Environment

Abandoned Campfires Frustrate Crews

SFNF crews discovered more than 45 still-burning campfires abandoned last weekend. Courtesy photo
 
By CAROL A. CLARK
Los Alamos Daily Post

Last weekend, fire prevention staff on the Santa Fe National Forest discovered more than 45 still-burning abandoned campfires … not including one last week on the Jemez Ranger District that grew into a 2-acre wildfire before three engine crews finally doused it.

Frustrated crews on patrol Saturday and Sunday came across 35 abandoned campfires on the Jemez District and another 10 on the Pecos/Las Vegas side of the Read More

PEEC: Watch ‘Interstellar’ And Explore The Science Behind The Film June 27-28

Watch ‘Interstellar’ tonight at the Los Alamos Nature Center. The movie is part of the nature center’s Suds & Shows summer movie and beer night series. Beer and wine are available from Pajarito Brewpub starting at 6 p.m. and the movie starts at 7 p.m. Guests are welcome to bring a picnic to enjoy outside before the show. Then, join Peter Polko at 6 p.m., Friday in the planetarium to explore the science behind the film. Courtesy/PEEC

 

PEEC News:
 
Watch “Interstellar” this evening in the Los Alamos Nature Center’s planetarium for PEEC’s summer movie series “Suds & Shows.”
 
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Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse Receives Olmsted Medal

U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehous

ASLA News:

The American Society of Landscape Architects awarded U.S. Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse the prestigious Olmsted Medal for his unwavering support for projects that utilize sustainable, resilient design to protect the environment, preserve the coasts, and promote the health, safety and welfare of communities.

Every week, Sen. Whitehouse gives a speech on the Senate floor in Washington, D.C., calling his colleagues to action to combat climate change. In his 200th speech, he said:

“[…] he most obvious fact standing plainly before me is not the measured sea

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How University Of Arizona Guided Men To The Moon

Moon samples collected by the Apollo astronauts a half-century ago hold answers to questions that weren’t even on scientists’ minds at the time, as new technological tools provide insight into some of the oldest mysteries about the moon, the earth and the solar system.
 
UA News:
 
TUCSON, Ariz. — Only a handful of people were seriously studying the moon when President John F. Kennedy announced in 1961 that Americans would walk on its surface by the decade’s end.
 
Among them was a small group of researchers at the University of Arizona.
 
The UA team imaged
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Renewable Electricity Standard Legislation Introduced

U.S. SENATE News:
 
WASHINGTON, D.C. U.S. Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.), along with senators Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Tina Smith (D-Minn.) and Angus King (I–Maine), introduced legislation to achieve at least 50 percent renewable electricity nationwide in just 15 years – putting the U.S. on a trajectory to decarbonize the power sector by 2050.
 
Starting in 2020, the Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) Act of 2019 would require electricity providers across the country to increase their supply of renewable energy from sources like wind and solar each
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NNSA Announces Availability Of Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement

NNSA News:

 

The NNSA is making a Draft Supplement Analysis (SA) of the Complex Transformation Supplemental Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement (SPEIS) available for public review and comment.

 

NNSA also will publish a Notice of Availability (NOA) in the Federal Register June 28, 2019 to announce the availability of the Draft SA. NNSA is preparing the SA to determine whether, prior to proceeding with the action to produce plutonium pits at a rate of no fewer than 80 pits per year by 2030, the existing Complex Transformation SPEIS should be supplemented, a new environmental Read More

SFNF: Come On Folks, Please Put Out Your Campfires!

Remains of the Cajete Fire. Crews on patrol Saturday and Sunday came across 35 abandoned campfires on the Jemez District and another 10 on the Pecos/Las Vegas side of the forest. Courtesy/SFNF

SFNF News:

SANTA FE – Frustrated fire prevention staff on the Santa Fe National Forest (SFNF) continue to find far too many abandoned campfires – more than 45 last weekend alone!

And that doesn’t include the one last week near Forest Road 10 on the Jemez Ranger District that grew into a 2-acre wildfire before three engine crews successfully put it out.

Most of the abandoned campfires – still the leading human Read More

EM Crews Think Outside Box For Hanford Tank Waste

A Hanford Site team created unique tools to remove a radiologically contaminated thermocouple from single-shell tank AX-103. The team built a radiation-shielding box and remote extension tools to allow workers to complete the task more safely. Courtesy/Hanford Site
 
DOE News:
 
RICHLAND, Wash. EM Office of River Protection tank operations contractor Washington River Protection Solutions (WRPS) recently developed unique tools to remove contaminated pieces of equipment from single-shell waste storage tanks at the Hanford Site.
 
WRPS developed a special shielding
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