As expected, citizen groups in New Mexico have asked the state Environment Department to extend the comment period by 60 days on a 10-year permit renewal for the Department of Energy’s Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
The draft permit is more than 1,200 pages long so granting the extension until April 19 is justified, according to the request filed Tuesday by 11 groups.
The draft permit “and the many hundreds of changes proposed” by DOE and its prime contractor as well as the New Mexico Environment Department “require a significant amount of time and effort for the public to adequately understand and address,” according to the request, which can be viewed here.
The letter seeking an extension was sent to Ricardo Maestas, a manager with the state agency’s Hazardous Waste Bureau, from Don Hancock of the Southwest Research and Information Center.
Other groups joining in the request are Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, Conservation Voters of New Mexico, Veterans for Peace- Chapters 55 and 63, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, Honor Our Pueblo Existence, the 285 Alliance, Breath of My Heart Birthplace and the Partnership for Earth Spirituality.
Many of the citizens groups are involved with bills before the New Mexico Legislature, in session until March 18, which will tie up the organizations limited staff and resources, according to the letter.
The state agency did not immediately respond to an email inquiry on when it might decide on the extension request.
The New Mexico Environment Department, which regulates the non-nuclear side of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, wants more sway over operation and eventual closing of the salt mine for disposal of defense-related transuranic waste. The DOE has envisioned the deep geologic disposal facility operating until late this century, while the state seeks authority to close it far sooner.
With about three weeks before the currently-scheduled comment deadline, the state agency has already received comments from many supporters and critics of the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP).
In formal comments filed Jan. 15, Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway reiterated his support for WIPP outlined in a recent newspaper column and said the New Mexico Environment Department is sounding too much like anti-nuclear groups. In a recent “media campaign” on its proposed changes to the permit, the state agency “appeared to have ended its guise of neutrality,” Janway said.
The state regulator currently expects to hold a public hearing on the permit renewal this summer, a New Mexico Environment Department spokesperson said in a recent email response to Exchange Monitor.
