Delegation Seeks Extended Comment Period on Controversial Power Line Project

The proposed line, opposed by Native American tribes and environmentalists, would supply electricity to Los Alamos National Laboratory.

New Mexico's congressional delegation is calling for an extension of the public comment period on a proposed power line that would supply electricity to Los Alamos National Laboratory, a major nuclear weapons facility.
The power line project, which is opposed by Native American tribes and environmentalists, would cross national forest land in an area known as the Caja del Rio and span the Rio Grande at White Rock Canyon.
The delegation argues that the current 30-day comment period coincides with numerous federal and religious holidays and Pueblo feasts, making it difficult for meaningful participation.
The All Pueblo Council of Governors, which represents 20 pueblos in New Mexico and Texas, is undergoing a leadership transition and should have an opportunity to comment and engage directly with federal officials about the project.
The tribes argue that the area, which has a dense concentration of petroglyphs, ancestral homes, ceremonial kivas, roads, irrigation structures and other cultural resources, has been mismanaged by federal land managers, leading to desecration of sacred sites.