New Mexico Environment Department approves LANL plan to vent radioactive gas - by Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
New Mexico environment officials on Monday gave permission for Los Alamos National Laboratory to vent a radioactive gas within the next six months.
The decision came on the heels of federal officials urging the state in a recent letter to make a decision, and pushback from anti-nuclear and Indigenous groups about the proposal.
Specifically, LANL aims to vent four waste containers filled with tritium and hazardous waste that it packed in 2007 and left at the lab’s disposal site, called Area G. In 2016, LANL officials discovered the drums were building pressure and could potentially explode. In a worst-case scenario modeled for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency — which the lab said was unlikely — a rupture of all four containers could expose people to a dosage of 20 millirem, double the airborne radiation limit that LANL is allowed to release for all operations for a whole year.
Tritium, a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, can be naturally occurring or a byproduct from nuclear research. The EPA characterizes the gas as a lower threat, emitting radiation that often cannot penetrate the skin, and is only considered hazardous in large quantities from inhalation, skin absorption or consumed in tritiated water – a replacement of one of the hydrogen molecules with tritium.
Rick Shean, Resource Protection Division director for the New Mexico Environment Department, told Source NM that state officials and U.S. Environmental and Protection Agency officials will be onsite during the planned venting across 12 to 16 days during weekends.
“We will be there, us and the EPA, [so] if something does go wrong, there’s a discussion with [U.S. Department of Energy] that we can observe,” Shean said. “We’ll step in and stop it if we have to.”
Among several provisions in a Sept. 8 letter from the environment department to the National Nuclear Security Administration and the lab’s contractor, environment officials will require LANL to keep the release below 6 millirems as a “hard stop limit,” which is lower than the 8 millirems LANL proposed. Shean noted that a typical release of tritium throughout the year from the lab is between zero to 1.5 milirems.
Indigenous groups including Tewa Women United, Honor our Pueblo Existence and anti-nuclear groups have raised concerns that federal limits for tritium exposure levels of a of 10 millirem were based on men, not pregnant women or young children.
Shean said the department’s mandate takes the concern raised by the groups into consideration.
“We do understand the concern around thresholds being put out there, the standards being based on typically male adults,” he said. “That was one of the reasons guiding our decision to lower the threshold to this event to six milirems.”
In addition to the concerns about exposure levels, anti-nuclear activists and Indigenous groups also recently raised objections about what they described as restrictions on public participation and transparency at a recent meeting on the proposal. The state environment department previously set four conditions for NNSA and Triad to meet for approval, including a public meeting and tribal consultations.
The Sept. 8 letter concludes with an admonishment from state officials, saying the operation is necessary because of LANL’s “failure to properly manage hazardous waste at the time of generation followed by almost a 20-year disregard of compliance obligations under state laws and rules,” the letter said.
In a statement Monday, National Nuclear Security Administration Public Affairs Specialist Toni Chiri said laboratory officials will be in contact with Congressional, state, local and tribal governments to release the dates for the tritium venting expected this fall and will ensure the venting does not overlap with Pueblo Feast days or other events.
“This operation will be conducted with the utmost considerations for safety to LANL employees, the surrounding communities, and the environment,” Chiri said. “LANL engineers have done careful analysis of the controlled depressurization process and will monitor it in real-time to ensure safety.”
Emails requesting comment from the nearby Pueblos of San Ildefonso and Santa Clara went unreturned as of publication.
Joni Ahrends, executive director at Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, called the release a “pattern of practice,” saying that LANL has been contaminating air, land and water in the more than 80 years since the Manhattan Project.
“Who’s going to pay the price? The people of Northern New Mexico,” she said. “And there’s never an answer to the question: ‘when is it going to stop?’”
GET THE MORNING HEADLINES.SUBSCRIBE Source New Mexico is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Source New Mexico maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Julia Goldberg for questions: info@sourcenm.com.
Lujan Grisham to push immigrant detention ban in next legislative session - Alex Ross, City Desk ABQ
Although it will not be on her agenda for the upcoming special legislative session, an advisor to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham (D-NM) said she will make passage of a bill banning immigrant detention in New Mexico a top priority next year.
