Roswell Daily Record
Vol. 123, No. 114 75¢ Daily / $1.25 Sunday
THE VOICE OF THE PECOS VALLEY
May 11, 2014
DOE: Could be 3 years to fully reopen WIPP
ALBUQUERQUE (AP) — The head of the recovery effort at the federal government’s nuclear waste r epository in souther n New Mexico said Thursday it could be up to thr ee years before full operations resume at the underground facility.
Recovery manager Jim Blankenhor n made the announcement when answering questions from the public during a weekly meeting in Carlsbad. He said the timeline contin-
Adopt-a-pet
ues to be a moving target, but full operations ar e expected to r esume no earlier than 18 months from now.
Crews continue investigating the cause of a radiation release at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant near Carlsbad that exposed some workers and halted operations in February.
Specially trained workers have been making trips into the repository in an effort to pinpoint the sour ce of the r elease.
www.rdrnews.com
Based on those trips, the focus has turned to a set of waste drums that came from Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Officials at the meeting reiterated the possibility that there may have been a chemical reaction inside the drums. They were then questioned about what would happen to that waste if it’s deemed unsafe to store. “If we find a pr oblem with this waste stream, it’s a chemistry problem,”
Blankenhor n said. The Los Alamos lab has “some of the best scientists in the world. It would be up to them to develop a path forward to give us treated, safe waste.” New Mexico Envir onment Secr etary R yan Flynn said the theory of a chemical reaction is based on limited knowledge, and he urged officials during the meeting not to withhold any infor mation. Flynn said he’s concerned the public will lose faith if
Jeff Tucker Photo
Three-year-old canine enthusiast Gavin Banda, of Dexter, gets acquainted Saturday with Olaf, an 8-month-old Boston Terrier, at the Roswell Humane Society's eighth annual adopt-a-pet event at Classics Frozen Custard. Also pictured are Gavin's mother, Melissa Banda, left, and Roswell High School volunteer Damian Zavala. Seven Humane Society dogs and a cat were available to mingle with potential owners at the event. "We try to do this once a year out here," said Humane Society manager Carol Rogers. "It's a fundraiser, but also an event to try and find homes for some of the animals at the Humane Society. We've had a lot of people that are looking. We're pretty sure that we have one or two that will be adopted." Rogers said others interested in adopting pets should visit the Humane Society, located at 703 E. McGaffey St., Tuesday through Saturday. Rogers said the kennel typically has about 62 animals available for adoption.
SUNDAY
federal of ficials change their story every couple of weeks about what might have happened. “We need to know what happened. We absolutely need to know,” he said. “But we need to make decisions based on facts.” WIPP and Department of Energy officials vowed to continue to update the public on the r ecovery process and to keep the safety of their workers and the public in the forefront. Officials have pointed to
safety as the reason they decided earlier this month to halt shipments fr om Los Alamos to a temporary storage facility in West Texas. The shipments had been going on for about a month due to the closure of the plant.
BY JEFF TUCKER RECORD STAFF WRITER
Art Center will host a symposium on space science related topics and the Roswell Convention and Civic Center will host “Space Trail Expo,” with representatives from New Mexico’s science museums and observatories. Event visitors will be able to make a comet, launch a trash can rocket, pose in a space shuttle suit, look through telescopes, and learn about the history of manned space flight. The first-time funding from the city will be utilized to reimburse advertising and promotional costs for the event. Lodgers’ tax proceeds are derived from lodging taxes at city hotels and motels and are intended to promote tourism and conventions. Mayor Dennis Kintigh said the funding is be a wise and exciting investment for the city. The council also awarded $2,187.50 to the Rio Pecos Kennel Club to advertise
Los Alamos is under a tight deadline to get the plutonium-contaminated waste off its northern New Mexico campus befor e wildfire season peaks. The
Council awards lodgers’ tax funds City Council has awarded tax revenues to three city events that promote tourism, including an event city leaders said will attract some of the brightest minds in rocketry science to Roswell this fall. The council on Thursday awarded $2,465 of lodgers’ tax funding to Robert H. Goddard “Aiming for the Stars” symposium. The two-day event on Oct. 17 and 18 that will honor the legacy of rocket pioneer Robert H. Goddard and his years of research in Roswell. Futurist Dr. Lowell Catlett, dean of the College of Agricultural, Consumer, and Environmental Sciences at New Mexico State University, will present the keynote address. Dr. Harrison Schmitt, astronaut on the Apollo XVII mission and one of the last men to walk on the moon, will talk about his experiences. The Roswell Museum and
See WIPP, Page A3
Kansas to feds: State Local leaders visit Washington, D.C. regulates chickens
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is telling the U.S. government it has no authority to regulate prairie chickens within the state’s borders and is threatening lawsuits against federal conservation efforts in an escalating dispute over reversing a population decline for one species of the grouse. Republican Gov. Sam Brownback announced Saturday he has signed a bill that represents the GOPdominated Legislature’s protest against the lesser prairie chicken gaining federal “threatened” status in March. The “State Sovereignty over Non-migratory Wildlife Act,” which Brownback signed late Friday, will take effect next week.
