New Mexico Tribal, Federal and Local Leaders Support Bill to Protect Caja del Rio Plateau

By June 22 nd , hundreds of New Mexicans submitted comments in support of theNew Mexico Environment Department’s strong stand to protect the People of NewMexico by requiring Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to remove plutonium-contaminated waste “Off the Hill.”

The New Mexico Environment Department has taken a strong stand to protectthe People of New Mexico by requiring Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) toremove plutonium-contaminated waste “Off the Hill.” On April 23rd, the EnvironmentDepartment released an essential modification to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP)Permit requring the cleanup of legacy waste stored at LANL in fabric tents on top of themesa near the community of White Rock. The proposed modification also requires thedisposal of legacy waste at WIPP, a nuclear bomb dump located east of Carlsbad, NewMexico.

On Monday, May 8th, 2026, at a press conference in front of La CieneguillaPetroglyphs, U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich, Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Energyand Natural Resources Committee and co-founder of the U.S. Senate StewardshipCaucus, and U.S. Representative Teresa Leger Fernández, Ranking Member of theU.S. House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Indian and Insular Affairs, unveiledtheir Caja del Rio Protection Act legislation to permanently protect the Caja del RioPlateau.

Dr. Ghassan Shahrour, a medical doctor and human rights advocate, considersthe need to choose limits over expansion of new weapons systems and provideshistorical examples.

On April 23rd, the New Mexico Environment Department issued an importantpermit modification to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in order to speed upcleanup of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and focus on the disposal of legacywaste at WIPP. The draft Hazardous Waste Act permit modification proposes to requirea minimum percentage of legacy waste shipments from LANL to WIPP during specifictimeframes beginning soon on January 1, 2027.

A newly released independent review of Los Alamos National Laboratory’s 2025tritium venting raises serious concerns about radiation risks to children and infants andhighlights major gaps in LANL’s public reporting and decision-making process. The review also questions LANL’s decision to proceed with venting despite nomeasurable pressure buildup in the waste containers — meaning the explosion riskused to justify the releases may not have existed.

On Thursday, April 23rd, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED)issued a draft permit modification to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in order tospeed up cleanup of Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) and focus on the disposalof legacy waste at WIPP. The draft Hazardous Waste Act permit proposes to require aminimum percentage of legacy waste shipments from LANL to WIPP during specifictimeframes beginning on January 1, 2027.

Our colleague, Hunter Noffsinger, an organizer with the Union of ConcernedScientists, crafted a three-minute public comment about the draft Plutonium PitProduction Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (PEIS) that you can use asa model for your comments at the Thursday, May 14 th public hearing in Santa Fe. It willtake place from 5 to 8 pm at the Santa Fe Farmers’ Market Institute at 1607 Paseo dePeralta and on MS Teams.

Last week’s Nuclear in New Mexico conference in Bernalillo continued the myththat expansion of the nuclear cycle in New Mexico would be welcomed here. Activitiessuch as expanded uranium mining and milling, generating plutonium-contaminatedwaste at Los Alamos National Laboratory for disposal at the Waste Isolation Pilot

Raise your voice on Thursday, May 14th from 5 pm to 8 pm about the proposedexpansion of plutonium pit production at Los Alamos National Laboratory, or LANL,annually from 30 to possibly 100 pits, or triggers, for nuclear weapons. The hybrid publichearing will take place at the Santa Fe Farmers Market Institute, located at 1507 Paseode Peralta, in Santa Fe.