“The governor intends to include this legislation in the January regular session call in hopes that lawmakers will pass the strongest bill possible,” Michael Coleman, communications director for Lujan Grisham, said Friday in an email to New Mexico Political Report.
He added that the special session, scheduled for Oct. 1, will concentrate on preparing the state for reductions in federal funding as a result of the cuts included in the nearly $4 trillion tax and spending package that President Donald Trump signed in July, as well as the administration’s withholding of grant funds.
Coleman stated that Lujan Grisham decided to exclude the immigrant detention measure from the special session at the request of leading Democratic lawmakers who said they wanted a narrower focus for the special session that did not include the bill. However, Coleman said the governor remains committed to curtailing immigrant detention in New Mexico.
“Gov. Lujan Grisham wants to ensure New Mexico will not be complicit in discriminatory mass immigration enforcement or unconstitutional federal overreach. Recent federal court decisions show judges are pushing back, and New Mexico should make its position equally clear,” he said.
Democratic lawmakers and immigrant activists for years have pushed legislation that would prohibit local governing bodies — such as counties, municipalities, and school districts — from entering into agreements with the federal government and private contractors to detain people on federal civil immigration violations, which include being in the country without lawful status.
Three New Mexico counties, Cibola, Otero and Torrance counties, have such agreements, which critics say allow private companies to avoid the disclosure requirements that come from having to take part in the bidding process for federal contracts. Immigration advocates and federal government watchdogs have also cited the facilities for human rights abuses, withholding due process rights, understaffing and poor sanitation.
In the regular 60-day session earlier this year, lawmakers introduced House Bill 9, also known as the Immigrant Safety Act, which would have prohibited local governing bodies from entering into such agreements, forced those who already had to exit those contracts, and prevented those bodies from selling or otherwise transferring resources to be used for immigrant detention. It passed the New Mexico House of Representatives but stalled in the Senate.
One of the sponsors of House Bill 9, state Rep. Christine Chandler (D-Los Alamos), said she agreed with the move to delay action on the issue.
“The 30-day (session) is coming up relatively soon, and it’s my expectation that the governor will put the bill on the call, and we can deal with it at that point. And really, three months or so is not that much of a difference in terms of timing,” she said.
Jessica Martinez, an attorney and the director of policy and coalition building at the New Mexico Immigrant Law Center, also indicated that while she and her group would have loved to see a proposal about immigrant detention taken up, she feels that goal will ultimately become a reality.
Martinez said that while attending a recent meeting of the Courts, Corrections and Justice Committee, she noticed that opposition from some opponents of past efforts, such as Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Joe Cervantez (D-Las Cruces), has begun to soften.
She referenced emotional remarks Cervantes made at the meeting, saying that while he is not at a place where he feels he can back legislation such as House Bill 9, aggressive moves by the Trump administration could soon change that.
“That makes me believe that even if we can’t get this done in the special (session) we’re going to get this done, and we have to get this done,” she said. Until then, Martinez said her organization and backers of banning immigrant detention in New Mexico.
However, Martinez added, there remains a fierce urgency to act as the Trump administration’s roundups of individuals without lawful status. She cites the example of Paulo Cesar Gamez-Lira, a 28-year-old DACA recipient and father of four U.S.-born children, whose case was recently highlighted by the ACLU.
“Every day someone’s detained is another day that they’re away from their family, from their job, and their basic human dignity,” she said.
Sixth gun this year recovered by APS police in connection to August incident at middle school - Noah Alcala Bach, Albuquerque Journal
A gun was recovered in connection with an incident at Jackson Middle School last month, marking the sixth firearm Albuquerque Public Schools police officers have recovered this school year.
“An individual drove onto the Jackson Middle School campus to pick up his sibling. He was apparently driving recklessly, and a crossing guard confronted him, at which point the driver allegedly pointed a gun at the crossing guard,” APS spokesperson Martin Salazar wrote in a statement.
According to Salazar, the individual is an APS student enrolled in online learning programs.
“APS police obtained a search warrant, located the vehicle at their home, and found the gun in the glove compartment,” he said. “The driver was arrested and charged with unlawful carrying of a deadly weapon on a school campus, unlawful carrying of a gun by a person under 19 and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.”
