By John Arnold
Journal Staff Writer
The U.S. Postal Service has decided not to help Los Alamos National Laboratory develop a new 400,000-square-foot science complex, the agency announced Friday.
The Postal Service was considering an arrangement under which it would assist the Department of Energy in building the new complex, which could house about 1,300 scientists, or roughly 10 percent of the lab's work force.
In return, the Postal Service would receive a parcel of land for a new postal annex intended to relieve overcrowding at the existing Los Alamos post office, according to a written statement from postal service vice president of public affairs and communications Azeezaly Jaffer.
But the Postal Service notified DOE Thursday that it will not go forward with the plan, Postal Service spokesman Dave Partenheimer said by phone Friday.
The Postal Service did not offer an explanation for its decision. It comes after a Santa Fe-based lab watchdog group— Nuclear Watch of New Mexico— alleged the lab was involved in a back-door deal to build the complex with the help of the Postal Service, which would either fund or find a third party to fund the project.
Such a funding arrangement would improperly bypass Congress and a federally mandated environmental review, Nuclear Watch alleged, citing documents obtained through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
"It appears that the Postal Service has decided to back out of this deal that we contend had some shady elements," Nuclear Watch director Jay Coghlan said Friday. "We're certainly pleased the Postal Service has decided to back out and will focus on better meeting the needs of its true consumers, the public, not the lab."
Lab spokesman Kevin Roark said last week that the science complex has been in the works since 2002 and is needed to upgrade old lab facilities.
He denied the Postal Service was planning to fund the project but said the agency and DOE were about to sign a memorandum of understanding under which the Postal Service would help find a third party to build it.
Roark said the lab was seeking the Postal Service's help because the agency has extensive experience with similar arrangements.
He said did not know whether the third party would be a private or public entity. The lab could offer no additional information Friday.
According to the Postal Service, the agency and DOE signed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding in 2004 to "explore the possibility of the Postal Service assisting the Department of Energy in the development of a science complex." The statement does not say what form that assistance the agencies were contemplating.
Roark said earlier this week that all planning for the science project was done in compliance with federal regulations. He said Congress wouldn't need to sign off on the project, since a third party would be paying for it.
Under the agreement, the new complex would have been constructed on lab property— beginning as early as next year— and leased by LANL.