Editor,
After a nearly 2-year delay, the Department of Energy’s National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) announced that it will release a new Site-Wide Environmental Impact Statement (SWEIS) in October. The plans that will be disclosed in the SWEIS will affect the operation of Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the next 15 years.
The purpose of this environmental analysis extends beyond describing Livermore Lab programs. By law a SWEIS must also examine how each proposed program could affect the quality of the human environment.
During an initial phase of the environmental review in 2020 (called “scoping”), the NNSA revealed that it intends to increase the amount of radioactive material the Lab can use – and emit – in our highly populated community.
This is why I want to encourage community members to participate in the public hearing and comment period that will occur once the SWEIS document is circulated by the NNSA.
We who live or work in the Tri-Valley can speak up to safeguard our families’ health as well as our air, land and water.
The NNSA has emailed Tri-Valley CAREs to say that the Livermore Lab SWEIS will be released this coming month. In anticipation, the group is hosting a virtual community meeting to discuss what to look for in the SWEIS. The forum will be held on Thursday, September 29 at 7:30 p.m. More information is available at www.trivalleycares.org.
Raiza Marciscano,
Tracy