The incident happened after classes had been dismissed on Aug. 27.
The six guns are more than a third of all firearms recovered last school year.
On Aug 20, five guns were recovered in separate incidents at Albuquerque and West Mesa high schools — and one off-campus near Del Norte.
Jackson Middle School is located in Northeast Albuquerque, just west of the intersection of Indian School and Juan Tabo.
New Mexico governor announces free universal child care - Austin Fisher, Source New Mexico
New Mexico will offer child care at no cost to all residents, regardless of incomes, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced on Monday, thus becoming the first U.S. state to offer universal free child care, she said.
The state Early Childhood Education and Care Department will begin writing rules to entirely remove the income eligibility threshold for a family to receive child care assistance by Nov. 1. The state currently waives parent copays on child care for families whose income is up to 400% of the federal poverty level.
“Child care is essential to family stability, workforce participation, and New Mexico’s future prosperity,” the governor said in a statement issued following a news conference. “By investing in universal child care, we are giving families financial relief, supporting our economy, and ensuring that every child has the opportunity to grow and thrive.”
The free child care will save families on average $12,000 annually, the governor’s office said.
During Monday’s news conference, Lujan Grisham said reaching the milestone of free universal child care required asking the Legislature and New Mexico voters for sustainable sources of funding. New Mexico voters in 2022 passed a Constitutional Amendment that pushed state lawmakers to tap into a state fund and use it to build out the early childhood education system in the state.
“That was always the vision,” she said. “It took us this long to realize it, but by golly, we did.”
Along with the expanded access to free child care, the state in one week will allow entities like local governments and schools to start applying for low-interest loans to expand or create new child care facilities, under expanded rules to the state’s Child Care Facility Loan Fund passed in the most recent legislative session, Early Childhood Education and Care Department Secretary Elizabeth Groginsky said.
Between 12,000 and 13,000 new child care slots will open up as a result of 55 new licensed child care centers, 120 new licensed homes and 1,000 new registered homes, she noted.
“We see the interest, we’re also talking to industry leaders who are very interested in this, and also school superintendents,” Groginsky said. “I think it’s an all-in strategy from industry, business leaders, our schools and our community-based providers.”
Lujan Grisham said universal child care is “the backbone of creating a system of support for families” that allow parents to go to work or college.
“It’s going to make New Mexico extremely attractive to build your business here,” Lujan Grisham said. “It’s going to make New Mexico extremely attractive to come here and raise your family.”
The new rule will also address pay for child care providers, the governor said. According to a handout at Monday’s news conference, under the proposed rule, providers will earn additional funding if they pay all entry-level workers at least $18 to $21 per hour and remain open at least 10 hours per day, five days per week.
Monday’s announcement builds on six years of progress in the state, said Dr. Neal Halfon, founding director of the University of California Los Angeles Center for Healthier Children, Families and Communities. He said New Mexico is the first U.S. state to put in place a blueprint for “an ecosystem of early childhood supports,” including a first-of-its-kind statewide comprehensive, actionable data program.
“This portfolio of strategies — I’m telling you as an outsider — is a really big deal,” Halfson said. “As a developmental scientist, we’d like to see every place have this kind of scaffolding in place. This is a national model.”
In the most recent legislative session, lawmakers increased the department’s budget by $113 million to $995 million total, including $463 million specifically for child care, Groginsky said. The state in 2020 also created a new pot of money called the Early Childhood Trust Fund, which started at $320 million and now has $10 billion, Lt. Gov. Howie Morales said during the news conference.
An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that work and education requirements had been removed as qualifying activities for child care, and mis-stated the status of the new childcare facilities. Source NM regrets the errors.
Sam Bregman gets Jicarilla Apache endorsement in governor's race - Cathy Cook, Albuquerque Journal
Bernalillo County District Attorney Sam Bregman announced his second tribal endorsement Monday, the latest from the Jicarilla Apache Nation.
With the first Native American Interior Secretary Deb Haaland in the race for New Mexico governor, tribal endorsements have come under closer scrutiny. Haaland has secured three and the campaign is expecting another tribal endorsement soon.
