New Mexico is citing the Department of Energy and its prime contractor at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) with violations and giving them until Sept. 24 to deliver a plan for fixing aging assets at the disposal site for transuranic waste.
An order by a branch of the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) gives DOE until then to file plans to address issues identified by two federal watchdogs, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) and the Defense Nuclear Facilities Board (DNFSB).
The July 25 compliance order from the NMED Resource Protection Compliance and Enforcement Bureau alleges violations of state hazardous waste law by DOE and Bechtel-led Salado Isolation Mining Contractors. The infractions include failing to keep infrastructure in good repair; failure to maintain evacuation equipment; failing to fix known equipment issues and failing to adequately keep facilities ready to withstand design-basis accidents such as an earthquake.
This summer, DNFSB has asked WIPP management for a briefing on the status of an underground escapeway and GAO said of the site’s infrastructure was in poor condition as recently as 2023. The head of DOE’s Carlsbad, N.M. office, which oversees WIPP, said last week problems cited in the GAO report are mostly old news and are being corrected with millions of dollars in capital spending.
NMED also wants to be copied on any future DOE WIPP responses to GAO and DNFSB. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has delegated New Mexico authority to implement the federal Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
