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| | | published Thursday, April 28, 2011 | 1045 Views :: 0 Comments | |  |
| April 28, 2011
By Mark Oswald
From Albuquerque Journal
Environmental and community groups and Los Alamos National Laboratory announced Wednesday that they had reached a settlement agreement resolving a three-year legal dispute over stormwater runoff from the lab.
In a 2008 federal court complaint, the plaintiffs alleged the lab had violated the Clean Water Act by allowing contaminants to wash into the Rio Grande and threaten drinking water supplies. LANL denied that its runoff violated standards.
The groups that had sued the lab on Wednesday called the settlement “historic” and the lab described it as a “win-win.”
The Western Environmental Law Center, based in Taos, agreed to drop the lawsuit in exchange for access to inspect certain sites at the lab, $200,000 in funding for technical consulting and a portion of legal fees.
The settlement supplements a previous agreement, negotiated with many of the same groups, on a new stormwater discharge permit for the lab that was issued by the Environmental Protection Agency in November.
Under the permit, LANL agreed to manage its stormwater sites to meet requirements — described as among the most stringent in the nation — that govern stormwater run-off at about 400 Cold War-era “legacy” sites.
It requires LANL to install pollution control measures, increase monitoring and clean up numerous hazardous waste sites. The permit also contains requirements for stabilizing and monitoring the sites and preventing contamination from running off during large storms.
Both side issued prepared statements about the settlement.
“This historic victory and the recent stormwater permit will give the public strong tools for participating in the cleanup process at LANL,” said Joni Arends, executive director of Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety.
“We’re looking forward to ensuring that the lab and the regulatory agencies implement the permit so that the Rio Grande and downstream communities will be protected from contamination running downhill from LANL.”
“The agreement is a win-win achievement,” said Chris Cantwell, LANL’s associate director for environment, safety, health, and quality. “It helps us protect the public and the environment while saving the taxpayers costly legal expenses and allows us to safely continue our important science and security work for the nation.”
Under the EPA permit, LANL was required to eliminate toxic discharges from 63 high-priority sites by November 2013. Stormwater discharges from the remaining sites must be captured or eliminated by November 2015.
The new settlement allows the community groups and their experts and technical advisers to have access to the waste sites and review and comment on all decisions being made under the new permit. The settlement agreement also provides funding for the community groups to hire experts and obtain technical support.
“This is a huge victory for clean water and the protection of people’s health,” said Brian Shields, executive director of the Amigos Bravos environmental group.
Matthew Bishop, the Western Environmental Law Center attorney who represented the plaintiffs, said that before the lawsuit was filed three years ago, there were “few pollution control measures in place” for runoff at the lab.
“With the new individual stormwater permit and negotiated settlement, we should see significant improvements to water quality in the Rio Grande,” Bishop said.
LANL’s Cantwell added, “We are pleased that the parties were able to amicably settle the lawsuit, and are confident that LANL’s new (Clean Water Act) permit, one of the most stringent in the nation, will help protect people and the environment.”
Plaintiffs in the case were Amigos Bravos, Concerned Citizens for Nuclear Safety, Embudo Valley Environmental Monitoring Group, New Mexico Acequia Association, Don Gabino Andrade Community Acequia Association, Partnership for Earth Spirituality, Río Grande Restoration, SouthWest Organizing Project, Tewa Women United and Gilbert and Kathy Sanchez. |
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