Stop Forever WIPP Coalition’s First Annual Plutonium Trail Caravan on Saturday, April 6th from Camel Rock to Lamy – Join Us!

The Coalition invites you to join the Saturday, April 6^th Caravan in your vehicle at the Camel Rock geologic formation on the Camel Rock Frontage Road in Tesuque at 9:30 am.  The Stop Forever WIPP Coalition is hosting the First Annual Plutonium Trail Caravan from Tesuque to Lamy, New Mexico in recognition of the 25^th anniversary of the receipt of the first shipment of plutonium-contaminated waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) from Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).  https://stopforeverwipp.org/

The Stop Forever WIPP Coalition seeks to remind those along the route that the federal Department of Energy (DOE) broke its promises to the People of New Mexico that it would cleanup all the plutonium-contaminated waste around its nuclear weapons complex sites located across the USA in 25 years, ship it to WIPP for disposal and begin closing the underground repository.

But DOE did not keep its promises.  In fact, the plutonium-contaminated waste LANL is making now while fueling a new nuclear arms race can only be disposed of at WIPP.

The Caravan plans to make four stops between Camel Rock and Lamy.  Each stop will provide you with an opportunity to collect information, ask questions and join the Caravan.  Plutonium Trail Caravan t-shirts, buttons and decals will be available for purchase.

The times for the stops are approximate and a map with exit numbers and directions will be available for the nearly 30-mile route. 

• The first stop will be near the Tesuque Village Market at approximately 10:15 a.m.
• The second stop will be at the Solano Shopping Center in Santa Fe, where La Montanita Co-op is located, at approximately 11 a.m.
• The third stop will be near the 599 By-Pass and Airport Road, near the turnoff to the Santa Fe Airport, at approximately 1 p.m.
• The fourth stop will be at the Agora Shopping Center in El Dorado at approximately 1:45 p.m.

A 3:15 p.m. a press conference held at the Lamy Train Station will end the Caravan for this year.  The speakers include Joni Arends, a co-founder of CCNS; and Myrriah Gómez, author of Nuclear Nuevo México.  https://uapress.arizona.edu/book/nuclear-nuevo-mexico

Our first year’s Caravan path symbolically ends at the place where the Manhattan Project scientists got off the train to travel to Los Alamos to develop atomic bombs during World War II.

The plan for next year’s Caravan path is to travel a longer portion of the WIPP Route in New Mexico, starting at Lamy.

Please join the Caravan on Saturday, April 6^th at your convenience.  Be sure to join the Raging Grannies as we sing together to oppose expanded plutonium operations at LANL and expanded plutonium-contaminated waste disposal at WIPP.

1. Friday, April 5, 2024 from noon to 1 pm MT – 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, Pax Christi, Nonviolent Santa Fe, New Mexico Peace Fests, and others. Join us!

2. Thursday, April 11 at 5 pm MDT on Zoom – Oppenheimer, Einstein, and Resistance to Nuclear Destruction – THE FULL STORY, with historians Lawrence Wittner & Blanche Wiesen Cook. Hosted by Peace Action New York State.  Registration:  https://calendar.google.com/calendar/event?eid=NmFkdGRzbnNtdjRpNXIxcjQ1bWtzcWFkdmsgNXBsdjNqYmY2MmNuYTAxcnUzYnY0ZzdkMm9AZw&ctz=America/New_York  

3. Friday to Sunday, April 12 – 15 – PeaceWorks is issuing a CALL TO ACTION to oppose the start of a NEW 21st Century NUCLEAR ARMS RACE beginning in Kansas City NOW!  The KC National Security Campus fabricates nearly all the non-nuclear components for nuclear weapons. It announced that the plant plans to DOUBLE in size next year and increase its number of workers to Cold War levels of 9,000! https://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/news/2023/11/07/nnsa-honeywell-office-manufacturing-campus-nuclear.html   PeaceWorks invites you to join in a Resistance Retreat at Jerusalem Farm, 520 Garfield Ave., Kansas City, Missouri. Register using the QR code in the flier to the right. For more info, contact PeaceWorks Vice-Chair Ann Suellentrop at annsuellen@gmail.com or 913-271-7925.

4. From Wednesday, March 6 to May 15 (Bi- Weekly) from noon to 1 pm Mountain Time – UNM Climate Change and Human Health ECHO Program: Global Nuclear and Environmental Threats Critical to Climate Change and Human Health.  https://iecho.org/echo-institute-programs/climate-change-and-human-health   

April 17^th – Environmental Exposures and Superfund Sites and Nuclear SUPERfund Sites in New Mexico.  Speakers are: 

• • Myrriah Gómez, PhD – Assistant Professor in the Honors College, University of New Mexico
  • Michelle Hunter, MS – Deputy Director, New Mexico Interstate Stream Commission, The Office of the State Engineer

5. Thursday, April 18^th from 5:30 – 7:30 pm MDT – in-person and virtual LANL Cleanup Forum, hosted by the DOE Environmental Management-LANL (EM-LA) and N3B (cleanup contactor). This event will feature discussions and public input on the environmental cleanup mission at LANL, recent progress in shipping waste off-site and work to protect water quality. The community discussion and Q&A will follow two short presentations by EM-LA and N3B.  In –person meeting at SALA Event Center, 2551 Central Avenue, Los Alamos.  For more info and virtual Microsoft Teams access numbers:  https://n3b-la.com/emcf_apr_18_2024/

6. Sunday, April 21^st from 10 to 4 pm – La Montanita EarthFest 2024 at Nob Hill Location in Albuquerque. https://lamontanita.coop/earthfest/

7. Tuesday, April 23^rd from 6 to 8 pm – DOE/DOD Semiannual Public Meeting about what is going on at Sandia National Laboratories (SNL) and Kirtland Air Force Base (Kirtland AFB) at New Mexico Veterans Memorial, 1100 Louisiana Blvd. SE, Albuquerque. For more info:  https://www.sandia.gov/about/environment/environmental-management-system/public-meetings/

Tags: author of Nuclear Nuevo México; Joni Arends, Camel Rock, Co-founder of CCNS, Department of Energy, DOE, First Annual Plutonium Trail Caravan, Gay Dillingham, Internet Archive, Lamy Train Station, LANL, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Myrriah Gomez, new nuclear weapons, Penelope Place, press conference, Stop Forever WIPP Coalition, The WIPP Trail documentary, Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, WIPP