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JUNE 9, 2000

The Los Alamos National Laboratory will meet with Pueblo leaders from San Ildefonso, Jemez, Cochiti, and Santa Clara today to discuss nuclear pollution on tribal lands, both present and historical.

Of the group, San Ildefonso Pueblo and the government may have the most storied history involving the laboratory.

In early May, the Pueblo negotiated a new agreement with the Department of Energy and the state of New Mexico over a stretch of road which local residents use to access the laboratory. New Mexico State Road 4 had been under first federal, then state management since 1949.

After threats of closure when a 50-year lease expired in December of 1999, the tribe secured a 30 year easement and a $2M settlement from the government and Los Alamos County.

Last year, the DOE accidentally transported plutonium-contaminated waste across land designated as sacred. Representatives of the state police, the DOE, LANL, and Los Alamos County made the mistake in December. The DOE apologized to San Ildefonso for their action.

More recently, the tribe and the government have been negotiating over a settlement to Pueblo's long standing land claims. Pueblo ancestral sites were taken by the federal government earlier this century to make way for the historic laboratory which ushered in the Atomic Age.

The Cerro Grande fire and the threat of rains and flooding have raised concerns of more contamination of land still in use by the Pueblo. Ancestral sites were taken by the federal government earlier this century to make way for the laboratory which ushered in the Atomic Age.

The other Pueblos are concerned more contamination could run into their lands this summer. Cochiti and Jemez border the laboratory area to the south; San Ildefonso and Santa Clara to the north.

San Ildefonso and Santa Clara lands have been most threatened by the recent fire. Secretary of Interior Bruce Babbitt met with the two Pueblos, assuring they would not be ignored when it comes time to compensate victims of the fire.

Related Stories:
Fire-stricken Pueblos assured (Enviro 6/8)
Pueblo devastated by fire (Enviro 5/23)
Pueblo still affected by fire (Enviro 5/19)
Pueblo seeks fire aid (Enviro 05/18)
Fire burns Pueblo land (Enviro 05/16)
Sacred site saved from fire (Enviro 05/15)
Pueblo affected by fire (Enviro 05/11)
Fire closes National Laboratory (Enviro 05/09)
Pueblo monument fire out of control (Enviro 05/08)
Pueblo keeps road open (Tribal Law 5/1)

Relevant Links:
From the National Parks Service: Bandelier National Monument - Cerro Grande Prescribed Fire Investigation Report