Stakeholders have agreed to a deal for a new 10-year draft permit for the Department of Energy’s underground disposal site for defense-related transuranic waste near Carlsbad, N.M., the New Mexico Environment Department said late Tuesday
Various stakeholders had requested a hearing on the new Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) permit, but the deal announced Tuesday should eliminate the need for such a proceeding, a spokesperson for the New Mexico Environment Department and a representative of Nuclear Watch New Mexico, both confirmed in emails with Exchange Monitor.
The settlement heads off a public battle over the permit during an administrative hearing as the state had sought to gain a greater say in the future of the disposal facility.
The state will publish the WIPP permit with the modified conditions on Aug. 15, and a public meeting will be held Sept. 22 to discuss the permit renewal. The final permit will be issued in October and take effect 30 days later, the state’s press release said. WIPP is currently operating on an expired, administratively extended permit.
The state Environment Department said the deal increases regulatory oversight and safeguards, greenlights development of two new hazardous waste disposal panels over the next decade and will also prioritize legacy waste from cleanup activities, including from Los Alamos National Laboratory, according to the release.
“Communities in New Mexico and around the U.S. benefit from the clean-up of legacy waste and its disposal at WIPP,” said New Mexico Environment Department Cabinet Secretary James Kenney in the release. “The new permit conditions affirm New Mexico’s authority and position that all roads lead from WIPP – we are no longer the last stop for clean-up but the driving force in that process that begins here.”
“Importantly, this permit lays the groundwork for a full and open discussion regarding the future plans for WIPP and transuranic waste from generator sites across the country,” DOE said in its own news release.
“Do they have a choice” but to approve the new permit, an executive with a DOE contractor asked rhetorically, referring to New Mexico officials. “It’s national defense.” WIPP, Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories together with military installations are responsible for thousands of jobs in the state.
The state said the deal includes some stipulations sought by Santa Fe, including requiring DOE to document progress in siting another geologic repository outside New Mexico. This was something pushed by citizen groups who opposed a “Forever WIPP.”
“We all checked our egos at the door, rolled up our sleeves, and got down to the business of protecting New Mexico from radioactive waste,” said Scott Kovac, research director and negotiator for Nuclear Watch New Mexico. “Perhaps the most important settlement was requiring DOE to document progress in siting another geologic repository for radioactive waste in a state other than New Mexico in a new annual report.”
The permit requires DOE to implement “a full inventory of legacy waste” nationwide, the Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety said in a press release. “This should be the first definition of legacy waste generated by the first 55 years of nuclear weapons production,” the group said.
The deal also ties closure of the underground salt mine “to both the renewal permit term of 10 years and the capacity limits of the federal Land Withdrawal Act unless a timely renewal application is received with an accurate inventory of all remaining wastes awaiting cleanup and disposal at WIPP,” the state said.
Other groups included in the negotiations were Southwest Research and Information Center, Conservation Voters New Mexico, Southwest Alliance for A Safe Future, Citizens for Alternatives to Radioactive Dumping, and individuals.
