Protest at Los Alamos National Labs
by Sally Breen
"Shut it down; Clean it up; LANL (Los Alamos National Laboratories) sees no toxins, LANL can't hear about any toxins, and LANL can't talk about any toxins," were the chants at the Conference on Nuclear Issues and Rally for Abolition at Los Alamos, NM from August 79, commemorating the fifty-fifth anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
With blue skies overhead, a cool breeze, and surrounded by mountains, each day began with a blessing from a different local Native American leader. Their soft voices told of years of abuse by the federal government. Their languages taken, their cultures taken, their lands taken, their waters polluted, their sleep broken from the heavy waste-hauling trucks blasting up the highway to Los Alamos. Their stories reminded us that we must work together in a struggle that is broader than the abolition of nuclear weapons.
The topic of most concern for area residents is the recent fire in the Cerro Grande Forest, location of the Los Alamos laboratories. Smoke and ash welled up 20,000 feet and spread across northeastern New Mexico and into Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas. LANL web site data reveals that during the fire, levels of alpha radiation were up thirty fold. Yet, Department of Energy (DOE) officials assured citizens that this could be expected with such a raging fire‹that the natural radioactive gas, radon, and the products of its decay could account for these levels. Another concern is the runoff from summer rains. LANL officials admit to dumping at least 17,500,000 cubic feet of hazardous and radioactive waste around the top-secret facility over the years. The International Depleted Uranium Study Group (DUST) reports that 110 tons of depleted uranium and natural uranium have been expended during explosive testing at Los Alamos since the 1940s. Nuclear waste has accumulated at LANL since 1971. Some is destined to remain at Los Alamos, and some will eventually be sent to the permanent WIPP site in southeastern New Mexico. Sixteen of the acknowledged twenty-four sites are considered to pose a moderate to high risk of long-term groundwater contamination. This summer, the contaminated soils washed down the dry arroyos to the Rio Grande River and on to Mexico.
A New Mexico visitor cannot help noticing the arrival of nuclear waste destined for WIPP (Waste Isolation Pilot Plant). The DOE had originally agreed that no drums would be opened at WIPP. "We never open waste containers that are received from an offsite generator. By not opening the waste, we can eliminate the possibility of spreading contamination throughout the facility. So not opening the containers, keeping the containers sealed, is a major‹a major strategy in our protection of human health and the environment."
Now the DOE is asking the New Mexico Environment Department to change the operating permit so that drums of waste can be opened and examined at WIPP. Other proposed changes include increasing the surface waste storage capacity by 40%; removing the limit of 60 days for surface storage; and adding four new areas for waste storage. Angry and alarmed, New Mexicans are asking the New Mexico Environment Department not to allow the changes.
Among other topics discussed were depleted uranium; national missile defense; the fate of nuclear resisters; and atomic veterans. A new organization called Healing Ourselves and Mother Earth, "Home," has a mobile Museum to End the Nuclear Age. The government's plans to expand the amount of waste to be stored at Los Alamos, and new weapons to be designed there were also on the agenda.
At 10 a.m. on August 9th, Nagasaki Day, 300 activists walked a mile up the mountain to Los Alamos Laboratories. We were joined by huge peace puppets, continual drumming, chants, peace keepers (to ensure the safety of the marchers), and the ever-present police, who detained 60 of the protesters. New Mexico Peace Action is making plans for next year's event. There is talk of actually blocking all three roads leading to Los Alamos in 2001. Make your plans now. Let's have thousands there to bring attention to the immorality of nuclear weapons.
Information from: Don Hancock, Southwest Research and Information Center; New Mexico Research, Education and Enrichment Foundation; Green Scissors.
Back to Peace Talk Index, September 2000