CCNS Update

On Wednesday, September 19 th , the landmark Treaty on the

Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons had been signed by almost half of

all countries in the world after a ceremony at the United Nations

General Assembly in New York where Sri Lanka acceded to the

Treaty and the Bahamas signed it.

Friday, September 22 nd will be the last opportunity to make your public

comments about the changes to the operating permit for the nuclear

waste dump, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, or WIPP. WIPP is a

deep geologic repository for plutonium- contaminated radioactive waste

from the production of nuclear weapons, located 26 miles east of

Carlsbad, New Mexico.

In a July 2023 report the federal Government Accountability Office

recommended that a third-party facilitator be brought in to improve the

relationship and build trust between the New Mexico Environment

Department and the Department of Energy (DOE) as they try to resolve

outstanding cleanup issues at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).

CCNS provided the following response to a recent Santa Fe New Mexican Our View:

“In response to Stop Stalling: Clean up chromium plume, no one is stalling.

The plume does need immediate attention and does need to be analyzed

with a computer model that everyone can use. The consequences of

getting the cleanup of the toxic hexavalent chromium plume wrong would

be disastrous.

Did you know that in 2008 the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)

designated the 3,000 square mile Española Basin System as a Sole Source Drinking Water Aquifer? One ongoing concern is that Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sits on its western edge, near the Valles Caldera. And a recent dispute between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy about the LANL hexavalent chromium plume, which is being pushed deeper into the regional drinking water aquifer, highlights the need for state agencies to have the resources to protect it.

Hexavalent chromium is a known human carcinogen.

On August 28, 1963, more than 200,000 peaceful demonstrators from across the United States of America joined together for the first March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. They came together to demand voting rights and equal opportunity for African Americans and to appeal for an end to racial segregation and discrimination.

More than 100 medical journals, including the Lancet, the British Medical Journal, the New England Journal of Medicine, and the JAMA, have issued a joint call for urgent steps to decrease the growing danger of nuclear war and to move rapidly to the elimination of nuclear weapons. At a time of expanded fighting in Ukraine and increased tensions in Korea, leaders of the global health community underscore that any use of nuclear weapons would be catastrophic for humanity.

Near the end of World War II, on August 6 th , 1945, the United States dropped a uranium atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Three days later, the United States dropped a plutonium atomic bomb on Nagasaki, Japan. To acknowledge the harm done in the development, testing and use of the atomic bombs by the United States, two events are taking place on Saturday, August 5 th in Albuquerque and one event on

Wednesday, August 9 th in Los Alamos. For more information or to find similar

commemorative events in your area, please see the Physicians for Social Responsibility

website at psr.org.

A delegation from the Archdioceses of Santa Fe and Seattle is embarking on a transformative Pilgrimage of Peace to the Japanese cities of Tokyo, Akita, Kyoto, Hiroshima, and Nagasaki, from July 31 to August 12, 2023. The delegation comprises Most Reverend John C. Wester, Archbishop of Santa Fe, and Most Reverend Paul D. Etienne, Archbishop of Seattle, along with representatives from various organizations and archdiocesan offices dedicated to nuclear disarmament and social justice. Funding for the Archdiocese of Santa Fe delegation is strictly through grants and personal contributions; no funds from the Archdiocese of Santa Fe are being used.

Rain or shine, please join diverse organizations and individuals at the

Inaugural Albu(r)querque Peace Festival on Saturday, August 5 th from 2 to

6 pm at Roosevelt Park for music, speakers, informational tables and food

trucks.. The Albu(r)querque Peace Festival is an effort by multiple

organizations to bring attention to the danger of nuclear weapons, the

horror of nuclear war, and promote efforts toward longstanding peace

locally, nationally, and globally.

You are invited to come to a free in-person and live stream public vigil entitled “From Reflection to Action: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” on Sunday, July 16 th from 4 to 6 pm at Santa Maria de la Paz Church at 11 College Avenue in Santa Fe. The vigil will commemorate the 78 th year since the detonation of the first atomic weapon, called The Gadget, at the Trinity Test Site in south central New Mexico and provide you with tools to work for the complete elimination of nuclear weapons. Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits and visit with representatives of local organizations, including CCNS.

To commemorate the 78 th anniversary of the first detonation of an atomic weapon

at the nearby Trinity Test Site, the complete elimination of nuclear weapons must be

prioritized. A free in-person and livestreamed public event entitled “From Reflection to

Action: An Interfaith Remembrance of the Trinity Test” will be held at the Santa Maria de

la Paz Community Hall in Santa Fe, New Mexico, on Sunday, July 16 th from 4 to 6 pm.

Doors open at 3:15 pm so you may view exhibits on nuclear issues and visit with

representatives of local organizations.

CCNS and five other non-governmental organizations and one individual

successfully negotiated a settlement agreement last week to revise the draft ten-year

hazardous waste renewal permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP). Also at the

table were the New Mexico Environment Department and the co-Permittees, the U.S.

Department of Energy (DOE) and Salado Isolation Mining Contractors, LLC (SIMCO).

