“Gross mismanagement”: Plan to release tritium is halted

New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) has temporarily paused a plan to vent 30,000 curies of radioactive tritium into the air this summer. NMED, citing significant public interest, is requiring Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) to perform four additional steps before proceeding, including an independent technical review, tribal consultation, public meeting, and compliance audit. NMED states “…[T]he historical gross mismanage-ment of these waste streams…placed NMED in an untenable situation…Your disregard of state laws and rules governing these wastes… greatly exacerbated this situation and put New Mexicans, tribal communities, and our environment at risk.” As a result, “NMED is separately starting a civil enforcement action pursuant to this matter” although it is currently unclear what issues will fall under this action.