Current Activities

Health Impact Assessment Grant Will Explore Potential Health Impacts of those Exposed to 1945 Trinity Atomic Bomb Test

On July 16, 1945, the U.S. government tested the first nuclear device, called “Gadget,” in what was designated the “Trinity Site” in south central New Mexico. The government described the area as “remote and uninhabited.” In reality there were more than 40,000 people living in the four counties surrounding the Trinity Site; which are Lincoln, Otero, Sierra and Socorro counties.   Some of the highest cancer rates in the U.S. are found in these counties. The people of New Mexico were the first victims of an atomic bomb and were unknowing, unwilling, uncompensated, innocent participants in the world’s largest science experiment.

The Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium, founded in 2005 by Tina Cordova and the late Fred Tyler, have been working to bring attention to the negative health effects from radioactive fallout resultant of the Trinity test. http://www.nmdownwinders.com/ For many years the Consortium has partnered with Joni Arends of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, http://nuclearactive.org/, Holly Beaumont of Interfaith Worker Justice-New Mexico, https://www.facebook.com/IWJNM, and Dr. Maureen Merritt of Physicians for Social Responsibility, http://www.psr.org/, in this endeavor.

No epidemiological study of the resultant illnesses has ever been done. The Consortium’s volunteers have developed and collected health surveys from people living in the communities closest to the Trinity Site.

In support of this effort, the Santa Fe Community Foundation recently provided a $35,000 grant to the Consortium to conduct a formal health impact assessment. The grant will provide the much-needed resources to expand and fully formalize the collection and interpretation of the health surveys. https://www.nmhealthequitypartnership.org/home

In 1990, the U.S. set up a fund called the Radiation Exposure Compensation Act (RECA) to compensate people who were made sick living downwind of the Nevada Nuclear Test Site. The fund has been available for people in parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho and Colorado, and uranium miners in some parts of New Mexico, who have been affected by the radiation exposure. New Mexico downwinders have never been included in the RECA fund, even though the people of New Mexico were the very first downwinders. The fund has paid out over $2 billion in claims and provided invaluable health care coverage to the downwinders of the Nevada test site. http://www.justice.gov/civil/common/reca

For five years, Senator Tom Udall and others have introduced amendments to RECA to include New Mexico downwinders and continues to gain co-sponsors. http://www.tomudall.senate.gov/?p=press_release&id=1719 Even so, key congressional committees have not yet scheduled a hearing.

Tina Cordova, of the Consortium, said, “It is our goal to utilize the data collected through the health impact assessment process to build our case for why New Mexicans should be included in the RECA ‘downwinders’ program.”

 

State Board Supports Existing LANL Air Emissions Permit; Denies Requests for Verification Monitoring

On Friday, December 18th, the New Mexico Environmental Improvement Board unanimously denied the petition of Tewa Women United, Dr. Maureen Merritt and CCNS for verification monitoring for what the New Mexico Environment Department had determined were “insignificant” emission sources at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). Once the Environment Department determines the releases are “insignificant,” LANL does not have to monitor or report the emissions. https://www.env.nm.gov/eib/documents/PetitionforHearingonTitleVAirQuality.pdf.

The insignificant sources are formerly permitted beryllium facilities; the mechanical evaporative system for waste water from the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility; the proposed use of the two solar evaporative tanks, holding more than 360,000 gallons each, from that facility; and the soil vapor extraction system at the liquid disposal site at Area L, adjacent to Area G.

During the public comment period, the Petitioners questioned the soil vapor extraction system emissions. After receiving additional information from the Petitioners about the volatile organic compounds releases from a pilot test in 2005, the Environment Department required LANL to verify emissions for a period of one year. Based on that precedent, Petitioners asked for verification monitoring of other sources, including previously permitted beryllium facilities and the solar and mechanical evaporative systems.

The petitioners also asked that LANL be required to post all submittals to the Environment Department to its electronic public reading room.