Each week you depend on CCNS to provide you with the latest nuclear safety

issues through the radio, on the internet and by email. We’ve been producing the

weekly CCNS News Update for over 35 years! We need your financial support to keep

our programs going.

Los Alamos National Laboratory plans to prepare an environmental assessment

to address the hexavalent chromium contamination in the deep regional drinking water

aquifer. In comments submitted this week, the Communities for Clean Water

recommended that LANL conduct a more detailed environmental impact statement in

order to protect the regional drinking water aquifer and the Environmental Protection

Agency-designated Española Basin Sole Source Aquifer from the migrating

contamination.

You are invited to join the Ohio Nuclear Free Network for its important virtual public forum, Radioactive Contamination, Environment and Public Health and the

Future of the Portsmouth Nuclear Site, on Saturday, June 10 th beginning at 10:45 am Mountain Time. The in-person and virtual forum offers an opportunity to

learn from world-renowned experts about contamination at the Piketon, Ohio site and at

Department of Energy (DOE) sites across the country.

CCNS has prepared sample public comments you can modify about the scope of a new draft site-wide environmental impact statement for Sandia National

Laboratories in New Mexico. Comments may be submitted electronically to SNL-

SWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov through Monday, June 5 th , 2023.

In response to the lack of concrete progress on nuclear disarmament by the G7

leaders in Hiroshima last week, Ivana Nikolić Hughes, Ph.D., and President of the

Nuclear Age Peace Foundation, wrote the following op-ed in Common Dreams. We

provide excerpts:

On May 15 th , four Archbishops, including Archbishop John C. Wester of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe, sent a letter to the Group of Seven leaders gathering for

a three-day summit in Hiroshima, Japan to urge the leaders to take concrete steps toward nuclear disarmament.

The New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission not only denied Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS standing to challenge the groundwater

discharge permit DP-1132, but also denied the public any opportunity to provide comment during

Tuesday’s hearing.

The health of the Rio Grande watershed in the area of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) is at stake. The protection of the 3,000 square mile sole source

drinking water aquifer is at stake. LANL has contaminated it with hexavalent chromium and the plume is migrating towards the Pueblo de San Ildefonso, the Rio

Grande, and the Buckman wells and diversion facility. Every drop of water is precious and must be free from contamination. Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE)

and CCNS work to ensure that every drop is protected.

Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) and CCNS will be before the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission on Tuesday, May 9 th at the New Mexico

State Capitol to argue that they have standing to challenge the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). The Hearing Officer, who reports to the Commission, recommended to the Commission that the non-governmental

organizations do not have standing.

There has not been an adequate examination of the seismic vulnerabilities and increasing risk of seismic activity in the area of Valles Caldera, with Los Alamos

National Laboratory on the eastern slope.

It was revealed at the Tuesday, April 11 th monthly meeting of the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission that the Department of Energy (DOE) had

approached Kelsey Rader, an at-large member of the Commission, on Good Friday about a job with DOE. If Commissioner Rader took a position with DOE, she

would be the third official who was hired away by DOE during the Commission’s review of DOE’s

New Mexico Environment Department ground water discharge permit.

It’s time to break the silence about the permitting of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. Since 1963, the Facility

has handled, treated and stored radioactive and hazardous liquid waste generated at the Plutonium Facility, where the triggers, or plutonium pits, for nuclear

weapons are fabricated.

The National Nuclear Security Administrator Jill Hruby and Senior Advisor to the Department of Energy Office of Environment Management Ike White will be in

Santa Fe next week for a public town hall. It is essential that they hear from you!

For nearly three years, the public has requested a town hall type of event in which officials from the Department of Energy (DOE) and National Nuclear Security

Administration (NNSA) would answer questions about the plans to expand operations at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

As if there is not enough going on, it’s time to get your personalized comments into the Department of Energy (DOE). It has published its unsupported draft

environmental impact statement about DOE’s proposal for handling more than 48 metric tons of surplus plutonium – and maybe more – for decades to come.

A review of the Department of Energy (DOE) National Environmental Policy Act website shows that it is behind schedule in providing the public with up-to-date 

site-wide environmental impact statements, or SWEISs, for the four main sites involved in DOE’s

proposed surplus plutonium plans.

What would you do with more than 30 metric tons of “surplus” plutonium in the form of triggers for nuclear weapons? The Department of Energy (DOE) has been working to find a solution for at least 30 years.

CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) filed a Verified Petition for An Original Writ of Mandamus with the New Mexico Supreme Court about the improper regulation by the Water Quality Control Commission of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory.

On February 14 th , 2014, radioactive waste exploded at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant underground disposal site. To raise public awareness of the

Valentine’s Day anniversary and the Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) expansion plans, individuals and organizations held a press conference at the New Mexico

State Capitol.

On February 14 th , 2014, one or more drums of radioactive and hazardous waste exploded in the deep underground disposal site of the Waste Isolation

Pilot Plant (WIPP). To raise public awareness, non-government organizations are joining together on Tuesday, February 14 th at 1:15 in the Rotunda at the New

Mexico State Capitol for a press conference.

