Working with our partners with Communities for Clean Water, Amigos Bravos has been working for years to hold Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) accountable for historic and ongoing discharges of toxic pollutants into the waters of the Parjarito Plateau and Upper Rio Grande, including PCBs and heavy metals.
Currently, this work is focused on advocating for a strong regulatory oversight of stormwater discharges from over 400 toxic industrial sites at LANL as well as from urban stormwater sources from LANL and Los Alamos County. This work entails engaging in technical meetings and preparing technical comments on draft permits and ensuring regulatory compliance with existing regulations.
In December of 2019, after years of advocacy from Amigos Bravos, the Environmental Protection Agency made a final determination that urban stormwater discharges on the Pajarito Plateau needed to be regulated and controlled. We are currently involved in defending this determination against efforts from Los Alamos County to reverse this decision and avoid requirements to clean up their discharges. The voice of Amigos Bravos during these technical proceedings is strengthened by our collaborative work with Communities for Clean Water to create a space for community voices and traditional knowledge in technical settings and negotiations.