Report: Fire training, equipment lacking at US nuclear dump - By Susan Montoya Bryan Associated Press
The U.S. government's nuclear waste repository in New Mexico has major issues in fire training and firefighting vehicles, with its fleet in disrepair after years of neglect, according to an investigation by the U.S. Energy Department's Office of Inspector General.
The investigation was spurred by allegations regarding fire protection concerns at the repository, which is the backbone of a multibillion-dollar effort to clean up Cold War-era waste from past nuclear research and bomb making at national laboratories and defense sites across the U.S.
Investigators noted that the issues with the fire department training program went back to at least 2016. They pointed to an undeveloped training curriculum for the technical rescue program and claims by firefighters that their training needs weren't being met.
According to the inspector general's report, the issues persisted because the contractor that manages the repository inadequately addressed and closed recommendations from prior internal assessments that were aimed at fixing the deficiencies. The report also blamed inadequate oversight by Energy Department officials.
"WIPP has experienced growth with the number of buildings and employees since 2006 and is anticipated to operate beyond 2050. The next management and operating contractor must be able to provide effective emergency response at WIPP to protect lives, property and the environment," the Office of Inspector General stated.
Energy Department officials in a response to the inspector general said the agency has followed through with corrective actions and will continue to "'make progress on ensuring local fire departments and first responders have all necessary training and equipment to handle any event in relation to WIPP's operations."
Still, agency officials acknowledged there was more work to do.
The safety concerns come as New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and others voice opposition to expanding the types of radioactive waste that can be shipped to the repository. In a letter sent this month to U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, the first-term Democratic governor noted ongoing frustration regarding the lack of meaningful public engagement from federal officials on waste cleanup, shipments and long-term plans for the repository.
Just this month, the work of processing incoming waste shipments was temporarily halted after workers discovered radioactive liquid in a container sent from the Idaho National Laboratory.
The latest report from a federal oversight board also cited three recent incidents, including one in which a container from Los Alamos National Laboratory was placed underground without adequate analysis for its flammability. The container ended up posing no risk.
Nuclear Waste Partnership, the contractor that manages the repository, expanded its fire brigade to a department with full-time emergency responders following two emergencies in 2014. One was a fire involving a salt-hauling truck that was followed days later by a radiation release from a drum that had been inappropriately packed at Los Alamos.
The incidents prompted major policy and procedure overhauls related to the national cleanup program.
According to the inspector general, a 2019 review found that nearly half of the repository's firefighters had not participated in required live training for at least one year and that some had not participated in over two years. Another review in April 2021 found that not all firefighter training records were maintained in accordance with the hazardous waste permit issued by the state Environment Department.
In interviews, several firefighters told investigators that the majority of training was web-based as opposed to hands-on fire drills, vehicle extrications or rope training. The firefighters expressed concern that without adequate training, they would lose their skills.
As for the fire department's fleet, federal officials said they were in the process of revising maintenance procedures and that about $1.2 million was spent to purchase two new fire trucks in 2021.
Candidate fundraising reports show competitive primary races ahead - Patrick Lohmann, Source New Mexico
Recently released campaign finance reports show several close primaries shaping up across New Mexico later this summer, and a battle is already playing out between Democrats campaigning as either moderate or progressive, and vying for certain seats.
A review of Secretary of State records shows candidates are competing in primaries in at least 29 of the state’s 70 House seats, though some of them haven’t raised much — or any — money. Candidates were required April 11 to show how much money they’d received or spent over the last six months.
Democrats hold 45 seats in the House, and Republicans have 24, with one independent. The Secretary of State’s database shows Democrats have 17 primary races ahead of them, and Republicans have 12. Also, at least 16 incumbents are facing primary challengers.
The filings show some incumbents with major fundraising advantages. Rep. Kristina Ortez (D- Taos), for example, raised about 22 times as much cash as her opponent, Florence Miera.
But several primaries are competitive, at least in terms of fundraising, and the races are heating up. One political action committee, Working Together New Mexico, led by conservative Albuquerque City Councilor Louie Sanchez has endorsed several of Democratic candidates in their primary races.
