Cover, April 1: “Top 10 Water Guzzlers”
Radioactive Complex
The 22,359,700 gallons of water being consumed at Quail Run unfortunately contain radionuclide contaminants from the Rio Grande—carcinogens. Because of the Buckman Direct Diversion project, the Santa Fe municipal water supply now receives water three miles directly downstream from the radiological contaminated runoff from Los Alamos National Labs. Both Cesium 137 and Strontium 90 are a gamma-emitting radioactive isotopes. Like salt, they are soluble in water, so they pass right through any filter, and both were found in tests of the run-off made by the NM Environment Department after heavy rain events.
Plutonium and Americium were also found in these tests.
So the Buckman Diversion project was required to develop filtration for these particulates. However, radioactive isotopes cannot be filtered. With the volumes of water irrigating the golf course and grounds, the whole Quail Run complex is likely to be radioactive—the swimming pool too.
Someone [should] use a rad-meter and test this complex for radioactivity. My guess is that the rad-meter will read about three times higher than the rest of Santa Fe.
Shannyn Sollitt
Santa Fe
Core of the Problem
The discussion of Christus St. Vincent's water use gets to a core problem with Santa Fe's water management: We keep track of the water that flows through the city's water division, but we don't bother with the water sucked out of the aquifer beneath our feet! The reported water use of the hospital tells us (or them) nothing about actual water use, and the same can be said of the city's overall water-use statistics. If water is really our most precious resource, shouldn't someone be managing ALL the water and not just some undefined proportion of it?
David Groenfeldt
SFReporter.com
News, April 1: “The New Go-To”
Feels Like a Serf
They do it in Europe. All my friends overseas mock me for having to go out and buy my booze like a peasant.
Cheryl Lynn
SFReporter.com
CORRECTION
A story in the March 25 edition gave the wrong deadline for when the governor must act on legislation. Unless she signs a bill by April 10, it dies in what's known as a "pocket veto." SFR will correct factual errors online and in print. Please let us know if we make a mistake, editor@sfreporter.com or 988-7530.
Mail letters to PO Box 2306, Santa Fe, NM 87504, deliver to 132 E Marcy St., or email them to editor@sfreporter.com. Letters (no more than 200 words) should refer to specific articles in the Reporter. Letters will be edited for space and clarity.
Chappelle Banana Incident Goes Viral
By now, there's no way you haven't heard about the banana peel guy. Santa Fe made national headlines after a man threw a banana peel at comedian Dave Chappelle during a show at the Lensic on March 30.
Christian Englander was arrested and charged with battery and disorderly conduct. Chappelle says the act was racism.
Since then, it seems like the world can't get enough about the accused heckler, who the New Mexican reports is also an aspiring clown and who apparently threw another banana peel at another guy a few nights later. Our online story rounding up the reaction had a viral journey of its own. Here are some selections from the Facebook comments about it:
