From left, Co-Chairman Chuck Fleischmann, Acting Assistant Secretary for Environmental Management Mark Whitney and Co-Chairman Ben Ray Luján. Courtesy/BRLO
U.S. CONGRESSIONAL News:
Washington, D.C. – Fifty years of government nuclear weapons development stemming from the Manhattan Project during World War II has affected communities across the nation and resulted in the need for environmental cleanup at numerous sites.
In response, U.S. Representatives Ben Ray Luján, D-N.M., and Chuck Fleischmann, R-Tenn., will serve as co-chairs of the House Nuclear Cleanup Caucus, which met recently to discuss the importance of raising awareness of environmental management issues in Congress.
“The Nuclear Security Complex has a number of legacies that are deeply rooted in its regional communities. First amongst these is the legacy of service by members of the local community in support of the national defense,” Luján said, whose New Mexico district includes Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL). “However, there is also the legacy of nuclear waste, which continues to threaten the current and future health and environment of these communities that have given so much to our nation. Moving forward we need to honor the legacy of service by fulfilling our obligation to clean up this legacy of waste in a safe, effective, and efficient manner. I look forward to working with Rep. Fleischmann, the rest of the caucus, and stakeholders, including the Regional Coalition of LANL Communities, which I recently met with to discuss the importance of environmental cleanup and our commitment to advocating for the resources to address waste at LANL.”
The caucus’ first meeting provided an opportunity for members who represent cleanup sites and stakeholders to come together to discuss the importance of advocating for environmental cleanup and raising awareness with their colleagues in Congress. Members of the caucus were joined by Mark Whitney, acting assistant secretary for environmental management at the Department of Energy.
The Department of Energy’s Office of Environmental Management has completed cleanup of 91 of the 107 sites where nuclear waste was generated as part of the federal nuclear security and energy research, development and production complex. The 16 remaining sites are spread across 11 states and include a number of large and complex sites, such as Hanford and Savannah River sites and Oak Ridge, Idaho and LANL.