On Wednesday night, the Santa Fe City Council heard from dozens of people, both in person and virtually, about the proposed rezoning of 22 acres of

open space on South Meadows to housing. Dave Englert, a retired New Mexico Environment Department geologist, and Joni Arends, CCNS Executive Director,

urged the City Council to prioritize cleanup of the Eberline site that borders the 22 acres to the south. Arends asked the Council to use its emergency powers to

install a tent with HEPA filtration over the building now.

The Santa Fe City Council will hold a special meeting on Wednesday, February 1 st at 7 pm to consider the proposed rezoning of the 22 acres of open

space on South Meadows. CCNS urges you to contact your city councilors and encourage them to vote no on the rezoning proposal. There are too many

unanswered questions about possible contamination of the open space remaining from decades of operations of the industrial Eberline / ThermoFisher

radiation detection manufacturing facility to the south.

On Tuesday, January 24 th and Thursday, January 26 th , the Department of Energy will hold in-person public hearings in Carlsbad and Los Alamos,

respectively, about their plans to handle, treat and dispose of surplus plutonium in New Mexico.

Two in-person public hearings in New Mexico and one virtual public hearing will be held about the Department of Energy’s plan to ship more than 30

tons of surplus radioactive plutonium for processing at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

On Tuesday, January 10 th , CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) will return to the New Mexico Water Quality Control Commission to ask it

to vacate the decisions in which former Commission Chair Stephanie Stringer was involved. CCNS and HOPE have appealed the issuance of the groundwater

discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to the Commission.

In May 2022, CCNS, Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE), and Veterans

for Peace appealed the federal Clean Water Act discharge permit for Outfall 051,

which is connected to the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los

Alamos National Laboratory, to the EPA’s Environmental Appeals Board (EAB).

On December 28 th , the three-judge panel in Washington, DC ruled unanimously

to remand the federal permit, or send it back, to EPA’s Region 6 office in Dallas.

CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) request your support of our request for sanctions in the appeal of the groundwater discharge permit DP-

1132, issued to Los Alamos National Laboratory for operation of the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility. The appeal is before the New Mexico Water

Quality Control Commission, which has the authority to order sanctions. We seek sanctions requiring the Permittees, the Department of Energy / National

Nuclear Security Administration, to pay our expenses caused by DOE/NNSA’s unethical behavior.

On Thursday, December 8th, the New Mexico Environment Department released its fact sheet for the draft Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous

Waste Permit. The draft fact sheet is a way to let New Mexicans and the Department of Energy (DOE) know about the Environment Department plans for

the ten-year renewal of the permit.

Under the banner of “Diplomacy is the Path to Peace,” diverse organizations are holding nationwide activities the week of December 19 th to end

the war in Ukraine, not life on Earth.

The Earth has been rocking and rolling with large earthquake and volcanic activity lately. It makes us wonder how seismic activity along the north – south

running Pajarito Fault System and the massive Valles Caldera is being monitored and where the data is posted for easy public access.

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.

This week the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) provided evidence to CCNS and Honor Our Pueblo Existence (HOPE) that Stephanie

Stringer, a New Mexico Environment Deputy Cabinet Secretary and Chair of the New Mexico Water Quality Commission, made adjudicatory decisions against 

the non-governmental organizations while she was applying for NNSA employment. This is the second time NNSA has hired an adjudicatory decision-maker 

during an ongoing proceeding addressing the groundwater discharge permit, DP-1132, for the Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos 

National Laboratory.

On Wednesday, November 16 th , during the first virtual and in-person public hearing session, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board will hear from three

Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) officials about the stored and buried transuranic waste at the Area G dump. The Board wants to understand LANL’s

plans to “remove legacy transuranic waste while minimizing the amount of aboveground transuranic waste.” Let’s break down that description.

On Wednesday, November 16th, the Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board (DNFSB) will hold a virtual and in-person public hearing at the Santa Fe

Community Convention Center from noon to 9:45 pm Mountain Time. The DNFSB’s goal is to gather information regarding legacy cleanup activities,

nuclear safety, and increased production of plutonium pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). There will be two

opportunities for oral public comments. Written comments will also be accepted.

On May 5, 2022, the New Mexico Environment Department issued discharge permit DP-1132 under the New Mexico Water Quality Act for the

Radioactive Liquid Waste Treatment Facility at Los Alamos National Laboratory. The Facility manages hazardous waste and the Water Quality Act is expressly

limited so that it does not apply to a hazardous waste facility. Nevertheless, the Environment Department issued LANL the Water Quality Act permit.

It is essential for folks to attend – either virtually or in person - the WIPP Community Forum on Monday, October 24 , beginning at 5:30 pm at Buffalo

Thunder Resort Casino. The Department of Energy (DOE), which owns both Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP),

has plans to greatly expand both facilities.

It’s time again to submit comments about what the scope of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory should

be as required by the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Comments are due on Tuesday, October 18 th , 2022 by 11:59 pm Mountain Time to

LANLSWEIS@nnsa.doe.gov .