Elder Kathy Sanchez, of Tewa Women United, said, “Many moments pass in solar time as does the unregulated LANL toxic pollutants which directly effects our life affirming air quality here in Northern New Mexico. We are exposed via multiple pathways of travel down to us citizens from the ‘sorcery’ experimental approach with 2,000 chemicals, manipulations by man to birth new weapons of mass destruction as they named the A-bomb over Hiroshima – ‘It’s a (Little) Boy!’”

Sanchez continued, “Here is a link to an Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry listing of chemicals to find a myriad of chemicals from A to Z, including their toxic effects on humans.   http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/. In layman’s terms, we were asking for reassurance that the ‘insignificant’ findings of those toxins used by LANL is verified as that. And to reassure us, the public, that monitors the appropriateness be used. We do not want our future children’s children to perish.

“We all deserve clean air, pure water and healthy soil in the mountains and valleys surrounding Los Alamos National Laboratory. Our spirit rooted visions for our breath of life should be as it once was, before the scientists were ordered to create the nuclear stage, for yet another power domination holding the threat of forced annihilation. We will not let this be without continued vigilance.” http://tewawomenunited.org/

 

Senator Markey Leads Call to Cut Wasteful Nuclear Expenditures, Urging Cancelation of Proposed Nuclear Warhead and Air-launched Missile

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 12/18/15 through 12/25/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

  • Senator Markey Leads Call to Cut Wasteful Nuclear Expenditures, Urging Cancelation of Proposed Nuclear Warhead and Air-launched Missile

Senator Edward J. Markey, of Massachusetts, led a group of eight U.S. Senators in a letter urging President Obama to cancel the proposed long range stand off (LRSO) nuclear capable warhead and the proposed nuclear air-launched cruise missile on which the warhead would be launched. The Pentagon requested that the proposed missile be developed to replace an existing air-launched cruise missile.

Recent reports reveal administration plans to build and buy 1,000 to 1,100 new nuclear cruise missiles estimated to cost between $20 and $30 billion. The development of the proposed long range stand off warhead would increase U.S. nuclear air-launched cruise missile capacity by nearly 200 percent.

In the letter, the Senators explained that this new nuclear weapon does not reflect current U.S. national security needs, is redundant with existing nuclear and conventional options, and could lead to dramatic escalation and potentially devastating miscalculations with other nuclear-armed states because a nuclear-armed cruise missile is indistinguishable from a conventional cruise missile.

They added, “Outdated and unnecessary nuclear weapons are relics of the past. We should not revive and waste money on the security tools of the past and rob future generations who will have to bear the burden of this useless spending.…Your administration should instead focus on capabilities that keep our economy and defense strong while reducing the role of nuclear weapons.”

The Senators referenced the early days of the Presidency in 2009 when Obama spoke in Prague. In that speech, President Obama conveyed his commitment to “reduce the role of nuclear weapons in [U.S.] national security strategy.” They reminded the President of the Administration’s 2010 Nuclear Posture Review, which stated that programs to maintain nuclear weapons “will not support new military missions or provide for new military capabilities.”

Nevertheless, it is estimated that the U.S. will spend over $1 trillion in the next 30 years on nuclear weapon modernization.

Those signing the letter include California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer; Oregon Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley; Vermont Senators Patrick Leahy and Bernard Sanders; and Minnesota Senator Al Franken.

CCNS reached out to our New Mexico Senators to learn their position on the proposed warhead and missile. A staffer for Senator Tom Udall responded in an email, stating, “The Senator supports the nuclear modernization efforts of the [National Nuclear Security Administration] and the [Department of Defense]. These programs are an important part of the nuclear security enterprise.”

CCNS did not receive a response from Senator Martin Heinrich’s office.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, encouraged New Mexicans to contact our Senators and encourage them to support cancelation of the proposed nuclear warhead and air-launched cruise missile.

 

Former Defense Chief, NonProliferation Experts Warn: Stop the New Nuclear Capable Long Range Stand Off Weapon

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 12/11/15 through 12/18/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

  • Former Defense Chief, NonProliferation Experts Warn: Stop the New Nuclear Capable Long Range Stand Off Weapon

Two former Defense Department leaders, William J. Perry and Andy Weber, recently wrote a piece in the Washington Post requesting that President Obama stop the development of the proposed long range stand off (LRSO) nuclear capable weapon. The Pentagon requested that this weapon be developed to replace an existing air-launched cruise missile.

