A southern Colorado county stopped the train transport of low-level radioactive waste from Los Alamos National Laboratory last week, claiming a lab subcontractor and the railway had failed to obtain needed permits.

Officials and residents in the small town of Antonito, Colo. — population 1,000 — became angry when they found out last week that waste from the nuclear weapons laboratory was being transferred from trucks to train cars, a football field away from the San Antonio River.

"We have stopped the shipments," said Conejos County Commissioner Joe Mestas. "We required they come in and comply with our permit process."

On Dec. 7, two train cars were loaded with the low-level waste at the transfer site on private land just off U.S. 285 and taken by the San Luis & Rio Grande railway to a certified waste facility in Clive, Utah. The waste consisted of dirt, wood, metal and wires from old conventional explosives tests, some "very low levels of depleted uranium" and some polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, from the lab's legacy disposal sites, according to lab officials.

The town asked Conejos County commissioners to investigate. "We're mostly concerned because they didn't follow protocol at all," said Antonito resident Aaron Abeyta. "They didn't go to the County Commission or hold a public meeting. That was just a slap in the face."

County officials and residents seem to primarily blame the railway for not obtaining needed permits, and not EnergySolutions, the company contracted by LANL to truck the waste from Los Alamos up U.S. 285 to the train transfer site. Company officials have met twice now with residents and officials.

"EnergySolutions has been very agreeable to everything we've asked," Mestas said. "We've asked for all the paperwork to make sure everything is in compliance."

Ed Ellis, president of the San Luis & Rio Grande, did not return calls requesting comment.

Wayne Quinlan, the property owner who apparently leased his private land and railway loading site to the San Luis Valley & Rio Grande, also didn't respond to messages seeking comment. Quinlan has been a commissioner for the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad, which runs tourist trains between Chama and Antonito.

The county allowed EnergySolutions to finish loading a half-empty train car and ship it out on Monday, in part so officials and others in the community could watch the process, Mestas said. But he said no further shipments would be allowed until EnergySolutions and the railway obtain permits under Conejos County land-use rules.

Mark Walker, spokesman for EnergySolutions, said the waste is packaged and shipped by truck in soft-sided containers approved by the U.S. Department of Transportation. The containers are transferred to lidded, high-sided rail gondolas for shipment to Clive, a facility EnergySolutions owns 75 miles west of Salt Lake City. Walker said the facility has been in operation for more than 20 years and has "an impeccable safety record with more than 3 million man hours without a lost-time accident."

EnergySolutions is responsible for obtaining permits needed to transport the waste, according to Fred deSousa, a communications specialist with the lab's environmental programs. He said a total of 12,000 cubic yards of the mixed, low-level radioactive waste will be shipped. He said it will take 133 train cars to ship the waste to Utah versus 400 truckloads.

"In the past, the public (in New Mexico) has been concerned about the number of truck shipments of LANL wastes moving offsite, and we've heard their concerns," deSousa wrote in an e-mail. "The Laboratory prefers rail transportation in this case because it's so much safer. ... In this case, any risk comes from traffic or other accidents, not the material being hauled."

Residents are concerned about the transfer of the waste onto train cars so close to the San Antonio River, a primary water source for farms. They're also concerned about the train cars hauling the waste on an old railway and across two century-old bridges. Two years ago, seven San Luis & Rio Grande freight cars derailed near the top of the 9,242-foot La Veta Pass in December. That train wasn't transporting hazardous materials.

The waste is from LANL's one remaining active waste-disposal site, which the lab has agreed to clean and close by 2015 under a consent order between the lab, the New Mexico Environment Department and the U.S. Department of Energy.

Contact Staci Matlock at 986-3055 or smatlock@sfnewmexican.com.