Two candidates with ties to organizations funded by or concerned with the Los Alamos National Laboratory won primary elections Tuesday night that effectively assure them seats in the New Mexico state House of Representatives, according to unofficial results from the New Mexico secretary of state.
Andrea Romero, former executive director of the local interest group Regional Coalition of Los Alamos Communities, beat incumbent Democrat Carl Trujillo by more than 5 percentage points in a primary election for the 46th State District.
Susan Herrera, former CEO of the nonprofit educational advocacy group the LANL Foundation, trounced incumbent Debbie Rodella by more than 10 percentage points in the primary for the 41st State District. One of the LANL Foundation’s largest donors is lab prime contractor Los Alamos National Security.
Both women will run unopposed in the Nov. 6 general election. New Mexico’s bicameral state house leans heavily Democratic.
Romero came under fire for using public money to buy baseball tickets and alcoholic drinks during lobbying trips to Washington, D.C. Her contract with the Regional Coalition of Los Alamos Communities expired and was not renewed during her primary campaign this year.
A wildfire Sunday evening burned across 2,800 acres of the Hanford Site in Eastern Washington but reached no radiologically contaminated areas or structures before it was contained.
The fire, believed to have been ignited by a lightning strike, was discovered at about 6:45 p.m. after it had burned 5 acres. But windy weather caused it to grow quickly, said Rae Moss, spokeswoman for Mission Support Alliance, the services contractor that manages firefighting at the Hanford Site.
The Wye Barricade, the secure entrance to the site just north of Richland, was closed at 9:45 p.m. to aid firefighters attacking the blaze to the north of the barricade. It reopened at about midnight when the fire was under control.
The fire burned between Route 4 South and Route 2 South, which meet at a “V” just north of the Wye Barricade. Route 4 South goes to the 200 East Area, which includes 11 waste storage tank farms, the 242-A Evaporator, and the Waste Encapsulation and Storage Facility, where capsules of cesium and strontium are stored. The fire was stopped “well away” from the 200 East Area, Moss said.
The Energy Department and the California Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) aim by the end of 2018 to issue a final environmental impact report for cleanup of DOE’s portion of the Santa Susana Field Laboratory Site (SSFL).
The state and federal agencies have been working closely to finalize steps for remediation of groundwater and other chemical and radiological contamination.
“DOE and DTSC will continue with monthly calls and will meet on a quarterly basis to coordinate review of DOE’s deliverables,” the state said Monday in its April status report on environmental remediation operations at Santa Susana.
California has been engaged in prolonged planning for cleanup of the 2,849-acre property 30 miles from Los Angeles. Boeing and NASA own the Simi Valley site, but DOE is responsible for the 470-acre segment it leased for its nuclear power and liquid metal research at the Energy Technology Engineering Center.
The state in December 2017 finished taking comments on two major documents: the draft program environmental impact report (PEIR) and draft program management plan (PMP).
The Energy Department has completed most of its field investigation into the extent of groundwater contamination at its areas within Santa Susana, DTSC said. In late February, the department submitted an addition to its plan for corrective measures on groundwater and bedrock within Area IV, the state said.
The state agency said it wants to better understand the presence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) found around ponds and leach fields within the Energy Department footprint.
The Energy Department used Area IV from 1955 to 1982 for nuclear energy research. Liquid metals testing ended in 2000. Since then, DOE’s efforts have involved decontamination and demolition of structures and investigation of the nature and extent of contamination in soil, water, and bedrock.
The state hopes full-scale cleanup of Santa Susana can begin in 2019.
