Letter to Congressional Colleagues

October 17, 2020

Re: Citizens hearing on LANL expansion, nuclear weapons manufacturing, and alternatives for the region, October 7, New Mexico State Capitol, press release, Oct 5, 2020;

Background, not all repetitive despite titles:

• LASG friends ltr (10/06/20) Citizens hearing tomorrow: plutonium-based security or community-based security?
• LASG friends ltr (10/02/20) Reminder: Citizens hearing on building a plutonium weapons factory at LANL and alternatives for the region and state: October 7, State Capitol, 1-6 pm
• LASG friends ltr (09/21/20) Citizens Hearing on the Environmental, Social, and Economic Impacts of Plutonium Pit Production and Its Alternatives: October 7, State Capitol, 1-6 pm

Press account: "Activists decry feds’ plans to ramp up nuclear work at LANL", Santa Fe New Mexican, Oct 7, 2020

Dear colleagues --

In the absence of government venues for discussion of issues related to the expansion and change of mission at Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), this organization held a hearing to solicit testimony on these topics at the New Mexico State Capitol on the afternoon of October 7, 2020.

This letter transmits that testimony to you, as we promised to the participants. Thank you for viewing that testimony as time and occasion allow, and for any reflection on the issues raised that is permitted by your busy schedules.

• Complete video record with speakers identified (mp4, 1:50:20); highlights (mp4, 5:53);
  
• List of speakers, in order, with their home locations:

• Greg Mello, Executive Director, Los Alamos Study Group (LASG), Albuquerque, NM
• Lydia Clark, Outreach Director, LASG, Santa Fe, NM
  
• John Wilks, Veterans for Peace Chapter 63, Winston, NM
• Marcy Matasick, New Mexico Raging Grannies (speaking/playing guitar), Santa Fe, NM
  
• Susanna Cooper, Alice Rodgers, Marylin Watteyne, Louise Bradley – Raging Grannies, Jemez Springs, NM
  
• Nancy Harmon, Lisa Silva – Raging Grannies, Albuquerque, NM
• Suzie Schwartz, Taosenos for Peaceful & Sustainable Futures, Taos, NM (read message from Jean Nichols, Llano, NM)
• Stan Renfro, Jemez, NM
• Lisa Bowdey, Santa Fe, NM
• Katherine Shera, Santa Fe, NM
  
• Erich Kuerschner, El Prado, NM
  
• Trish Williams-Mello, Operations Director, LASG, Albuquerque, NM
• Lydia Clark, Santa Fe, NM
  
• Willem Malten, Santa Fe, NM
  
• Suzie Schwartz, (reading message from Erin Sanborne, Taos, NM)
  
• Cipriana Toledo, Jemez Pueblo, NM
• Lydia Clark, LASG, Santa Fe, NM
• Bill Bruce, Pecos, NM
• Xikome Shinaberry, Jemez Springs, NM
• Benji Bonnet, Santa Fe, NM
• Greg Mello, LASG, Albuquerque, NM
• Erich Kuerschner, El Prado, NM
• Maj-Britt Eagle, Unitarian Universalists Environmental Justice Task Force, Santa Fe, NM
• Jim Eagle, Santa Fe, NM

The pandemic now raging in this state, and other claims on everyone's time, prevent us from hosting followup in-person or virtual gatherings at this time to further explore the issues raised. We will nevertheless continue to search for, and to find, ways to at least partially replace the democratic, fact-based processes and oversight heretofore normally available from the Department of Energy (DOE).

We value the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) work of the DOE, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA), and their contractors, and respect good science and engineering, environmental and otherwise. We are grateful to those of you who practice them, and those who administer and manage those efforts. Too often we forget to acknowledge your hard work, without which our overall situation would be much worse.

As stated on many prior occasions to a variety of audiences, we believe the absence of transparency regarding NNSA's plans for LANL, and the lack of a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS), are both illegal and unjust. (For some reasons, see for example this testimony to the New Mexico Legislature Radioactive and Hazardous Materials Committee.)

Our comments on the Draft Supplement Analysis (DSA) emphasize the inadequacy of that document, as do our comments on the Final SA ("Department of Energy concludes no rigorous environmental analyses needed for vast expansion of Los Alamos nuclear missions, including plutonium bomb core factory," Sep 1, 2020).

These press accounts regarding the subsequent Amended Record of Decision (AROD) may also be useful: "Feds close door on new LANL environmental study," Santa Fe New Mexican; "US Officials: No New Environmental Study for Nuclear Lab," New York Times, Associated Press;  "NNSA: No need for new environmental study at LANL," Albuquerque Journal.

As always, we will try to answer any questions you may have, and remain generally at your disposal. Thank you for your attention.

/s/

Greg Mello, for the Study Group