by Cindy Weehler
We’re sleepwalking into a disaster but, unlike every other looming threat facing us today, this one has a solution.
The Problem
Nuclear weapons waste is being stored at Los Alamos National Labs (LANL) in canvas tents in the forest in a wildfire zone. The forest that surrounds LANL has seen eight wildfires in 45 years; three have almost reached the tents with their drums of plutonium. Fire and nuclear waste are a disastrous combination, causing cancers to those that inhale the smoke or particles and contaminating land, essentially forever.
The Solution
The solution is simple: move the waste to the nuclear waste dump in southeastern New Mexico, called the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP), as the federal government is required to do under the conditions by which New Mexico stores nuclear waste. WIPP is underground, where forest fires can’t reach the radioactive material.
The one person who can force the federal labs at LANL to move the waste is the governor of New Mexico. We need to insist that the governor enforce the permit that the federal Department of Energy is violating.
That’s why we’re asking you to make two easy phone calls:
The GOVERNOR (505-476-2200) & Sec. Kenney of NMED (505-470-6161 or 505-618-0408)
Message: We are one fire away from a radioactive Santa Fe because the Department of Energy refuses to honor its permit with New Mexico and move Cold War waste to WIPP. That waste is in canvas tents in a wildfire zone at LANL. It would be a disaster if a fire released radioactive waste. DOE isn’t honoring its agreements with New Mexico, so the responsibility to enforce them falls on the governor. The governor’s message to DOE should be, “If DOE wants to continue to operate in New Mexico, it must follow the permit. It is up to DOE whether it continues operating in New Mexico.”
This isn't a big ask. You can visit our website (www.fireonthemountain.xyz) to learn more about this threat and other actions you can take. You can also contact us at info@fireonthemountain.xyz
