites you to a Celebration of Life and Memorial for Ken Mayers, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Friday, April 4, 2025.

It will begin at the No Nukes Vigil weekly peaceful protest at the corner of Sandoval and West Alameda from noon to 1 pm.

From 1:30 to 2:30 pm, a potluck lunch will be shared at the Fellowship Hall at the UU Congregation, 107 W. Barcelona Street.  Tables will be available for literature from the groups Ken was involved with.  A family video will be shared.

At 2:30 pm, The Raging Grannies will lead the group into Fogelson Hall for the Service.  Rev. Gail Marriner will officiate.

For those who can’t attend in person, at 2:30 pm there will be a livestream memorial by Rev. Gail.  Click this link at 2:30 for the livestream:
https://uusantafe.us3.list-manage.com/track/click?u=2905fac0763625a2ccbaf9ab4&id=f709758296&e=eec4c110b1

From 3:45 to 4:30 pm, storytelling will continue over dessert, tea and coffee, provided by Salud Catering of Santa Fe.

The memorial announcement is attached, as well as an article from the Santa Fe New Mexican about Ken’s life, dated February 19, 2025.  https://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/vietnam-veteran-remembered-as-advocate-for-peace/article_ad16ca54-ed39-11ef-a9d2-7fd393ad5f12.html

Respectfully,
ℜoberto ℜoibal for Pam Gilchrist and family
  

Please contact Roberto with any questions or concerns at roibal@mail.mayfirst.org

5. Monday, April 7^th from 6 to 8 pm – in person and virtual SovereignTea Community Conversation at Tewa Women United offices at 1003 East Fairview Lane, Española, NM. Focus:  draft LANL SWEIS comments (due Thursday, April 10^th), including LANL’s proposed venting of radioactive tritium into the air, the proposed Electrical Power Capacity Upgrade Transmission Project, and the gendered health impacts of radiation.  Registration at:  bit.ly/4iM42I0

Honor Our Pueblo Existence and Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety have created the LANL SWEIS Action Page to make submitting public comments simple and accessible. Members of the public can customize a template comment with their stories and commitment to protecting our communities, health, lands, and future.

NOW IS THE TIME TO ACT! Join us in urging for meaningful Tribal consultation, environmental safeguards, and long-overdue protections and accountability.

6. Thursday, April 17^th from 5:30 pm to 8 pm at the New Mexico Veterans Memorial, 1100 Louisiana Blvd. SE – virtual and in-person – Kirtland Air Force Base Bulk Fuels Facility Project Public Meeting. The poster session will begin at 5:30 pm and the meeting will start at 6 pm.

Learn about the work to remove groundwater contamination caused by a historic leak at the old Base Bulk Fuels Facility.  Connect to the meeting by:

Option 1: Copy this url into your web browser: https://www.zoomgov.com/j/1608583654

Option 2: From ZoomGov App or meeting search on web-browser at zoomgov.com, enter Meeting ID: 160 858 3654.

Option 3: Telephone (audio only) – also use if computer speakers are not available.  Dial: (551) 285-1373 or (669) 254-5252. Spanish Assist line: (415) 449-4000.  Meeting ID: 160 858 3654.

Option 4: One tap mobile: 6692545252, 1608583654#

For more information, please contact 377th Air Base Wing Public Affairs at (505) 846-5991 or 377ABW.PA@us.af.mil. Community members may review Air Force Environmental Restoration Program documents by visiting the Kirtland AFB website at https://www.kirtland.af.mil/Home/Environment/ or the U.S. Air Force Civil Engineer Center Administrative Record website at AF Administrative Record (https://ar.afcec-cloud.af.mil).

7. SHUT DOWN DRONE WARFARE – 16 Years of Drone Resistance – Join the Spring Action Week, April 20 to 26^th – Holloman Drone Training Base, Alamogordo, NM. For more information, https://www.shutdowndronewarfare.org/

Tags: Area G, Arjun Makhijani, Communities for Clean Water, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Flanged Tritium Waste Containers, FTWCs, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, IEER, Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, LANL SWEIS, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Myrriah Gomez, National Environmental Policy Act, NEPA, Nuclear Nuevo México: Colonialism and the Effects of the Nuclear Industrial Complex on Nuevomexicanos, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Continued Operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory, Tewa Women United, Three Sisters Collective, Union of Concerned Scientists