While the nation's eyes are on the potential environmental catastrophe unfolding at the Fort Calhoun power plant, we in northern New Mexico are facing a growing environmental disaster of our own. Ours is forged in fire.
Eleven years ago the Cerro Grande Fire threatened the Los Alamos Nuclear Labratory, forcing the evacuation of Los Alamos, White Rock and western Espanola. We watched in horror as the fire, which started in the Jemez Mountains near a breathtaking national park, spread to 48,000 acres. We thought it was the largest fire imaginable. It took two weeks to grow to that size.
Yesterday, a new wildfire started off of NM4 near the same park. It spread to 50,000 acres in less than 24 hours including several spot fires at the lab which were quickly doused. The town of Los Alamos has been evacuated.
Once again, skies are deep grey without a raincloud in site, and the town of Espanola, nestled in the Rio Grande Valley between mountain ranges, is flooded by refugees escaping a fire. The animal shelter is revved up, looking for foster homes for pets and horses. The animals in the forest have no way to escape. Nobody knows how many bobcats, coyotes, birds and bears will lose their habitat.
There is not widespread panic as a fire encroaches on the lab, for the second time, for two reasons: there is no reactor that needs to be perpetually cooled with water; and we assume folks up on the mountain have buried their nuclear materials under thick walls of concrete where it is safe from fire. But there is a certain amount of fright regarding the fire itself. This time around, many people fled Los Alamos prior to evacuation orders. Yesterday, Senator Udall and others visited evacuees who were housed at the Santa Claran Hotel in the center of town.
Several spot fires started and were quickly doused yesterday at Tech Area 49, a site once used for underground bomb testing. The area is heavily protected and, according to lab officials, is designed to withstand an even greater fire hazard.
However, according to Citizens for Nuclear Safety there are materials resulting from clean-up efforts stored in barrels above ground at something known as Area G, where they await shipment to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in southern New Mexico.
Lab officials at first declined to confirm that such drums were on the property, but in a statement early Tuesday, lab spokeswoman Lisa Rosendorf said such drums are stored in a section of the complex known as Area G. She said the drums contain cleanup from Cold War-era waste that the lab sends away in weekly shipments to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant.
She said the drums were on a paved area with few trees nearby and would be safe even if a fire reached the storage area. Officials have said it is miles from the flames.
“These drums are designed to a safety standard that would withstand a wildland fire worse than this one,” Rosendorf said.
It seems that nature is trying to tell us something but that we have not been listening. This year's monster fires were preceeded by huge fires in previous years which seem like teeny kitchen blazes by comparison.
How many disasters are required before we begin to craft policy that allows us to address global warming?
How many disasters are required before anyone realizes a disaster has occured?