Perry and Weber wrote that cruise missiles are “inherently destabilizing” because “they can be launched without warning and come in both nuclear and conventional variants.” Cruise missiles increase the risk of accident nuclear war. Canceling this dangerous weapon could be a significant first step towards a worldwide ban on all cruise missiles.

The Air Force plans to purchase over 1,000 of the LRSOs. It currently has a stockpile of about 575 nuclear capable air-launched cruise missiles. The development of the LRSO would increase U.S. nuclear air-launched cruise missile capacity by nearly 200 percent.

The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, based in the San Francisco Bay Area, has been charged with refurbishing the nuclear explosive package and developing detonators for the new weapon. Sandia Laboratory, also in Livermore, is responsible for the construction of some nonnuclear parts and for systems integration. Sandia says this program “will develop the next generation of weapon scientists and engineers and give them hands on experience in a system development and integration program.”

The nuclear warhead, called the W80-4, will be a modified version of an older warhead, the W80. The W80-4 budget for fiscal year 2015 is $9 million. The 2016 request is $195 million. Future funding requests are expected to increase to $312 million in 2017 and $407 million in 2018.

The Federation of American Scientists estimates the full development of this nuclear cruise missile, including the W80-4 warhead, to be as high as $20 billion.

It is still possible that Congress will pass a budget, but, at least for now, the W80-4 warhead development has been slowed down.

Under the New START treaty, which reduces Russian and U.S. forward deployed strategic nuclear arsenal to 1,550 nuclear warheads by 2018, each bomber plane counts as only one warhead, despite the fact that bombers can carry multiple nuclear weapons.

Marylia Kelley, Executive Director of Tri-Valley Communities Against a Radioactive Environment, based in Livermore, said, “Now is the critical time when the President is still finalizing his Fiscal Year 2017 budget. Please call your senators and ask them to send a letter directly to the President asking him to cancel any funding request for a Long Range Stand Off warhead and cruise missile. Then call Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Ranking Member on the Senate Energy and Water Appropriations Subcommittee, with the same message.”

 

DOE Extends Public Comment Period for LANL Chromium Plume to Friday, November 13th and NMED Rolls Out Consent Order Agreement on Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th

 

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 11/6/15 through 11/13/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER)  This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.  Here is this week’s top headline:

  • DOE Extends Public Comment Period for LANL Chromium Plume to Friday, November 13th and NMED Rolls Out Consent Order Agreement on Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th

The Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced its second extension of the public comment period for a draft environmental assessment about the migrating ground water plume containing dangerous levels of hexavalent chromium and perchlorate beneath Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) towards Pueblo de San Ildefonso and Santa Fe’s drinking water wells and the Buckman Direct Diversion Project until Friday, November 13th.

DOE granted the second extension of time because on Friday, October 30th the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) released its draft ground water discharge permit for re-injection of the treated chromium contaminated ground water into the regional drinking water aquifer. Public comments are due the day after Thanksgiving, or on Friday, November 27th.   d DP-1835 Reinjection 10-29-15

In addition, on Thursday, November 5th, DOE released its floodplain assessment for land application of treated ground waters for public comment, which are due on Friday, November 20th.  Cr Project-Floodplain Notice 11-4-15

CCNS argued that in order for the public to provide informed comments about the draft environmental assessment, it needs to be able to review all of the pieces of the growing regulatory puzzle for the chromium project and asked for more time.

Joni Arends, of CCNS, said, “Even with the additional time, it is not adequate for the public to provide informed comments.  DOE is in a hurry to get the necessary paperwork done before the ground freezes.  Once it freezes, the outdoor work must stop.”

She added, “DOE should stop the environmental assessment.  With the multitude of state permits required for the proposed action, including a permit from the State Engineer which has not been applied for, DOE should prepare an environmental impact statement so that the public can understand the cumulative impacts of the proposal as required by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA.”

