New Mexico Attorney General’s Office filed a lawsuit this month that counters the federal government’s plan for high-level nuclear waste interim storage in Lea County. New Mexico Legislature’s Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Interim Committee at New Mexico State University Carlsbad met this week and Matt Baca, Chief Counsel of New Mexico’s Attorney General’s office voiced similar concerns as Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham.
The concerns with interim storage of spent nuclear fuel in Southeastern New Mexico consist of environmental and social justice impacts. Both Baca and Grisham say that an interim storage site would become a de facto permanent resting place for America’s nuclear waste. There are currently no plans in sight for a permanent deep geological repository in the United States, despite the federal government’s promise to create one over 40 years ago.
Baca is hopeful that this lawsuit will push the federal government to follow through with legislation around a permanent solution for nuclear waste in the United States. The feds promised something that hasn’t been delivered upon yet. New Mexico and neighboring Texas have voiced their dissent to be involved in these plans, yet the federal government seems to disregard the issue of community consent.
Supporters of Holtec International’s plan in New Mexico say it will bring economic diversity. Opponents say the state can’t stand up to the federal government even though it wants to. Opponents spoke on environmental justice and nuclear colonialism that a consolidated interim storage facility would bring to the state.
