Kenneth Fletcher
WC Monitor
4/24/2015
Discussions have been “productive” between the New Mexico Environment Department and the Department of Energy on state compliance orders, NMED Secretary Ryan Flynn said last week, adding that he hopes to soon reach a resolution. In December, NMED levied compliance orders that included a total of $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 since seen progress in the talks. “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.
WIPP has been shut down since a February 2014 radiological release, which was traced back to a drum processed at Los Alamos. In December, NMED levied a $17.7 million fine for 13 violations at WIPP and a $36.6 million fine for 24 violations at Los Alamos National Laboratory. However, in a response filed in January, DOE called the penalties “grossly disproportionate” and denied many of the alleged violations. NMED subsequently rejected DOE’s claims. NMED has scheduled hearings on the compliance orders in July and September.
But a change in tone of the discussions has officials hoping to reach a settlement before the scheduled hearings. 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. DOE did not respond to request for comment this week on the status of talks with NMED.
