ARLINGTON, VA – The site-wide environmental impact statement for Los Alamos National Laboratory powerline is done, the lab’s field office manager told the Exchange Monitor Monday on the first day of the Nuclear Deterrence Summit.
Ted Wyka, field office manager for the Manhattan Project-era lab, said the lab is just waiting to finish up consultations with nearby tribes. While Wyka says “we’ve done a lot of them,” he has some meetings with the Pueblo tribe that have gotten rescheduled.
“I’m probably gonna push to get it out if I can’t get it done by February, and just say, ‘hey, I’ll do your government-to-government consultation before that’s out,’” Wyka said. “But it’s done, it’s good, it’s ready to go. It’s just, I’m trying to follow up on a couple of consultations that, you know, I like to be transparent. I like to honor the commitments, but I need both sides working.”
The Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) drafted a site-wide environmental impact statement (SWEIS) for Los Alamos National Laboratory, a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act. The DOE and NNSA announced a 60-day public comment period that was completed in 2025.
Wyka also told the Monitor Los Alamos has “already done” a similar review for the Electric Power Capacity Upgrade (EPCU) project. The EPCU is a 14-mile high-voltage power line needed to power a new supercomputer coming to the lab in 2027, but is a point of contention for the Pueblo community since it would run through the Caja del Rio Plateau.
However, Wyka added any conversation with the Pueblo community is “not a one off,” and “just because we had a meeting doesn’t mean we can’t continue that conversation” since the lab “understand[s]” the Caja del Rio is a “sensitive area” that “everybody loves and wants to protect.”
“The power line is a perfect example” of a partnership,Wyka added. “Not in the sense that they want it done, but, you know, trying to keep them included in the process. And so we do continuous outreaches.”
Wyka said the lab also hired “four or five” people from the Pueblo tribes “to actually look at the archaeological and construction and monitor it.”
“We look to them to help advise us on, you know, what we can do with that,” Wyka added.