The endorsement drew a rebuke from one such candidate, Cherise Quezada, who told a local politics blog that she rejected the endorsement because of recent anti-union remarks Sanchez made at a Council meeting. She also bristled at being lumped in with other “moderate Democrats” the PAC intended to endorse.
“I am a proud pro-choice, union-supporting Democrat,” Quezada told New Mexico Politics with Joe Monahan.
The Working Together New Mexico PAC, which says it is angling to elect “commonsense” Democrats in the June primary, also endorsed incumbent Rep. Doreen Wonda Johnson of Crownpoint, Socorro Mayor Ravi Bhasker in his bid for House District 38, former Rep. Rudy Martinez for District 39, former Rep. Joseph Sanchez for House District 40 and Henry Roybal for House District 46.
In addition to the endorsements, prominent Rep. Patti Lundsrom (D-Gallup), also drew some criticism by cutting $1,000 checks to seemingly moderate primary opponents of some of her colleagues in the Legislature.
Below are three races where primary candidates have raised similar amounts.
Rep. Art De La Cruz (D- Albuquerque) was a longtime Bernalillo County commissioner from the South Valley. He is fighting to keep the District 12 seat he was appointed to during the middle of this year’s legislative session after the resignation of Rep. Brittney Barreras, who stepped down citing mental health concerns. So far, De La Cruz has raised about $22,200. But he has two primary opponents: Nicole Michelle Olonovich with about $7,000 and Melissa D. Armijo with about $13,200.
Former state Rep. Eleanor Chavez and Quezada are fighting to take the seat of Rep. Georgene Louis. Louis, a Democrat, resigned from her Westside Albuquerque seat during the session after she was arrested and charged with intoxicated driving. Chavez and Quezada are very close in fundraising, with Chavez raising about $22,300 and Quezada with $21,800.
The Republican primary with the most competitive fundraising appears to be in Otero County, where incumbent Rachel A. Black and John Block are competing for District 51. Black has so far raised about $29,000 and Block has raised about $21,000, according to the Secretary of State. Block runs the Piñon Post, a conservative news website.
*See a breakdown of fundraising among Republican and Democrat primary candidates.
Wind-whipped fires bear down on New Mexico villages — Felecia Fonesca, Susan Montoya Brown, Associated Press
Destructive Southwest fires have burned dozens of homes in northern Arizona and put numerous small villages in New Mexico in the path of danger, as wind-fueled flames chewed up wide swaths of tinder dry forest and grassland and towering plumes of smoke filled the sky.
Firefighters working to keep more homes from burning on the edge of a mountain town in northern Arizona were helped by scattered showers and cooler temperatures early Friday, but the favorable weather did not last and more gusts were expected to batter parts of Arizona and all of New Mexico through the weekend.
The wind howled across New Mexico on Friday afternoon, shrouding the Rio Grande Valley with a blanket of dust and pushing flames through the Sangre de Cristo Mountains in the north. Fire officials expected one blaze burning northeast of Santa Fe to overrun several communities by the end of the day.
"With the dry conditions, high temperatures, extreme winds and limited suppression ability, the fire is traveling very quickly and it is imperative that residents comply with evacuation orders," authorities said in a warning issued Friday afternoon.
Neighbors spent the night helping one another pack belongings and load their horses and other animals into trailers to escape approaching flames. The rural area is home to several hundred people, but many residences are unoccupied as families have yet to arrive for summer.
Lena Atencio and her husband, whose family has lived in the Rociada area for five generations, got out Friday as the winds kicked up. She said people were taking the threat seriously and there was a lot of traffic on roads overnight as people were evacuating.
"As a community, as a whole, everybody is just pulling together to support each other and just take care of the things we need to now. And then at that point, it's in God's hands," she said as the wind howled miles away in the community of Las Vegas, where evacuees were gathering. "We just have to wait and see what happens."
The predictions of fire managers were coming true: With no air support or crews working directly on the fire lines, there was explosive growth. Gusts of 55-65 mph (88-104 kph) are being recorded.