The chromium public comment period now ends on Friday, November 13, 2015.  Comments may be submitted to DOE by email at CRProjectEA@em.doe.gov

In the meantime, the New Mexico Environment Department, DOE and LANL will be making presentations about a “LANL Consent Order Agreement” on Thursday, November 12th and Friday, November 13th at day-time meetings in the Espanola Valley.

The November 12th meeting of the Northern New Mexico Citizens’ Advisory Board will have presentations about the agreement from 1 pm to 4:30 pm at the Cities of Gold Conference Center in Pojoaque.  New website at:  http://energy.gov/em/nnmcab/northern-new-mexico-citizens-advisory-board

The November 13th meeting of the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities will have the parties present from 9 to 11 am at the Hernandez Community Center, 19418 US Highway 84/285, Hernandez, NM, located north of Espanola.  http://regionalcoalition.org

 

This has been the CCNS News Update.  For more information and a sample chromium public comment letter, please visit nuclearactive.org and our Facebook page.

 

DOE Addresses LANL Chromium Plume in Haphazard Manner

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 10/9/15 through 10/16/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

  • DOE Addresses LANL Chromium Plume in Haphazard Manner

The Department of Energy (DOE) and its management contactor, Los Alamos National Security, LLC, continue to address the migrating chromium ground water plume beneath Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) in a hit or miss manner. In late September, DOE released an inadequate draft environmental assessment for the chromium plume for public review and comment. http://energy.gov/nepa/ea-2005-chromium-plume-control-interim-measure-and-plume-center-characterization-los-alamos  Public comments are currently due on Friday, October 23, 2015.  Sample public comments – sample Cr-VI EA public comments 10-10-15

DOE is proposing a pump and treat system, meaning they would pump approximately 700 acre feet a year, or 230 million gallons, of ground water from the regional aquifer to the surface for treatment, a distance of approximately 1,000 feet. After treatment, the water would be applied to the land surface by trucks or irrigation systems, re-injected into the drinking water aquifer, or evaporated.

DOE has not applied for an evaporation permit from the New Mexico Environment Department. It has applied to the Environment Department for a re-injection permit and a draft permit may be released by the end of October 2015. DOE applied, and received a permit from the Environment Department for land application of 350,000 gallons per day. In August the Communities for Clean Water appealed that permit to the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission and asked for a stay of activities pending a decision. It has not yet been heard.

The draft cleanup proposal is for an “interim measure,” meaning that the plan falls between the discovery of the plume in 2004, and when a cleanup remedy is selected. Information and data obtained during the interim measure, which will be in effect for a minimum of eight years, will be used to decide on the final remedy in the 2023 timeframe.

Further, not all of the documents referenced in the draft assessment are available to the public, including key technical reports about geology, seismic activity, and DOE water rights. For all these reasons, CCNS is requesting a 90-day extension of the public comment period.

The plume measures one mile by one-half mile below Mortandad Canyon. The concentrations at the center of the plume are approximately 20 times the New Mexico standard of 50 parts per billion, or 1,000 parts per billion. Sampling results indicate that the plume is migrating at the plume edges.

The majority of the Los Alamos County drinking water wells are located in Mortandad Canyon, which is directly east of Santa Fe’s 13 deep drinking water wells and the Buckman Direct Diversion Project, which diverts Rio Grande water into the drinking water supply.

The 30-day public comment period ends on October 23, 2015. Comments may be submitted to DOE by email at CRProjectEA@em.doe.gov

 

This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information and a sample public comment letter sample Cr-VI EA public comments 10-10-15, please visit http://www.nuclearactive.org and our Facebook page

 

CARD Civil Rights Complaint to EPA about Triassic Park – Thirteen Years and No Resolution

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Ran 8/14/15 through 8/21/15

In 2002, Deborah Reade, then Research Director for Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping (CARD), filed a 27-page complaint with the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Office of Civil Rights against the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED). The complaint alleged a pattern of discrimination against Spanish-speaking residents exhibited during the permitting process for Triassic Park, a hazardous waste facility in southeastern New Mexico.

