High-Level Nuclear Waste in Southeast New Mexico, with Legal Council in Lawsuit, Terry Lodge

As reported by the Richard Eeds Show on KTRC in Santa Fe, NM. Listen to the 13-minute audio recording, here.

See the Don't Waste Michigan, et al., press release.

The national grassroots environmental coalition includes the following seven organizations, from six states across the country: Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, MI; Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, NY; Don’t Waste Michigan; Nuclear Energy Information Service, IL; Nuclear Issues Study Group, NM; Public Citizen (DC, TX); San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, CA. Toledo, OH-based attorney Terry Lodge serves as the coalition's legal counsel.

6/24/20: Beyond Nuclear on Radio Sputnik's "Loud & Clear"

News, #energy, #environment, #nuclear, #regulation, #safety

We continue our regular segment, Beyond Nuclear, where we look at nuclear issues, including weapons, energy, waste, and the future of nuclear technology in the United States. Kevin Kamps, the Radioactive Waste Watchdog at the organization Beyond Nuclear, and Sputnik news analyst and producer Nicole Roussell, join the show.

Listen to the audio recording, here.

DON'T WASTE MI, et al. FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NATIONAL HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP TARGETING NEW MEXICO

[As a courtesy to our allies in the fight against the Holtec consolidated interim storage facility, we share this News from Don't Waste Michigan, et al., with you. ---Kevin Kamps, Radioactive Waste Specialist, Beyond Nuclear, <kevin@beyondnuclear.org>, (240) 462-3216]

NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR For immediate release Contact: Terry Lodge, Legal Counsel, Toledo, OH, (419) 205-7084, <tjlodge50@yahoo.com> Michael Keegan, Don't Waste Michigan, Monroe, MI, (734) 770-1441, <mkeeganj@comcast.net>

DON'T WASTE MI, et al. FILES FEDERAL LAWSUIT CHALLENGING NATIONAL HIGH-LEVEL RADIOACTIVE WASTE DUMP TARGETING NEW MEXICO

Petitioners charge Nuclear Regulatory Commission inadequately disclosed irradiated nuclear fuel transport routes through 45 states

WASHINGTON, D.C., JUNE 24, 2020  -- On June 22, 2020, the national grassroots environmental coalition Don't Waste Michigan (DWM), et al. filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit (Case No. 20-1225), requesting review of an April 23, 2020 Order by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC). NRC's Order rejected DWM, et al.'s challenges to Holtec International/Eddy Lea Energy Alliance’s application to build a massive “consolidated interim storage facility” (CISF) for nuclear waste in southeastern New Mexico. Holtec proposes to store as much as 173,000 metric tons of highly radioactive irradiated nuclear fuel – more than twice the amount currently stored at U.S. nuclear power reactors – in shallow pits on the site.  DWM, et al. is comprised of the following seven organizations, from six states across the country: Citizens for Alternatives to Chemical Contamination, MI; Citizens’ Environmental Coalition, NY; Don’t Waste Michigan; Nuclear Energy Information Service, IL; Nuclear Issues Study Group, NM; Public Citizen (DC, TX); San Luis Obispo Mothers for Peace, CA. Toledo, OH-based attorney Terry Lodge serves as the coalition's legal counsel. MORE.

US NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION ANNOUNCES PUBLIC MEETING WEBINAR TO RECEIVE COMMENTS ON THE DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT STATEMENT FOR THE HOLTEC INTERNATIONAL CONSOLIDATED INTERIM STORAGE FACILITY

The U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) will conduct a public meeting via webinar soliciting comments on a draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for Holtec International’s (Holtec) proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facility (CISF) for spent nuclear fuel in Lea County, New Mexico.  The draft EIS evaluates potential environmental impacts of Holtec’s request to build and operate the proposed CISF. 

The public meeting webinar will be accessible to the public by navigating, on the day and time of the meeting, to the internet link below and entering the event number associated with the date of the webinar when prompted.  Telephone access is also provided by dialing the telephone number and entering the passcode provided below.  The NRC staff will present the results of the draft environmental impact analysis and receive the public’s comments on the draft report.  The NRC invites members of the public to attend the public meeting webinar and to present oral comments on the draft EIS.  The public meeting webinar will commence at 3:00 pm Mountain Daylight Time (MDT) on June 23, 2020.

