Letter to DOE, April 1, 2020: Request for two-month extension of the April 24, 2020 comment deadline for the draft Supplement Analysis to the 2008 Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement for continued operations of Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOEIEIS-0380- SA-06) in light of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Group letter organized by Nuclear Watch New Mexico linked here: https://nukewatch.org/newsite/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/request-for-comment-extension-LANL-SA.pdf
Dear Secretary Brouillette and Administrator Gordon-Hagerty:
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, we request that the April 24, 2020 deadline for commenting
on the draft Supplement Analysis (SA) for the 2008 Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement
(SWEIS) for continued operations of the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) be extended
for two months, until June 19, 2020.
The Supplement Analysis is of great importance because it examines the environmental
impacts associated with expanded plutonium pit production at LANL and addresses whether
or not LANL must prepare a new or supplemental environmental impact statement to the
existing 2008 Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) for LANL.
We believe further environmental analysis is warranted at this time to address
environmental effects that were not contemplated back in 2008. Therefore, it will be
necessary for us to prepare detailed comments to the Supplement Analysis to explain our
reasoning. This is not reasonably possible right now because of the continued spread of the
COVID-19 pandemic.
We therefore respectfully request that that the April 24, 2020 deadline for commenting on
the draft Supplement Analysis be extended for two months, until June 19, 2020.
Contact person: Jay Coghlan, Nuclear Watch New Mexico, 505.989.7342,
jay@nukewatch.org