Sandia Pueblo endorsed Bregman in July.
Bregman said he was honored to receive the Jicarilla Apache Nation endorsement.
“You demonstrated a clear and actionable plan to tackle critical challenges, including crime, substance abuse, and economic development within our communities,” reads the endorsement letter, signed by Jicarilla Apache Nation President Adrian Notsinneh and other Jicarilla Apache leaders.
The election for governor will be next year, but fundraising totals for Haaland and Bregman have already surpassed the million dollar mark, according to Journal reporting. The two Democratic candidates are ahead of the pack in raising campaign funds, as is Republican candidate, Rio Rancho Mayor Gregg Hull, according to candidate finance reports.
In late-May, Haaland’s campaign announced close to $3.7 million in donations, while Bregman’s campaign announced he had raised more than $1 million. Both campaigns declined to share updated fundraising numbers until the October campaign finance reporting deadline. Hull had raised approximately $200,000 by early April, according to campaign finance reports.
Despite Haaland’s fundraising lead, her campaign released a social media ad asking for donations because grassroots fundraising “has taken a bigger hit this summer than we anticipated” and the campaign has had to scale back and lower projections. Campaigning for governor can come with a high price-tag. Sitting Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham spent roughly $13 million on her last campaign.
Haaland is a Laguna Pueblo member. She has been endorsed by the Jemez, Santo Domingo and Picuris pueblos, as well as by former Navajo Nation President Jonathan Nez and by advocacy groups NM Native Vote, Native Organizers Alliance and Advance Native Political Leadership.
The former one-term member of Congress representing New Mexico’s 1st District is proud of her work for the tribal community, said campaign spokeswoman Hannah Menchhoff, “including advancing Native-owned businesses initiatives, addressing violent crime against Native Americans, and overseeing millions of dollars of investment in water, roads, fire protection and bridge infrastructure projects.”
Conservation groups appeal lesser prairie chicken’s loss of protection - Danielle Prokop, Source New Mexico
Conservation groups want a Texas court to overturn the recent gutting of federal protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a near-flightless bird living in the grasslands of Eastern New Mexico and four other states.
In 2022, the Biden Administration offered the bird protection under the Endangered Species Act. Federal officials, through a public process, designated the smaller southern population in New Mexico and the Texas panhandle as “endangered,” and the northern population across Kansas, Oklahoma, northern Texas and Eastern Colorado as “threatened.”
In August, a Texas judge stripped federal protections for the chicken. Precipitating the August decision was the Trump Administration’s seismic about-face in May, with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said there was a “fundamental error” in the Biden Administration’s listing of the bird in 2022. The memo requested the judge side with opponents suing against the protections, which included the states of Texas, Kansas and Oklahoma, along with representatives from the ranching and petroleum industries.
The Arizona-based nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity filed the appeal in the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals Monday, asking a panel of judges to overturn the decision and allow conservation groups to enter the proceedings — arguments denied by the lower courts.
“The Trump Administration had no legal or scientific basis for its reversal,” Jason Rylander, the legal director for the group’s Climate Law Institute, told Source NM.
The chicken — known for its quirky courtship dances involving inflated cheek pouches and stomping — has been in and out of court for the past three decades as its numbers declined from the millions into about 26,000 (as of 2022) across the grasslands of New Mexico, Colorado, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.
Rylen said arguments could be presented by this fall, but that the population lost all federal protections, including ones that prohibited hunting or killing the chickens. While more chickens survive in the Colorado, Oklahoma and Kansas portion of its range, the species faces habitat losses from industry and climate change, threatening its long-term survival — especially in New Mexico.
“The southern population of the lesser prairie chicken is now at severe risk of blinking out entirely,” he said.
Rylander said the bigger picture is the upheaval of environmental protections by the federal government.
“The Trump administration has taken an anti-science, scorched-earth approach to environmental conservation and public land protections, stripping Clean Air Act protections, denying climate change, and declaring endangered species persona non grata,” Rylander said. “I think that’s just a horrifying prospect for conservation in America.”