Tuesday, June 23, 2020 – 3:00 pm MDT (5:00 pm EDT)

Webinar Internet address:  https://usnrc.webex.com/usnrc/onstage/g.php?MTID=e518b15b4271391e6b7c7232571f289d3

Event Number:  199 800 0026

Password:  HOLTEC

Telephone access

Telephone number:  888-454-7496

Telephone passcode: 5790355

Those wishing to present oral comments are asked to pre-register by June 22, 2020, by contacting Ms. Antoinette Walker-Smith via e-mail at: Antoinette.Walker-Smith@nrc.gov.  The public may also submit written comments on the draft EIS before July 22, 2020.  A notice published in the Federal Register (FR) on April 27, 2020 (85 FR 23382; https://www.federalregister.gov/), announced the availability of the NRC’s draft EIS and provided instructions for submitting written comments.

The draft EIS can be found on the NRC public webpage for the Holtec CISF license application at https://www.nrc.gov/waste/spent-fuel-storage/cis/holtec-international.html.  If you do not have internet access, contact the NRC Public Document Room at 800-397-4209 for assistance.

[Please note that NRC has announced a second public comment webinar/call-in. It is scheduled to begin at 5pm Eastern on Thursday, July 9th. Again, same as described above, pre-registration is required by the day before, if folks want to sign up, to make oral comments.]

Update on June 17, 2020 by admin

Holtec DEIS: Ideas for comments you can use to write your own for submission to NRC

Update on June 18, 2020 by admin

Speak out against Mobile Chernobyls in your community! Sample script for contacting your Members of Congress to urge they demand public comment meetings in your state/district re: NRC Draft EIS on Holtec's nuke waste Consolidated Interim Storage Facility

Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic; Three-Dozen Groups and 62 Individuals Write Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II

NEWS FROM BEYOND NUCLEAR For immediate release, June 22, 2020

Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic

Three-Dozen Groups and 62 Individuals Write Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II

KALAMAZOO, MI -- On June 19, 2020 a coalition of environmental and public interest groups warned Gov. Whitmer and Lt. Gov. Gilchrist about its concerns regarding increased risks at Michigan's nuclear power plants, in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter was cc'd to numerous additional MI state, county, and local officials, as well as to MI's U.S. congressional delegation, given their overlapping responsibilities to protect public health, safety, security, and the environment from nuclear risks. In addition, the letter was cc'd to leaders of MI's dozen federally recognized Native American tribes. The letter was signed by a Native American sovereign authority, the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA), based in Sault Ste. Marie, MI. (CORA is composed of five Native American tribes that have treaty rights in Michigan: 1836cora.org.)   Organizational signatories on the letter include the following Michigan groups, listed in alphabetical order: Alliance to Halt Fermi 3 in Livonia; Ban Michigan Fracking, Charlevoix ; Belle Isle Concern, Detroit; Black Autonomy Network Community Organization, Benton Harbor; Citizens for Peace, Livonia; Citizens' Resistance at Fermi 2, Redford; Coalition to Oppose the Expansion of US Ecology, Detroit; Detroit Independent Freedom Schools Movement; Don't Waste Michigan, Monroe and Sherwood; FLOW (For Love of Water), Traverse City; Freshwater Future, Petoskey; Green Living Science, Detroit; Kalamazoo Nonviolent Opponents of War (KNOW); League of Women Voters of Michigan, Lansing; Lone Tree Council, Bay City; Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Mecosta; MI Organic Food and Farm Alliance, Lansing; MI Safe Energy Future-Kalamazoo and Shoreline (Benton Harbor) Chapters; MI Stop the Nuclear Bombs Campaign, St. Clair Shores; MI Wildlife Conservancy, Bath; Palestine Cultural Office-MI, Detroit; Palisades Park Community, Covert; Peace Action of MI, Ferndale; S.E. MI/Michael Gramlich Chapter, Veterans for Peace, Brownstown; Washtenaw350, Ypsilanti. Also, the 62 individuals who signed the letter include residents of dozens of MI communities, in both the Upper and Lower Peninsulas. In addition, national groups Beyond Nuclear and Nuclear Information and Resource Service (NIRS), with large numbers of members and supporters in MI, as well as a number of groups in states and provinces downwind and downstream, also signed the letter.   The letter, including all signatories, is posted online here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/nuclear-reactors-whatsnew/2020/6/20/nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-amidst-the-covid-1.html>. Also pasted online is the briefing paper, "Nuclear Power Safety Concerns in Michigan amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic," linked here: <http://www.beyondnuclear.org/safety/2020/6/22/briefing-paper-nuclear-power-safety-concerns-in-michigan-ami.html>. It includes sections about Fermi nuclear power plant (Monroe County) in southeast MI on the Lake Erie shore, as well as Cook (Berrien County), Palisades (Van Buren County), and Big Rock Point (Charlevoix County) nuclear power plants in west Michigan, on the Lake Michigan shore. Read the entire press release, here.