Environment

Bear Concerns Prompt LANL To Close Trails

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A significant increase in bear sightings closes LANL trails. Courtesy image

LANL News:

Just before noon today, Los Alamos National Laboratory warned employees to watch out for bears and keep off the outdoor trails inside the lab perimeter until notified otherwise. The following memo to all employees from the Communications Office was obtained by the Los Alamos Daily Post:

All Laboratory trails are closed

Due to a significant increase in bear sightings and encounters, the Laboratory has closed all trails on Laboratory property until further notice. Employees are urged to stay off

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Los Alamos Nature Center Closed Monday July 4

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Los Alamos Nature Center. Photo by Patrick Coulie
 
PEEC News:
 
The Los Alamos Nature Center will be closed Monday, July 4, which is a great time to use Los Alamos Trails App to find a fun hike.
 
Take a Passport to the Pajarito Plateau along, find the rubbing plates and get even closer to the next prize. There are different prizes for hiking two, five, eight, and 12 trails in the passport booklet. It is fun for the whole family.
 
The Los Alamos Nature Center will resume regular hours 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Tuesday. For more information about the Los Alamos Nature Center,
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SFNF Holding Public Meetings On Geothermal Energy Development Draft EA

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SFNF News:

SANTA FE – The Santa Fe National Forest today announced that the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) on the potential effects of geothermal energy development on land within Forest boundaries is available on the Forest website here.

The Forest will hold three public meetings to provide a brief overview of the proposed project and the analysis of effects. The first meeting is 6-7:30 p.m., Thursday, July 7, 2016, at the Forest Headquarters, 11 Forest Lane in Santa Fe. Additional meetings will be scheduled in Abiquiu and Jemez Springs. The times and locations will be Read More

Letter To The Editor: LA Mountain Cleanup Project Impact Factor

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By NIC GONZALES
Los Alamos

Dear Jennifer and Forest Service,
 

As the youth member who developed the idea of holding the project to Clean Up the decades of paint-related litter on LA Mountain, I’d like to thank you all dearly for allowing my club, Rotary Interact, and me the permission to clean up the notorious LA Mountain in Los Alamos.
 
Through the diligent work from 10 of our youth members, we were able to scale the mountain this last Saturday on the hottest day of the year (not intentional…) and collect 90 articles of trash, which we took to the dump later that day! Fifty-six
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WIPP To Hold Public Meetings On Permit Modification Request

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WIPP News:
 
The U.S. Department of Energy Carlsbad Field Office and Nuclear Waste Partnership LLC (Permittees) will conduct two public meetings Tuesday, June 28, and Thursday, June 30, 2016. 
 
3-5 p.m.
Tuesday, June 28
Courtyard by Marriott
3347 Cerrillos Road
Santa Fe, New Mexico
 
5-7 p.m.
Thursday, June 30
Skeen-Whitlock Building
4021 National Parks Highway
Carlsbad, New Mexico
 
The purpose of the meetings is to provide information to the public on a proposed request to modify the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) Hazardous Waste Facility
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Townsite Cleanup Continues In Los Alamos Canyon

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EM-LA Manager Doug Hintze

DOE News:

The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Environmental Management Los Alamos Field Office (EM-LA) and Los Alamos National Security, LLC (LANS) is moving forward with the removal of contaminated soil along the south-facing slopes of Los Alamos Canyon adjacent to the Los Alamos Townsite.

The contaminated soil is primarily associated with legacy outfalls from the Manhattan Project and early Cold War research activities from 1943–1965.

“Cleaning up historical properties from areas within and around the Los Alamos Townsite is among our top priorities. We are committed Read More

DOE Awards Cooperative Agreement To NMEMNRD

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DOE News:

CARLSBAD — The Department of Energy’s Carlsbad Field Office today awarded a $6.8 million, five-year cooperative agreement to the New Mexico Energy, Minerals and Natural Resources Department (NMEMNRD) for the coordination of activities with participating state agencies that ensure the safe transportation of transuranic waste to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).

Activities under the cooperative agreement focus on required preparations for transuranic waste shipments and continued assurance of safe and uneventful transportation of radioactive waste through the Read More

Planetarium Feature Film: Exoplanets July 2

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Courtesy/PEEC

PEEC News:

The Feature Film: Exoplanets, is showing at 2 p.m. Saturday, July 2 in the planetarium at the Los Alamos Nature Center, 2600 Canyon Road.

This film opens by describing how scientists and astronomers find exoplanets and then takes the audience past the solar system to see which exoplanets may harbor life. This is an exciting time when it is no longer a question of if there is life on other planets, but a question of where and when life on other planets, exoplanets, is found. Watch the Exoplanets Trailer.

This full-dome film was developed by Casper Planetarium.

Because Read More

NMED Issues 2nd Emergency Order To Morningstar Water Supply System

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NMED News:
 
SANTA FE ― A top priority for the New Mexico Environment Department is water system oversight, as all New Mexicans deserve access to clean, safe drinking water. In a priority action June 24, the Environment Department issues another Emergency Order to the Morningstar Water Supply System.
 
This Order will ensure that the water system’s pace of operations in this situation improves. With the Environment Department’s issuance of the Order, $1,000 per day penalties are imposed for each directive in the Order that is not accomplished timely. 
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How The Hen House Turns: Is Cat Psychology Easily Categorized?

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By Carolyn A. (Cary) Neeper, Ph. D
Longtime Los Alamos Resident
Now residing in California

First the good news: no difference in personality could be found in a study of indoor and outdoor cats. At least, not in Australia. More studies are scheduled to be done on American cats by the Cat Teacher Program run by North Carolina’s State University and Museum of  Natural Science.

An article in the News Observer May 17, 2016 reported that 2,800 Australian and New Zealand cats have “…five broad feline personality dimensions,” three of which “…correspond Read More