Environment

WIPP Ends Safety Pause

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WIPP News:

A safety pause, declared by Nuclear Waste Partnership in response to air quality issues in two remote areas of the WIPP underground, was ended and normal work in these areas has resumed.

The pause began Feb. 22 after workers detected elevated levels of carbon monoxide and volatile organic compounds (VOC) in two areas at extreme ends of the underground. The pause allowed time to thoroughly investigate each event while work in un-impacted portions of the WIPP underground continued.

We are learning from operating experience and continuing to improve our programs and processes to better Read More

Heinrich Secures $10 Mil For Directed Energy Development In New Mexico

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SENATE News:
 
ALBUQUERQUE ― U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, announced a $10 million investment in directed energy development in New Mexico. 
 
A $4.8 million award from the U.S Air Force will go to Raytheon Ktech in Albuquerque to continue the Counter-Electronics High Power Microwave Advanced Missile, also known as CHAMP, for use aboard the Conventional Air-Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM).
 
Additionally, Sandia National Laboratories will receive $1.4 million and Air Force Research Laboratory
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Digging A Proper Hole In Soil

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SSSA News:
 
You’ve gone to the garden center and bought your spring plants. All you need to do is dig a hole and water, right?
 
Not quite so, says the Soil Science Society of America (SSSA) Soils Matter blog post. The post explains the benefits to your plants’ health of taking a bit more time to create the best hole.
 
According to soil scientist Clay Robinson, there are several factors to consider. Most important is the amount of compaction in your soil. If you dig a hole with a garden spade, and have smooth, compacted sides, all you’ve really done is create a bigger “pot” for your plant.
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DOE Participates In Clean Line’s Large-Scale Energy Transmission Project

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DOE News:
 
WASHINGTON D.C. — Building on the Department of Energy’s (DOE) ongoing efforts to modernize the grid and accelerate the deployment of renewable energy, today U.S. Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz announced that DOE will participate in the development of the Plains & Eastern Clean Line Project (Clean Line), a major clean energy infrastructure project.
 
The Clean Line project will tap abundant, low-cost wind generation resources in the Oklahoma and Texas panhandle regions to deliver up to 4,000 megawatts of wind power via a 705-mile direct current transmission
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Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge Receives $1 Million

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Mallard ducks in the Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge’s agriculture fields. Courtesy/USFWS

USFWS News:

ALBUQUERQUE ― U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service) Director Dan Ashe and U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich have announced that Valle de Oro National Wildlife Refuge (Refuge) will receive $1 million in additional annual funding to engage urban communities and youth in conservation and outdoor recreation. 

The Refuge, located in Albuquerque’s South Valley, is only five miles from downtown and has been working extensively with partners and community members Read More

Peaceful Demonstrations Near Trinity Site April 2

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CCNS News:
 
Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety (CCNC) has announced that the Tularosa Basin Downwinders Consortium is organizing two peaceful demonstrations Saturday, April 2 at the entrances to the White Sands Missile Range at the Stallion Range Station and Tularosa Gate. 
 
The protests are to support those who have been negatively affected by exposure to radiation as a result of the July 16, 1945 Trinity Atomic Test in south central New Mexico
 
The White Sands Missile Range holds an open house twice a year for the public to view the site of the Trinity Test. On July
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TALES OF OUR TIMES: What Decides How Big Is Best?

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Tales of Our Times
By JOHN BARTLIT
New Mexico Citizens
for Clean Air & Water

What Decides How Big Is Best?

The environment, which is everything on Earth, constantly struggles to find the right size for a system. A “system” means a set of parts that must work together as conditions change. The system could be a live animal, a corporation, an agency or a jurisdiction.
Systems have been tried in a wide range of sizes.  

Nature tried dinosaurs in different sizes. The pterosaur, a flying relative of dinosaurs, had a wingspan of 18 meters (60 ft.). By contrast, the wingspan of the World War Read More

Heinrich Leads Group Of Senators Urging Congressional Leaders To Address National Parks’ Maintenance Backlog

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SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. ― U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich, D-N.M., a member of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources and Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on National Parks, led a group of senators in urging congressional leaders to include sufficient funding for the fiscal year (FY) 2017 Interior, Environment, And Related Agencies appropriations bill in order to address the maintenance backlog facing our nation’s National Parks.
 
“With a nearly $6 billion maintenance backlog attributable to the type of repair, rehabilitation
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Prescribed Burn In Santa Fe Watershed Underway

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SFNF News:
 
SANTA FE ― Favorable conditions today allowed fire managers on the Santa Fe National Forest to proceed with the planned prescribed burn in the lower portion of the Santa Fe Municipal Watershed.  
 
The 200-acre broadcast burn adjacent to the Nichols Reservoir will be done with hand and aerial ignitions. Smoke from the prescribed pile burn will be monitored to ensure that New Mexico Environment Department’s Air Quality Bureau regulations are being met. 
 
Lingering smoke may be present for up to one week after ignitions are
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LANL Critical Watersheds On Exhibit At White House Water Summit

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A tree just down canyon from Richard Middleton’s house. Photo by Richard Middleton
 
San Juan and Colorado River basins. The San Juan River basin is host to a range of complex climate, disturbance, and energy-water challenges. The basin supplies water for multiple gas and coal-fired power plants and hydropower, vast oil and gas production, widespread irrigation, and urban areas. Courtesy photo
 
By ROGER SNODGRASS
Los Alamos Daily Post

A Los Alamos National Laboratory project was included in a White House celebration of the 23rd annual United Nations World Water Day Tuesday.

The Read More