The facility site, located between Roswell and Tatum in Chaves County, was permitted by the Environment Department and could have received hazardous waste from across the U.S. and from foreign countries. Though the facility has not been built, the owners of Triassic Park have applied to renew their permit, which is currently under review.

EPA regulations require acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint within five days. EPA accepted the CARD complaint in 2005, nearly 1,100 days later.

EPA is required to determine if an investigation is needed within 20 days, and if so, it must be completed in 180 days. Twelve years after the initial complaint was filed, EPA contacted Reade for additional information. EPA has yet to complete their investigation.

The 2002 complaint alleged the Department discriminated against Chaves County residents on the basis of race, color and national origin in violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During the Triassic Park permitting process, CARD alleged that the Department did not examine “possible disparate impacts on the basis of race and ethnicity” and conducted the administrative process “in a manner hostile to Spanish-speaking residents.”

Chaves County residents are mostly Hispanic New Mexicans and New Mexicans of Mexican origin; a high percentage live in poverty; and infant mortality rates are high. The complaint also alleged the Department “obstructed and excluded members of the public – particularly the Spanish-speaking public – from the permitting process” because they did not provide information in Spanish and harassed and intimidated the public.

In mid-July, CARD, along with four other non-governmental organizations based in California, Alabama and Michigan, filed suit in the U.S. District Court in Northern California against EPA for relief to challenge the unreasonable delay of [EPA] to enforce the Civil Rights Act. Between 1994 and 2003, the plaintiffs each filed a civil rights compliant with EPA. Between 1995 and 2005, EPA accepted their complaints for investigation, but EPA “utterly failed to meet” their regulatory deadlines. The plaintiffs asked the Court to compel EPA to act.

The groups are CAlifornians for Renewable Energy, Ashurst/Bar Smith Community Organization, Maurice and Jane Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Sierra Club and individual, Michael Boyd.

After an in-depth investigation of the EPA Office of Civil Rights, the Center for Public Integrity reported on the excessive delays, along with a close-up report on Chaves County. http://www.nbcnews.com/news/latino/thirteen-years-counting-anatomy-epa-civil-rights-investigation-n405201

For more information, please visit the Center for Public Integrity’s website.

 

Livestreaming of August 9th Peace and Disarmament Vigil in Los Alamos in Remembrance of 1945 U.S. Bombing of Nagasaki

 

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 8/7/15 through 8/14/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

  • Livestreaming of August 9th Peace and Disarmament Vigil in Los Alamos in Remembrance of 1945 U.S. Bombing of Nagasaki

Pace e Bene will livestream the Sunday, August 9th peace and disarmament vigil in Los Alamos in remembrance of the 70th anniversary of the U.S. bombing of Nagasaki, Japan at http://livestream.com/streamingnm/cnnc beginning at 11 am Mountain Standard Time. Sunday’s vigil is the last of Pace e Bene’s four days of events in Northern New Mexico, including two vigils in Los Alamos and a conference in Santa Fe. All events are available for viewing at paceebene.org.

The events commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6th and August 9th, 1945, respectively.

The Franciscan Friars of California founded Pace e Bene in 1989, which is an independent, nondenominational nonprofit organization. Its name is derived from St. Francis and St. Clare of Assisi who used the phrase as a form of greeting. Translated from the Italian, it means, “Peace and all good.” It is in this spirit that Pace e Bene works to mainstream peacemaking that will empower people from all walks of life to prayerfully and relentlessly engage in nonviolent efforts for the well-being of all.

On Sunday, August 9th, beginning at 11 am there will be a sackcloth and ashes ceremony and the presentation of the 2015 U.S. Peace Memorial Award at Ashley Pond in Los Alamos.

At 9:30 am, three buses will leave from the Hilton Hotel in Santa Fe, destined for Los Alamos. The Albuquerque Peace and Justice Center is organizing a caravan from Albuquerque to Santa Fe on Sunday morning. They will be leaving the Center at 202 Harvard Southeast at 8:15 am sharp to arrive in Santa Fe by 9:15 am to meet up with buses at the Hilton Hotel. Please visit abqpeaceandjustice.org for more information. They invite you, your family and friends to “come together for a day to call for an end to nuclear weapons.”

