Last week, the New Mexico Environment Department (NMED) issued a fact sheet summarizing the department’s proposed changes to the hazardous waste operating permit for the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) located in Carlsbad, New Mexico.
“The New Mexico Environment Department is taking a strong stance to protect the health, environment, and interests of New Mexicans,” said Environment Secretary James Kenney. “The proposed permit changes clearly prioritize DOE’s cleanup of legacy contamination in our state while holding the permittees accountable.”
The fact sheet is an initial step in providing the permittees, the Department of Energy, and Nuclear Waste Partnership, LLC, as well as interested stakeholders and members of the public, an understanding of proposed changes associated with the renewal of the WIPP hazardous waste operating permit. New permit conditions include enhancing the public participation process and suspending any and all waste shipments to WIPP if there are allegations or evidence of a threat to human health or the environment.
NMED is set to release the draft WIPP hazardous waste operating permit on December 20. Once released, NMED will open a 60-day public comment period that will run until February 18, 2023. Learn more about the proposed changes here.
