NMED Hopes to Soon Reach Agreement With DOE on Fines

Ongoing discussions have been “productive” between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy on $54 million in penalties the state has levied, NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn said last week, adding that he hopes to soon reach a resolution. In December NMED levied compliance orders that include $54 million in fines for violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory and the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, which initially led to strong opposition from DOE. However, NMED has seen a turnaround recently. “We are encouraged by the tenor and the attention that has been given to these issues over the past few weeks and I am hopeful that over the next couple of weeks we will be able to come to some sort of an agreement,” Flynn told WC Monitor last week.

 

Discussions currently are ongoing, Flynn said. “Those discussions have been productive. At this point we don’t have any final deal in place, but I think there is a lot of hard work going on literally around the clock right now,” he said.