All are welcome to join the Veterans For Peace, New Mexico PeaceFests and Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety on Friday, August 9th at 11 am on the Santa Fe Plaza to commemorate the events leading up to the U.S. bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan in early August 1945.
Near the end of World War II, on August 6th, 1945, the United States dropped a uranium atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. It was the first use of an atomic weapon in war. Its codename was “Little Boy.” It is estimated that between 90,000 and 140,000 people in Hiroshima died, the majority were civilians.
Three days later, on August 9th, 1945, the United States dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan with the codename “Fat Man.” An estimated 60,000 to 80,000 people in Nagasaki were killed, including residents, undocumented foreign workers and military personnel.
The magnitude of death, horror and agony from the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki showed the world that nuclear weapons must never be used again.
At 11 am on the Santa Fe Plaza, we will come together to sing songs of peace and against nuclear weapons, to honor the victims and survivors of nuclear bombs development, testing and use around the world. We will vow to never allow another nuclear atrocity.
At 11:45 am we’ll walk to the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval for the weekly peaceful protest, which lasts until 1 pm. We’ll display the Veterans for Peace flags, our banners that read, “Nuclear Weapons Are Illegal,” “A World Without Nuclear Weapons,” and banners with the words of the Pope about nuclear weapons being immoral. We’ll also display the Plutonium Caravan banner and signs that state that the nuclear weapons ban treaty, or the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, is now in force.
It has been 79 years since those atrocities occurred. Now some world leaders are saying the silent part out loud and urging the use of nuclear weapons to resolve conflicts.
Please join us on the Plaza and at the intersection of West Alameda and Sandoval as we work together for peace in this world.
- Friday, August 2nd at noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the four corners of Alameda and Sandoval in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, New Mexico Peace Fest, Pax Christi and others.
- New Mexico Water Planning Open Houses sponsored by the Office of the State Engineer, Interstate Stream Commission. For more information about how to help establish a roadmap for the future water planning in New Mexico: https://mainstreamnm.org/
Mon. August 5 – Region 6 – Northwest New Mexico
Tues. August 6 – Region 2 – San Juan
Wed. August 7 – Region 12 – Middle Rio Grande
- Monday, August 5th through Friday, August 9th – NM Water Quality Control Commission public hearing about reuse of fracking “produced water” waste continues. https://www.defendnmwater.org/ Justin Noble, author of Petroleum 238, will testify on Tuesday, August 6th.
Monday, August 5th: public comment from 1 to 2 pm and 5 to 6 pm
Tuesday, August 6th through Friday, August 9th: public comment from 9 to 10 am and 1 to 2 pm.
For more information:
NOTICE OF CONTINUATION OF PUBLIC HEARING FOR THE NEW MEXICO ENVIRONMENT DEPARTMENT’S PROPOSED WATER
REUSE REGULATIONS, GROUND AND SURFACE WATER PROTECTION – SUPPLEMENTAL REQUIREMENTS FOR WATER REUSE (20.6.8 NMAC)
The Public Hearing for proposed supplemental water reuse regulations will continue in-person in Room 322 at the New Mexico State Capitol, 411 S. Capitol Street, in Santa Fe, New Mexico, and via the WebEx video conferencing platform beginning on Monday, August 5, 2024, at 9:00 a.m.
and continuing as necessary. Detailed information concerning the time and location can be found on the New Mexico Environment Department’s (“NMED’s”) Event Calendar at
https://www.env.nm.gov/events-calendar/ . Please visit the WQCC website prior to the hearing for any updates at https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/water-quality-control-commission/.
- Tuesday, August 6th – Back from the Brink events. For more information: https://preventnuclearwar.org/
2024 Nuclear Prayer Day for a World Free of Nuclear Weapons on the 79th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan): Reflection, Hope and Action. https://www.voices-uri.org/nuclear-prayer-day
From Trinity to Nagasaki: Honor Victims with Action this Summer. https://preventnuclearwar.org/from-trinity-to-nagasaki-honor-victims-with-action-this-summer/
- Tuesday, August 6th at 5 pm MT – Nuclear Waste: Out of Sight, Out of Mind? – a virtual presentation by Dr. Gordon Edwards, President of the Canadian Coalition for Nuclear Responsibility (CCNR), about the dangerous flaws inherent in Canada’s proposed deep geological repository for storing high-level nuclear waste…forever. To register for the Seniors for Climate Action NOW! presentation, go to Nuclear Waste: Out of Sight, Out of Mind?
- Thursday, August 8th from 5:30 to 7 pm – New Mexico Environment Department virtual public meeting about its nomination of certain surface waters of New Mexico as Outstanding National Resource Waters (ONRWs). Opportunities to ask questions and provide comments.
The draft nomination, amended regulatory language, and additional information are available on the NMED website (https://www.env.nm.gov/surface-water-quality/2024onrw/). The SWQB is holding a public comment period on the nomination and amended regulatory language through August 19, 2024, at 5:00 PM MDT.
If you have any questions or to submit comments, please contact Michael Baca, WQS Coordinator, NMED SWQB, P.O. Box 5469, Santa Fe, NM, 87502, michael.baca1@env.nm.gov or (505) 470-1652.
- Monday, August 26th from 2 to 4 pm – EPA meeting about DOE’s Planned Change Request for WIPP Replacement Panels 11 and 12. Meeting location: S. Department of Energy, Carlsbad Field Office, Skeen-Whitlock Building, Main Auditorium, 4021 National Parks Highway, Carlsbad, NM. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp-news#WIPP-PCR
- Wednesday, August 28th from 1 to 3 pm (technical meeting) and from 6 to 8 pm public meetings about DOE’s Planned Change Request for WIPP Replacement Panels 11 and 12. Meeting location: Hilton Santa Fe-Historic Plaza, 100 Sandoval Street, Canyon Ballroom, Santa Fe, NM.
Background on WIPP Planned Change Request: Replacement Panels 11 and 12
On March 14, 2024, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency received the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) letter transmitting its Planned Change Request (PCR) for the use of Replacement Panels 11 and 12 in the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). This PCR serves as an official request from DOE for EPA approval, as outlined in the Agency’s WIPP Compliance Criteria (40 CFR Part 194).
The 2014 incident at WIPP and its subsequent impacts at the facility resulted in a loss of underground disposal capacity, mainly due to closures in the southern portion of the repository. With this submittal, DOE is proposing to add replacement panels 11 and 12 to recover the lost disposal capacity of approximately two panels. These panels were previously approved by the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) under their hazardous waste permit in October 2023.
The Agency is currently reviewing and evaluating the PCR and supporting documentation, both for completeness and technical adequacy. EPA is reviewing the Performance Assessment (PA) calculations included with the DOE request. EPA’s decision on the DOE request will be made based on whether the submitted information indicates that the WIPP will remain in compliance with EPA’s radioactive waste disposal standards (40 CFR Part 191) with the inclusion of replacement panels 11 and 12. https://www.epa.gov/radiation/wipp-news#WIPP-PCR
Public comments due on September 16, 2024.