Heinrich Statement On Dept. of Energy Settlement On Nuclear Waste Incidents

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) released the following statement on the $73 million settlement reached between the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and the State of New Mexico related to the February 2014 violations at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad and the associated activities at the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL):

“This is a smart solution. I am pleased that the Department of Energy has agreed to compensate the people of New Mexico by investing in safer roads, better water infrastructure, and training for our first responders. Every report done by the accident investigation boards identified significant management failures at every level as the principal cause of the accidents, and identified a number of required actions to correct the deficiencies. The Department of Energy must continue to address and correct these deficiencies so that WIPP can return to safe operation and the cleanup work at Los Alamos can be conducted safely, while protecting the workers, the community, and the environment.”

The principles of the agreement are available on DOE's website: http://energy.gov/downloads/principles-agreement-state-new-mexico