Whose Water is at Risk?

If your community is part of the Rio Grande watershed, then toxic waste discharged at LANL could reach your water.

Communities whose water is impacted by LANL include those of:

  • The City of Santa Fe and Santa Fe County;

  • Tribal communities surrounding LANL;

  • Los Alamos County;

  • The Espanola Valley;

  • The City of Albuquerque and Bernalillo County;

  • Other downstream communities.

Other upstream communities, such as those of Taos county, are also at risk, due to vaporized toxins carried by the wind. Forest fires dramatically increase this risk.

The EPA map below illustrates the vast aquifer that we all share and depend upon for our water. LANL and 1,260 toxic waste dumps are sited upon unstable and porous volcanic terrain, making the risk of groundwater contamination high and very real. Each time there is a rainstorm or snowstorm, toxins are washed into the many canyons on LANL property. From the canyons, the toxins flow into wetlands, streams, rivers, and to groundwater. Fast-moving toxins have reached the Rio Grande in a matter of years, traveling from unlined dumps to springs that flow to the river.