At 11 am the Nagasaki commemoration will begin in Los Alamos. After receiving instructions and a blessing from Father John Dear, participants will carry sackcloths, or burlaps sacks, and ashes and walk mindfully from Ashley Pond on Trinity Drive towards Los Alamos National Laboratory, the birthplace of the bomb. Around 11:30 am, participants will pour ashes on the ground, put on sackcloths and sit in silence for 30 minutes. Participants will walk back to Ashley Pond for reflection, music, speakers and the presentation of the U.S. Peace Memorial Foundation’s annual peace prize.

The Foundation works to establish a national monument to peacemakers to recognize those who have dedicated their lives to peace on the National Mall.

For more information, please visit paceebene.org

 

This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information, please visit nuclearactive.org and our Facebook page.

 

Free Livestreaming of Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe and Peace and Disarmament Vigils in Los Alamos

 

CCNS NEWS UPDATE

Runs 7/31/15 through 8/7/15

(THEME UP AND UNDER) This is the CCNS News Update, an overview of the latest nuclear safety issues, brought to you every week by Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety. Here is this week’s top headline:

  • Free Livestreaming of Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe and Peace and Disarmament Vigils in Los Alamos

Pace e Bene, the organizers of the sold-out Campaign Nonviolence National Conference in Santa Fe, is providing free livestreaming of the conference and the two peace and disarmament vigils in Los Alamos at http://livestream.com/streamingnm/cnnc. To commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. dropping atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan on August 6th and August 9th, 1945, respectively, Pace e Bene is hosting four days of events.

Beginning on Thursday, August 6th with a peace and disarmament vigil in Los Alamos to commemorate the 70th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, participants will gather at Ashley Pond at 2 pm. After receiving instructions and a blessing from Father John Dear, participants will carry sackcloths, or burlaps sacks, and ashes and walk mindfully on Trinity Drive towards Los Alamos National Laboratory. Around 2:30 pm, participants will pour ashes on the ground, put on sackcloths, and sit in silence for 30 minutes. Afterwards, participants will walk back to Ashley Pond for reflection, music and speakers.

On Friday, August 7th, from 9 to 4 pm, a nonviolence training session will be held in the Hilton Hotel Ballroom in Santa Fe.

On Friday at 7 pm, the Campaign Nonviolence National Conference will begin with a keynote speech about mobilizing the nation for the times we’re in by Rev. Jim Lawson, a civil rights leader and one of Martin Luther King’s key strategists.

On Saturday, August 8th, from 9 am to 9 pm, the conference will take place at the Hilton. Speakers include Erica Chenoweth, author of “Why Civil Resistance Works;” Ken Butigan and Kit Evans Ford will present about the Campaign Nonviolence National Week of Action starting on September 20th; and Roshi Joan Halifax will lead a silent Zen sitting meditation. Panel discussions include working to end war, poverty and environmental destruction, building a new culture of peace and nonviolence, and Los Alamos nuclear weapons. Local panelists include Sister Joan Brown, Marian Naranjo, Beata Tsosie-Peña, Bud Ryan and Jay Coghlan.

On Sunday, August 9th, beginning at 11 am, there will be a commemoration of the U.S. atomic bombing of Nagasaki and presentation of the 2015 U.S. Peace Memorial Award at Ashley Pond. Three buses will leave from the Hilton Hotel at 9:30 am. Another sackcloth and ashes ceremony will take place. After returning to Ashley Pond, a presentation of the U.S. Peace Memorial will occur. The Memorial honors the millions of thoughtful and committed Americans who have dedicated their lives to peace or taken a stand against war in general or a specific U.S. war.

For more information, please visit paceebene.org

 

This has been the CCNS News Update. For more information, please visit nuclearactive.org and our Facebook page.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Trinity Downwinders on PBS NewsHour TONIGHT!

TONIGHT, Tuesday, July 28th, on the PBS NewsHour there will be a story about the Trinity Downwinders. The program is broadcast live from 6:00 – 7:00pm Eastern time and can be seen on the NewsHour’s live stream at that time (pbs.org/newshour), and it will be available after that on the web site.