Please Support CCNS on Giving Tuesday

For over 34 years, CCNS has been a leader for nuclear safety.  We began in 1988 to address community concerns about the proposed transportation of plutonium contaminated hazardous waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory, or LANL, to the proposed Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP, for disposal in the deep geologic repository.  At that time, the proposal was to ship the waste through Santa Fe on Saint Francis Drive, near traditional neighborhoods, seven schools and the hospital.

Since then, CCNS has challenged LANL’s and WIPP’s compliance with the Clean Air Act, the Clean Water Act, and the federal and state hazardous waste laws.

CCNS is currently challenging the illegal regulation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at LANL through the Clean Water Act and the New Mexico Water Quality Act.  The key facility supports the production of plutonium pits, or the triggers, for nuclear weapons.  It receives contaminated waters from across the LANL site through underground pipes and by truck that are decontaminated in a series of tank treatment processes.  The resulting sludge is packaged into drums and shipped to WIPP for disposal.

A Hazardous Waste Act permit has never covered those treatment systems, although the law requires it.  Such a permit would include strict compliance requirements to prevent releases from the numerous tank systems.  As LANL is located within the Pajarito Fault System, the hazardous waste regulations require the Department of Energy (DOE) to demonstrate compliance with seismic safety rules.  http://nuclearactive.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/LANL-PAJARITO-FAULT-SYSTEM-FIGURES.pdf  Note:  The Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility is located at Technical Area 50, or TA-50, which shares its western border with TA-55, the Plutonium Facility.

Right now, LANL is constructing new facilities at TA-50 for low-level and transuranic radioactive liquid waste that are not required to meet seismic standards. LANL’s plans are to have these two new facilities accept hazardous waste without any further public proceedings and, equally clear, without meeting the standards of the hazardous waste laws.  Once built, these new facilities would stand as a fait accompli, defying any attempt to bring them into compliance with the hazardous waste laws.

DOE strongly resists being permitted under the Hazardous Waste Act and, seeking the sanctuary of far less rigorous regulations, has obtained a state-law groundwater discharge permit and a federal Clean Water Act permit, which are not protective but, DOE argues, confer exemptions from the Hazardous Waste Act.

To review the filings in the state appeal, go to https://www.env.nm.gov/opf/docketed-matters/, scroll down to Water Quality Control Commission to WQCC 22-21: Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety and Honor Our Pueblo Existence’s Petition for Review of NMED Ground Water Discharge Permit DP-1132.

CCNS, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, and Veterans for Peace Chapter 63 in Albuquerque, are opposing DOE’s strategy before the federal Environmental Appeals Board.  https://yosemite.epa.gov/oa/EAB_Web_Docket.nsf/Active+Dockets?OpenView , Appeal No. NPDES 22-01.

Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Jr., of Santa Fe, represents the NGOs in both cases.  http://lindsaylovejoy.com/

To support this essential work, please be as generous as you can on Giving Tuesday, November 29^th.  To make a financial contribution, please visit our website at http://nuclearactive.org/ .  Thank you!

1. Friday, November 25th from noon to 1 pm – Join the weekly peaceful protest for nuclear disarmament on the corners of Alameda and Guadalupe in downtown Santa Fe with Veterans for Peace, CCNS, Nuclear Watch NM, Loretto Community, Pax Christi and others.

2. Monday, November 28^th at 6 pm MST – World Nuclear Survivors Forum Dialogue with the Co-Chairs of Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. Kazakhstan and Kiribati, as co-chairs of the working group for providing victim assistance for survivors of nuclear weapons use and testing and remediating contaminated environments under the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), would like to cordially invite you to attend a consultation for members of communities affected by nuclear weapons on Tuesday, 29 November at 1pm Fiji Standard Time [Monday, 28 November at 6 pm MST].  The co-chairs are:  H.E. Ambassador Teburoro Tito, Permanent Representative of Kiribati to the United Nations and Mr. Zhangeldy Syrymbet, Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Kazakhstan to the United Nations. The co-chairs will provide an overview of their plans for the working group and then open the floor to hear from affected community members, including on how they would like to be consulted and involved in the work of the group going forward. To register for the event please follow this link: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEqf-6vrzkrH9ZH3AjWu1AMa-sn2dTJzHGs

3. Wednesday, November 30^th from approximately noon to 5 pm MST and Thursday, December 1^st from approximately 7 am to 3 pm MST – The White House Environmental Justice Advisory Council (WHEJAC) will convene a hybrid in-person public meeting with a virtual option. Registration is open throughout the duration of all meeting days virtually and in person. However, members of the public who wish to participate during the public comment period on Wed. Nov. 30^th from 2:15 to 5 pm MST must register by 9:59 p.m. Mountain Time, Nov. 23, 2022.  https://www.epa.gov/environmentaljustice/white-house-environmental-justice-advisory-council Topics include a conversation with John Podesta, Senior Advisory to the President for Clean Energy Innovation & Implementation, an overview of the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund, a federal panel discussion on addressing legacy pollution, carbon management and the National Climate Assessment.  https://www.epa.gov/system/files/documents/2022-11/WHEJAC%20Draft%20Agenda%20Alexandria%20In-Person%20Public%20Mtg%20Web%20ver2.pdf The meeting is free and open to all members of the public. Individual registration for this event is REQUIRED.  Register here: https://usepa.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_SosqfAdJQCWWtWGjMcSbKw

4. Tuesday, December 13^th at 5 pm MST – It’s a great time to start planning activities for the second anniversary of the Nuclear Ban Treaty. January 21, 2023 will mark two years since the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) entered into force.  https://www.nuclearbantreaty.org/upcoming-events-meetings/ Please share this email with friends, family, organizations and faith communities!  Register in advance for this meeting by clicking here: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrceyqqTIsHdK60QSqg7dzuHzS7nYpBKFj

Tags: CCNS, Clean Water Act, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Department of Energy, DOE, DP-1132, EAB, Environmental Appeals Board, Giving Tuesday, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, HOPE, Jr., LANL, Lindsay A. Lovejoy, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico Environment Department, New Mexico Hazardous Waste Act, New Mexico Water Quality Act, NGOs, non-governmental organizations, Pajarito Fault System, Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility, RCRA, Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, Veterans for Peace Chapter 63 (Albuquerque)