The new law says Kansas has the sole power to regulate the lesser prairie chicken — along with the larger, darker and more abundant greater prairie chicken — and their habitats within Kansas. It authorizes the attorney general or county prosecutors to sue over federal attempts to impose conservation measures. Kansas officials have said farmers, ranchers and oil and natural gas companies face steep conservation fees and restrictions on their activities in habitat areas that will damage the state’s economy. “I will take every possible action to protect the rights of Kansans from the economic effects of this listing,” Brownback said in a statement.
Courtesy Photo
Mason Moore, a freshman at
RANDAL SEYLER RECORD STAFF WRITER
A group of business and civic leaders from Southeast New Mexico recently took part in the sixth annual Artesia-Roswell Washington Fly-In. Roswell Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Dorrie FaubusMcCarty led a 22-member contingent of Roswell, Artesia and Chaves County residents to Washington, D.C., on April 26. The local residents met with congressional and Senate leaders, as well as officials from various government agencies. “This is one of the most important projects of the Chamber,” Faubus-McCarty said on Friday of the four-day trip to D.C. Of the 22 business, gov-
ty studying agricultural eco-
nomics, was recently select-
ed as one of 17 campus
ambassadors for Agriculture Future of America. AFA
is a leader and professional
development organization
for collegiate leaders and young professionals.
HIGH 92 LOW 55
TODAY’S FORECAST
er nment and education leaders from Southeast New Mexico, 11 were representing the Roswell Chamber and 11 were from the Artesia Chamber, and this was the sixth year the Chamber has taken the trip to Washington to express the concerns of local businesses, industries and leaders directly to the elected officials in D.C.
The group started of f with a meeting with the Bureau of Land Management’s Deputy Director of Policy Linda Lance on April 28, where the Chamber representatives got to sit in on a conference call about the lesser prairie chicken’s pending “threatened” status and the results it can have on See VISIT, Page A3
Courtesy Photo
A group of business and civic leaders from Southeast New Mexico recently took part in the sixth annual ArtesiaRoswell Washington Fly-In.
Local student Moore to serve as AFA campus ambassador
Mason Moore, a freshman at New Mexico State University studying agricultural economics, is off to a good start. From leadership positions to inter nships, Moore, who is from Dexter, pursues experiences that set him apart from his peers and prepare him to pursue his dream of advancing agriculture through a career in agricultural economic consult-
New Mexico State Universi-
See FUNDS, Page A3
• ENEDINA “NADINE” FRANCO • WILLIAM “BILL” MICHAEL CRONEY
ing. Most recently, he was selected as one of 17 campus ambassadors for Agriculture Future of America. AFA is a leader and professional development organization for collegiate leaders and young professionals. Providing leader development, intern support and scholarships, AFA seeks to be a catalyst in the preparation of a new generation of agriculture leaders. Moore and
• ARTHUR MAJANCSIK • VICTORIA NUNEZ HERRERA • WILLIAM J. (BILL) ULLERY
TODAY’S OBITUARIES PAGE B6
his fellow team members serve as liaisons between AFA and their college campuses and AFA’s corporate partners. “AFA has given me the chance to channel my prior leadership experiences into one distinct focus and utilize those experiences to become an effective leader,” he said. Moore and the other ambassadors were selected through a competitive
application process to serve as AFA’s student voice. Moore says he is looking forward to his experiences with the team.
“I have always had two passions in my life: serving others and agriculture,” he said. “Combining these passions into one role brings me incredible joy and an amazing sense of satisfaction.”
CLASSIFIEDS ..........D1
INDEX HOROSCOPES .........B8
SPORTS .................B1
GENERAL ...............A2
OPINION .................A4
WORLD ..................A6
COMICS .................C4
LOTTERIES .............A2
WEATHER ..............A8