San Miguel County Sheriff Chris Lopez called it a very dangerous situation. Evacuation centers had been set up and several roads were closed.
Another wind-whipped fire burning in the northeastern corner of New Mexico also was forcing evacuations while residents in the town of Cimarron and the headquarters of the Philmont Scout Ranch, which is owned and operated by the Boy Scouts of America, were preparing to flee if necessary. The scout ranch attracts thousands of visitors every summer, but officials there said no scouts were on the property.
In Arizona, flames had raced through rural neighborhoods near Flagstaff just days earlier. It wasn't until Thursday that a break in the weather allowed helicopters to drop water on the blaze and authorities to enter the charred area to survey the damage. They found 30 homes and numerous other buildings had been destroyed, with sheriff's deputies saying more than 100 properties were affected.
That fire has burned close to 32 square miles (83 square kilometers), forced evacuations of 765 homes and destroyed at least two dozen structures since it broke out on Sunday.
Smaller spot fires threatened to run up mountainous areas overlooking those neighborhoods. If that happens, any rainfall in the area could magnify flooding.
The wind is expected to be lighter over the weekend but fire officials say they're concerned about wind shifts that could push the blaze back onto neighborhoods that have already burned and expand into new ones.
"The lines have been staying really well with the way the winds are going," said Monica Whicker, who evacuated her home Tuesday. "We have a lot of friends on the other side of the line that are on 'set,' so we worry about them, too."
Authorities used sirens and alarms overnight Thursday in the evacuation area to warn residents who haven't left that now's the time, said sheriff's spokesman Jon Paxton. The alarms were somewhat drowned out by the howling wind.
Evacuations near Flagstaff were expected to remain in place until at least Sunday.
Wildfire has become a year-round threat in the West given changing conditions that include earlier snowmelt and rain coming later in the fall, scientist have said. The problems have been exacerbated by decades of fire suppression and poor management along with a more than 20-year megadrought that studies link to human-caused climate change.
Colorado saw its most destructive wildfire last winter, when flames tore through two densely populated Denver suburbs, and this year's outlook is not good. Warmer weather and a lack of rain are expected to put the eastern half of the state at "above average significant fire potential" before higher risk spread statewide in June, fire officials said in their annual wildfire plan released Friday.
Fire danger in the Denver area on Friday was the highest it had been in over a decade, according to the National Weather Service, because of unseasonable temperatures in the 80s combined with strong winds and very dry conditions. It warned people to have a bag ready in case they needed to evacuate.
Firefighters earlier this week stopped blazes before they grew very large although one destroyed or damaged an estimated 15 buildings in the rural community of Monte Vista.
In Arizona, popular lakes and national monuments have closed — some because the wildfire moved directly over them. Wupatki National Monument is in the fire's path.
Forest officials also have closed areas in both New Mexico and Arizona where blazes are burning, and some local, state and federal land managers have imposed either burn bans or fire restrictions in hopes of preventing more fires.
____
Associated Press writers Paul Davenport in Phoenix, Susan Montoya Bryan in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Scott Sonner in Reno, Nevada, and Colleen Slevin in Denver contributed to this report.
Sen. Luján '90%' recovered from stroke, visits high school - By Cedar Attanasio Associated Press / Report For America
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján has mostly recovered from his January stroke, and said voters, not his health scare, will decide who represents New Mexico.
"I'm feeling strong. I'm still not 100% but I think I'm over 90%," said Luján, 49, on a Thursday tour of Santa Fe High School.
He toured the campus in red Converse sneakers and, along with U.S. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona, talked with students in a closed meeting at the campus library and listened as they shared their struggles with mental health.
New Mexico children lost caretakers at a higher rate during the pandemic than most other states, according to a December report from the Covid Collaborative. An estimated 1,600 children in the state lost a caregiver, and the rate was 10 times higher for Native American children.
"They suffered loss — family members, friends — and we need to make sure we reimagine our schools to be schools that provide a social-emotional support," Cardona said.
