NEW MEXICO SPACE WARS

An ABQ Journal editorial (Nov. 28) describes the proposal to bring New Mexico the Space Command, Space Force project in glowing terms. There is no consideration of possible damage to public health and environmental consequences.  New Mexico’s politicians should not hand the military carte blanche trust for the startup of another project we know nothing about -- based alone on the promise of money and jobs.

The ABQ Journal editorial ignores the global threat from space conflicts and the record of environmental contamination and disease from military bases and two national laboratories.  While considering what New Mexico has to offer the Department of Defense, the Journal and politicians don’t consider what damage could come to New Mexico. Moreover, do New Mexicans want to be brought into the destructive aspects of military conflict in space like we were dragged into nuclear weapons development and tragic use?

The question is whether the Space Command project would be primarily administrative or would involve construction of missile and satellite technology and launches from New Mexico.  An Environmental Impact Statement should be first presented laying out potential adverse consequences of Space Command/Force plans for New Mexico. 

The Space Command/Force claims the right to dominance and assumes military conflict in space.  U.S. buildup of space weaponry and logistics accelerates the arms race and violates treaties for peaceful use of space. A violent conflict increasing the already enormous amount of space junk could irreparably damage modern communication systems. 

The setup of large aerospace corporations in New Mexico seeking a piece of the action could bring a lot of infrastructure challenges for our environment, housing, roads, schools, hospitals and scarce water supplies. The use of missile fuel may add to the perchlorate contamination of groundwater that is already wide spread at Air Force bases such as at Kirtland, Holloman, Cannon and White Sands.  Would there be production of space batteries using extremely toxic Plutonium 238?

The many spaceports around the country launching tens of thousands of mini-satellites for Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and others will punch further holes in the ozone layer affecting atmospheric circulation in the Southern Hemisphere.

New Mexico is already damaged by failure to clean up radioactive and toxic laboratory and military waste.  Receiving more harmful impacts from Space Command/Force should be avoided.

The question remains -- is the public to be included in the decision to accept the project or are we to be bamboozled into believing this project will cause no harm but bring untold benefits?

Why are these military/industrial projects being proposed for New Mexico during the Coronavirus Pandemic:More nuclear weapons plutonium pit production? Storage of the entire nation’s nuclear reactor waste?  Doubling WIPP?  Space Command/Space Force?

The dropping of the first atomic bomb at Alamogordo with no warning to the public brought generational cancer and disease without compensation. 

Huge piles of uranium tailings and the 1100 ton Puerco River radioactive spill poisonsNative Americans, their children and animals. 

Kirtland AFB dumped an estimated 6 to24 million gallons of jet fuel and aviation gas into Albuquerque’s drinking water aquifer.  A toxic carcinogen, Ethylene Dibromide (EDB) is present in the aquifer. 

Holloman AFB contaminated groundwater with a fire fighting chemical (PFAHs) at levels 18,000 times higher than federal safety limits.  The NM Department of Health recommends not drinking, swimming in or even touching the foam from water in Lake Holloman. 

Cannon AFB sued againstNM Environment Department permit conditions to protect dairies and drinking water from high PFAH contamination. 

Los Alamos National Laboratory:

• Plans to produce more plutonium pits for nuclear weapons
• spread radioactive wasteand hexavalent chromium into the aquifer;
• has plans to release massive amounts of tritium into the neighboring tribal airspace;
• fifteen lab workers were recently exposed to plutonium;

The WIPP salt mine for the military’s transuranic radioactive waste:

• Had a $2,000,000,000shutdown from a fire and explosion
• released contamination to the surface and overexposed workers.
• The Department of Energy wants to double the size of WIPP despite promises to close in 2024.

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission wants to approve a plan for “interim”storage ofall the nation’s high level radioactive nuclear reactor waste at the Holtec site in southern New Mexico:

• Leakage to the aquifer,
• Interference with Permian Basin petroleum, potash and agricultural production.
• Because no repackaging facility nordeep geologic repository exists the waste would never leave.

Sandia National Laboratories has yet to excavate and remove the radioactive waste, toxic chemicals and heavy metals in its Mixed Waste Landfill:

• High level waste from the military, rocket fuel experiments and nuclear reactor meltdown experiments is mixed with metallic sodium that could potentially explode as happened at Beatty Nevada in 2015.
• Carcinogenic solvents are leaking from the unlined dump to Albuquerque’s drinking water aquifer.