New Mexico Register / Volume XXXVI,
Issue 18 / September 23, 2025
The New Mexico
Environment Department (NMED) is hereby providing notice pursuant to Subsection
E of 20.3.4.426 NMAC that Thermo Eberline, LLC, whose business address is 27
Forge Parkway, Franklin, MA 02038, a radioactive materials licensee, has
submitted a decommissioning plan for its facility located at 5981 Airport Road,
Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, pursuant to 20.3.3.318 NMAC. “Decommission” means
to remove a facility or site safely from service and reduce residual
radioactivity to a level that permits release of the property for unrestricted
use and termination of the license.
This plan is
required in order to terminate the facility’s
radioactive materials license and return the site to a condition that permits
unrestricted use. As the licensee, Thermo Eberline is solely responsible for
conducting decommissioning activities, including characterization, cleanup, and
remediation of any contamination under regulatory oversight.
The NMED’s
Radiation Control Bureau (RCB) has completed a preliminary technical review of
the submitted decommissioning plan and has determined that it meets the minimum
requirements for proceeding with public notice and comment. RCB’s review
ensures the plan aligns with state regulations, protects public health, and
provides sufficient information to assess environmental impacts.
NMED’s role in
this process is to evaluate the adequacy of the licensee’s plan, respond to
public concerns, and determine whether to approve the decommissioning plan and
proceed with license termination. The department is not responsible for
conducting cleanup activities.
During the
evaluation period, NMED reviews and comments upon the decommissioning plan.
NMED may, at its discretion, retain consultants to assist it in its evaluation
of the decommissioning plan. NMED will notify and solicit comments from local
governments in the vicinity of the site of the licensed activity and any Indian
nation or other indigenous people that have treaty or statutory rights that
could be affected by the decommissioning of the site or the licensed activity.
Relevant comments and questions received by NMED from various agencies and
interested parties will be forwarded to the licensee for response.
Correspondence associated with the decommissioning plan will be on file with
the Radiation Control Bureau and will be available for inspection by the
licensee and any other interested party.
The
decommissioning plan is available for review on our website here:
https://www.env.nm.gov/rcb/thermo-eberline-llc-final-decommissioning-plan/,
and at the following location:
New Mexico
Environment Department
Radiation Control
Bureau
Robert Bicknell
525 Camino De Los Marquez, Suite 1A
Santa Fe, NM 87505
Written comments
and requests for public hearing will be accepted for 30 days after publication
of this notice. Written comments regarding the decommissioning plan should be
submitted to NMED’s Public Comment Portal here:
https://nmed.commentinput.com?id=fZraETHcD, or mailed to: New Mexico
Environment Department, Radiation Control Bureau, ATTN: Thermo Decommissioning,
P.O. Box 5469, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87502-5469.
If
you are a non-English speaker, do not speak English well, or if you have a
disability, you may contact the NMED Permit Contact to request assistance, an
interpreter, or an auxiliary aid to learn more about the decommissioning plan
or the review process, or to participate in activities associated with the
review process. To the extent possible, NMED will arrange for requested
interpretation services and accommodations or services for persons with
disabilities. Telephone conversation assistance is available through Relay New
Mexico at no charge for people who are deaf, hard of hearing, or have
difficulty speaking on the phone, by calling 1-800-659-1779; TTY users:
1-800-659-8331; Spanish: 1-800-327-1857. Telephone interpretation assistance
for persons that are a non-English speaker or do not speak English well is
available at no charge when calling NMED.