Cardona said it was his 32nd state visit as Education Secretary for the Biden administration. He urged the states to prioritize mental health support with the $1 billion in funding directed at schools in New Mexico from federal pandemic relief.
"I know our rural communities are often dealing with different challenges. And I want to make sure that the funds through the American Rescue Plan meet them where they are," Cardona said.
Luján's recovery from the stroke is a relief for Democrats who barely hold power in the evenly divided Senate, thanks only to the tie-breaking vote of Vice President Kamala Harris. The White House agenda was thrown into peril when Luján's stroke was first revealed.
Luján credited hospital staff, prayer and a positive attitude for his quick recovery. After returning to Congress in March, he held his first public events in New Mexico this week, starting in Albuquerque on Tuesday. He said he's also been doing work at his family farm and walked to a church as part of an Easter pilgrimage to El Santuario de Chimayó, a historic church in the northern part of the state.
Sen. Luján doesn't face reelection until 2026. He said his health scare won't cause him to retire before his term is up.
"I'm here as long as I have and earn the support of the people of New Mexico," Luján said. "They will decide who's going to serve them in the U.S. Senate."
2 plead guilty in 'We Build The Wall' fraudulent fundraiser - By Larry Neumeister Associated Press
The co-founder of the "We Build The Wall" project aimed at raising money for a border wall pleaded guilty Thursday to charges in a case that once included former President Donald Trump's adviser Steve Bannon.
Brian Kolfage admitted to pocketing hundreds of thousands of dollars while promising all donations would pay for the wall. His plea came a month before a trial in a case that began in dramatic fashion in August 2020, when Bannon was pulled from a luxury yacht off the coast of Connecticut and arrested on allegations that he and three others ripped off donors trying to fund a southern border wall.
Bannon was pardoned by Trump just before he left office last year. Bannon had pleaded not guilty to charges he pocketed over $1 million, using some of the money to secretly pay Kolfage, a 39-year-old Air Force veteran who lost both legs in a mortar attack in Iraq.
A guilty plea Thursday by codefendant financier Andrew Badolato, 57, in the case during the same remotely conducted electronic hearing before U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres in Manhattan meant that only one of the four defendants originally charged might go to trial in mid-May.
Plea agreements between the government and Kolfage and Badolato specified the defendants will not challenge sentences within an agreed-to guidelines range. For Kolfage, that range was four to five years. For Badolato, it was roughly 3 1/2 years to four years. Sentencing was scheduled for Sept. 6.
Kolfage, of Miramar Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and tax charges brought originally in Florida. Badolato, of Sarasota, Florida, pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy. Without the plea deal, Kolfage could have faced up to 46 years in prison while Badolato faced a maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.
The organizers of the "We Build The Wall" group raised more than $25 million from thousands of donors as they repeatedly pledged that every dollar would be used for the project.
Asked to describe his crimes by the judge, Kolfage said the group had originally intended for all the raised money to be used to build a wall, but it "soon became apparent" that the plan to donate the money to the U.S. government for the wall's construction was not possible.
At that point, he said, they "induced donors to opt in to the new project" to build a border wall on private land by falsely representing that none of the donations would be spent on salaries or compensation to the fundraisers.
"I knew what I was doing was wrong and a crime," he said.
After he spoke, Torres asked questions, including whether he had promised the public that "100 percent" of the money would go toward building the wall.
"That is correct," he answered.
"Despite your promise, you made an agreement with others to keep a large sum of money for yourself," the judge said.
"That is correct," Kolfage answered.
Badolato said he engaged in the conspiracy from 2018 to 2020, agreeing to assure donors that all the money would go toward building the wall when he knew the statements were false.
"I knew this was wrong and I'm terribly, terribly sorry for what I did and I humbly beg the court for mercy," he said.
When the judge asked Badolato if he was aware that Kolfage was going to get money from donations, he said: "Yes I did and I helped facilitate it."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Nicolas Roos said evidence against the men at trial would have included testimony from donors, along with transaction records following donations into the defendants' bank accounts, emails and text records, along with public statements made by the coconspirators that were false.