The Department of Energy’s Los Alamos National Laboratory has failed to reach out to residents nearby concerning a powerline that would go through sacred land, a letter published Aug. 7 in the local Los Alamos Daily Post said.
“This is not meaningful opportunity for engagement with those residents who will be impacted by the project’s dust, noise, and visual changes. Those residents, by the way, are the very ones who have supported LANL [Los Alamos National Laboratory] and have family members working for LANL,” the article, written by Ellen Walton of White Rock, said. “I am a resident who can walk to the area of the power line construction from my yard and am downwind of the firing sites in those canyons and the dust coming from them. I have questions about the project, and am sure my neighbors do also.”
The project Walton refers to is a high-voltage powerline that would run 14 miles through the Caja del Rio Plateau and, according to Walton, flood plains and waterways in White Rock canyons. This placement is a controversial subject among the Pueblo and other tribal communities in New Mexico, given the historical significance of the Caja del Rio, and has led to protests as well as intervention from lawmakers on trying to get the plateau designated as a historical monument so it could not be built over.
“In accordance with 10 CFR 1022, DOE/NNSA [National Nuclear Security Administration] published a notice of proposed floodplain action to allow the public the opportunity for review during a 15-calendar-day comment period,” NNSA said in a response to Walton that was obtained by the Exchange Monitor. “The NNSA Los Alamos Field Office posts the notice along with a link to the floodplain assessment to the publicly available website www.energy.gov/nepa/office-nepa-policy-and-compliance. This was also sent out to the GovDelivery notification to 7,400 LANL-interested parties.”
“Additionally, the local Los Alamos Daily Post published an article about availability and public comment on the document: NNSA Publishes Floodplain Assessment For EPCU Project For Public Comment,” the statement added.
Thom Mason, the lab’s director, said in January the Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) project was necessary to power a new supercomputer coming to Los Alamos in 2027. By that time, “our demand” for electricity “will be greater than our supply.”
The National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) hosted a 15-day public comment period ended Aug. 7, to comply with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), for the EPCU Project Floodplain Assessment, which is a review of impacts to the area surrounding the project and any alternatives. Walton said this comment period was too short notice.
“Instead of allowing nearby residents of White Rock to ask questions and learn more about the impacts of the project in public meetings, the NNSA chose to email only a select group of entities and put a quickie announcement out to the Los Alamos Daily Post on July 25, giving only a few days for those lucky enough to know about it to read and respond,” Walton said.
Walton also said the lab was giving an “insufficient nod” to NEPA, a process Secretary of Energy Chris Wright is planning to change to make permits easier to obtain for DOE, with how it publicized the comment period.
“I ask that LANL and/or NNSA notify residents of these project assessments that directly affect us and hold two public informational meetings announced in the Los Alamos Daily Post, the Santa Fe New Mexican, and the Rio Grande Sun,” Walton concluded, adding that “once these meetings have taken place, I ask that the public be given 30 days to provide comment on the Floodplain Assessment.”