Nuclear storage site may be blocked by NM
State senator says state has options to fight Holtec plan
CARLSBAD — One state lawmaker maintains he and his colleagues can have a say in a proposed facility to store high-level nuclear waste near Carlsbad and Hobbs, despite an opinion issued by Attorney General Hector Balderas suggesting the state will have a limited role in licensing the project.
Democratic state Sen. Jeff Steinborn, who chairs the New Mexico Radioactive and Hazardous Waste Committee, said Balderas’ opinion was informative but does not preclude lawmakers from preventing the facility from operating.
The committee convened in May to study the project proposed by New Jersey-based Holtec International, and held its third meeting on Wednesday at University of New Mexico-Los Alamos.
Opposed to the project, Steinborn said state lawmakers owe their constituents a full review of the proposal.
“I think it’s kind of a troubling deficiency in the government if the state doesn’t have to give consent to have something like this foisted upon it,” he said. “The state of New Mexico owes it to the people to look at every aspect of it.”
In Balderas’ response to multiple questions asked by Steinborn, he cited numerous past cases that Balderas said created a precedent that state governments have almost no role in federal licensing for nuclear facilities.
He said the federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission has the sole authority to license the facility, and the state’s authority would likely begin
once it went into operation, providing some recourse if something goes wrong.
But Steinborn said he and fellow committee members intend to make their voices heard. He said even if the NRC does issue Holtec the needed license, the state could fight back by blocking utilities and infrastructure such as water and transportation access – cutting off the facility’s ability to operate.
“There’s other issues that are not part of licensure,” Steinborn said.
New Mexico Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad, who sits on the committee, said Balderas’ opinion further validates that the NRC’s oversight is sufficient and the state’s role in nuclear regulation is limited.
“The analysis done by the Attorney General’s office confirms that licensing of nuclear facilities is the domain of the federal government, not the states,” Brown said.
John Heaton, chair of the Eddy-Lea Energy Alliance questioned Steinborn’s motivation when the senator challenged the facility Heaton said would bring many lucrative job opportunities to southeast New Mexico.
“We’re the only state that hasn’t recovered from the depression of 2008, and it’s because of attitudes like that,” he said.