New Mexico Governor: Let's Skip the Fireworks

She makes plea with wildfire near Los Alamos lab
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 28, 2011 6:04 PM CDT
New Mexico Governor: Let's Skip the Fireworks
Smoke from a burning wildfire rises near the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico.   (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

With a wildfire burning up her state and threatening the Los Alamos nuclear lab, Gov. Susana Martinez thinks this would be a terrific year to skip the Fourth of July fireworks. She doesn't have the authority to order a statewide ban, so she's merely making an appeal to common sense. In the fall, however, she will seek such authority in a special legislative session, reports the Albuquerque Journal.

As for the wildfire: It made one brief breach onto lab grounds yesterday, but that blaze was extinguished. Since then, it's remained outside the boundaries, though AP says it's only about 50 feet away. Officials, however, said no radioactive material was at risk, including outdoor drums of waste. "We are throwing absolutely everything at this that we got," said Sen. Tom Udall. He said the EPA, the state, and the lab were conducting separate air monitoring tests near the lab. (More New Mexico stories.)

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